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1. Glossary

Frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementia is a neurodegenerative disease. Unlike Alzheimer's dementia, Pick's disease usually begins before the age of 60 and initially manifests itself through changes in personality and social behavior. There are also variants that begin with speech disorders. In advanced stages, memory performance is also impaired. The physiological cause is degeneration of nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Similar to Alzheimer's disease, the aggregation of certain proteins appears to play a role in pathogenesis. However, doctors do not yet understand exactly what happens in this process and what other factors contribute to the development of Pick's disease. Today, classic Pick's disease is only a subtype of FTD in which characteristic Pick bodies can be detected in the brain.

1. Discover
2. Milestones

Alois Alzheimer: Mad-Doctor with a Microscope

Alzheimer's is one of the most well-known diseases of our time. But initially, it – along with its discoverer – was largely ignored.

18.09.2013

1. News from the Institutes

Insight into schizophrenia disease mechanisms found in the eye

Impaired neuronal connectivity in the retina

17.02.2025

1. Diseases
2. Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's

The number of patients is steadily rising, but that’s just a statistic. But Alzheimer’s affects the human being.

29.09.2013

1. Diseases
2. Alzheimer's disease

Language fades – Music remains

People with dementia can sing and use music to communicate, even as other abilities fade.

12.03.2026

1. Page

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24.02.2017

1. Basics
2. Anatomy

The Parahippocampal Gyrus

The parahippocampal gyrus can rightly be described as the gateway to the hippocampus.

28.11.2025

1. Glossary

Pre-dementia

Alzheimer's disease typically progresses through several clinical stages, preceded by an early phase with initial cognitive impairments. This phase, formerly known as pre-dementia, is now usually referred to as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer's disease. It can manifest itself through symptoms such as declining short-term memory. With modern imaging techniques, especially amyloid PET, characteristic amyloid deposits in the brain can already be detected in this early phase. Laboratory chemical analyses of blood or cerebrospinal fluid can also provide indications of changes in protein concentrations typical of Alzheimer's disease. Although the clinical diagnosis of dementia is only made in later stages, the underlying Alzheimer's pathology can often be detected in advance today.

1. Glossary

Neurodegeneration

Collective term for diseases in which nerve cells gradually lose their structure or function until they eventually die. In many cases, misfolded proteins are the trigger – such as certain forms of the proteins beta-amyloid and tau in the case of Alzheimer's disease. In other diseases, such as Parkinson's disease or Huntington's disease, proteins within the neurons are not broken down properly. As a result, toxic aggregates are deposited there, leading to the respective disease symptoms. While Huntington's disease is clearly genetic, in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's there appear to be certain gene variants that promote their development. None of these neurodegenerative diseases can be cured at present.

1. Diseases
2. Successful aging

The Secret of Neural Reserve

From the hippocampus to the synapse: A research consortium is investigating which factors protect our thinking in old age

01.02.2026