Selective involvement of large neurons in the neostriatum of Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia: a morphometric investigation.

In order to evaluate the quantitative changes in the neostriatum of Alzheimer type (SDAT), sections of the caudate head (CN) and putamen (PT) from 4 AD/SDAT and 6 age-matched control cases were stained with Klüver-Barrera, and the cell body and nuclear areas of the neurons were measured by a digitizer. This study revealed a significant decrease in the number of large neurons (nuclear area; greater than 101 micron 2) and good preservation of the number of small neurons (nuclear area; less than 100 micron 2) in CN and PT of AD/SDAT.