Home › Research › Brain tissue and pathology
Clinical, pathological, and neurochemical changes in dementia: A subgroup with preserved mental status and numerous neocortical plaques
Robert Katzman, Robert D. Terry, Richard M. DeTeresa, Theodore Brown, Peter Davies, Paula Altman Fuld, Xiong Renbing, Arthur Peck. Annals of Neurology, 1988-02-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Postmortem examination was performed on 137 residents (average age 85.5 years) of a skilled nursing facility whose mental status, memory, and functional status had been evaluated during life. Seventy-eight percent were demented using conservative criteria; 55% had characteristic Alzheimer's disease. Choline acetyltransferase and somatostatin were significantly reduced in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease as compared with age-matched nursing home control subjects, although the degree of the reduction was less severe than found in subjects less than 80 years of age. Ten subjects whose functional and cognitive performance was in the upper quintile of the nursing home residents, as good as or better than the performance of the upper quintile of residents without brain pathology (control subjects), showed the pathological features of mild Alzheimer's disease, with many neocortical plaques. Plaque counts were 80% of those of demented patients with Alzheimer's disease. Choline acetyltransferase and somatostatin levels were intermediate between controls and demented patients with Alzheimer's disease. The unexpected findings in these subjects were higher brain weights and greater number of neurons (greater than 90 micron 2 in a cross-sectional area in cerebral cortex) as compared to age-matched nursing home control subjects. These people may have had incipient Alzheimer's disease but escaped loss of large neurons, or alternatively, started with larger brains and more large neurons and thus might be said to have had a greater reserve.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Katzman, R., Terry, R. D., DeTeresa, R. M., Brown, T., Davies, P., Fuld, P. A., et al. (1988). Clinical, pathological, and neurochemical changes in dementia: A subgroup with preserved mental status and numerous neocortical plaques. Annals of Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.410230206
Vancouver
Katzman R, Terry RD, DeTeresa RM, Brown T, Davies P, Fuld PA, et al. Clinical, pathological, and neurochemical changes in dementia: A subgroup with preserved mental status and numerous neocortical plaques. Annals of Neurology. 1988. doi:10.1002/ana.410230206. PMID: 2897823.
BibTeX
@article{katzman1988-2897823,
author = {Katzman, Robert and Terry, Robert D. and DeTeresa, Richard M. and Brown, Theodore and Davies, Peter and Fuld, Paula Altman and Renbing, Xiong and Peck, Arthur},
title = {{Clinical, pathological, and neurochemical changes in dementia: A subgroup with preserved mental status and numerous neocortical plaques}},
journal = {Annals of Neurology},
year = {1988},
doi = {10.1002/ana.410230206},
pmid = {2897823},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.410230206}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 8 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Why it matters
Brain autopsies of 137 nursing home residents found 10 people with good thinking and daily function whose brains showed features of mild Alzheimer's with many plaques. These people had higher brain weights and more large neurons, and the authors suggest they may have had early disease or a greater reserve.
How this study scored 52/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on strength of evidence, so that was left out: it earned 49 of the 95 points we could judge it on, which is 52 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Annals of Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Annals of Neurology: journal h-index 437 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | — / 5 | No evidence rating recorded — left out of this score |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1988 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 1,229 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 30.7 citations a year over 40 year(s) since 1988 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 20.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 91 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Arthur Peck: h-index 12 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of California San Diego: institution h-index 1,852 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 2897823) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 49 / 95 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 49 of the 95 points we could judge it on is 52 out of 100. |
| Total | 52 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Related studies in Brain tissue and pathology
Also tagged “bodies”
1,017 studies in the library carry the topic tag “bodies”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,017 tagged studies.