PMC:2493521 / 1161-2417 JSONTXT

{"target":"https://pubannotation.org/docs/sourcedb/PMC/sourceid/2493521","sourcedb":"PMC","sourceid":"2493521","source_url":"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/2493521","text":"Purpose and mission\nThe clinical syndromes generated by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative disorders are not pathognomonic diagnostic phenomena. Neuropathological examination of the postmortem brain is the only means by which a definite diagnosis can be attained. The purpose of brain banks is to provide neuropathologically characterized brain tissue to basic scientists, enabling them to discover the underlying molecular mechanisms specific to each disease, thereby allowing the design of appropriate therapeutic interventions. A detailed understanding of the genetic and molecular processes of disease pathogenesis, obtained by comparative study of diseased and non-diseased brain tissue, remains the major approach to finding such interventions. It is noteworthy that for both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, the existing approved pharmacotherapies are all based on neurotransmitter deficiencies identified from study of postmortem brains more than 30 years ago. The subsequent divergence of basic scientific efforts into in vitro work has not generated new medicines for these diseases. A return to basic studies of human brain, using new and powerful technologies, is needed to generate a new wave of fundamental discoveries.","divisions":[{"label":"Title","span":{"begin":0,"end":19}}],"tracks":[]}