The Neuropathology Core is central to the efforts of the ADCC. The major aims of the Neuropathology Core are to provide technical resources, laboratory facilities and professional expertise for the collection, diagnosis and storage of brain tissue obtained at autopsy from patients and control subjects followed in the Clinical Core of the NYU ADC, as well as from referral cases from outside institutions. The Neuropathology Core will provide information about the pathologic data to families, referring physicians and basic researchers who use the tissue. The neuropathological criteria for diagnosis of AD being used, were developed by the NIA-Reagan Institute Working Group. The Core includes a Morphometric Component at the Institute for Basic Research, which provides volumetry, neuronal counts, using the optical dissector technique and quantitation of parenchymal amyloid deposition and neurofibrillary tangles. Also, included in the Neuropathology Core is a satellite brain autopsy program at the Sun Health Research Institute. This satellite program provides a large number of autopsies (47/yr) of AD and control patients, as well as extensive brain tissue with very short post- mortem time intervals (average 3.75 hr).
The specific aims of this core are: 1) To conduct thorough postmortem examinations on ADCC patients (N=16/yr), using standard criteria.2) To maintain a bank of unfixed frozen and fixed tissue from ADCC control and patients with AD or other dementing neurodegenerative conditions; as well as to bank plasma and CSF from these patients. 3) To provide tissue from control brains, AD and other neurodegenerative conditions to AD researchers within and outside this ADCC in order to augment clinical and basic research on AD. 4) To conduct morphometric studies on AD to establish better clinical neuropathological correlations, in particular to document the progression of the earlier stages of AD pathology. 5) To collaborate in the research efforts of the other cores and projects of the ADCC, as well as providing advice and facilities to investigators within and outside the ADCC who seek to conduct morphometric, immunohistochemical of AD patients using post-mortem tissue.
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