In the century since the neuronal inclusions [neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs); Fig. 1] and extracellular protein aggregates (Aft plaques; Fig. 1) that form the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) were described, our knowledge of all aspects of AD has grown markedly. AD is uniformly progressive and ultimately results in debilitating cognitive impairment. In the early stages, the impairment may only be apparent on neuropsychological testing; however, by end stage, few functions above the automatic remain unaffected (Forstl and Kurz, 1999)
