Journal of Alzheimers Disease & Parkinsonism
Open Access

Abstract

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the major cause of dementia in the aged individuals. It is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by apoptosis and loss of neurons resulting in synaptic dysfunction in central pathways involved in learning and memory. Neuroplasticity can simply be defined as changes in the brain neurons, and structural and functional changes in synapses formed by these neurons. If the changes are not confined to a single neuron but reach the level of a synapse the adaptive response formed may also be called �synaptic plasticity�. Brain is adapted to all exogenous and endogenous stimulations (i.e. environmental or emotional stresses) by neuroplasticity. The most essential statement on AD pathology is that it assault the processes associated with neuroplasticity in central nervous system (CNS). Directly focusing on the causes of damages of synaptic elements and development of new therapeutic approaches devoted to reverse impaired neuroplasticity induced by the disorder may be a more effective strategy and provide more consistent solutions in the treatment of AD. The main objective of this presentation is to update our knowledge on AD in the light of the present literature and discuss the new approaches and targets such as neuroplasticity hypothesis of AD and new candidate drugs.

Biography

Tayfun Uzbay is professor of Medical Pharmacology, head of the Departments of Neuroscience and director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Application and Research Center (NPARC) at Uskudar University in Istanbul. He worked in University of North Texas, Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience in USA and University of Cagliari, Department of Toxicology in Italy as a visiting scientist. He is a founder of Psychopharmacology Research Unit in Turkey. His research studies have been focused on Behavioral Neurocience. He has patent of some new molecules in treatment of schizophrenia. He published more than a hundred international full papers and these papers have been cited more than 1600.