MARCOS DA SILVA FRANCO

Final project to harnessing the course Understanding the Brain: Neurobiology of

Everyday Life of the University of Chicago.

DISEASE ALZHEIMER

São Paulo - 2014

I chose this topic because my mother had this disease. She lived six years after start

the symptoms firsts. Passed for all the stages of the Alzheimer up to compromise completely the brain. Died of respiratory

failure.

Alzheimer is a disease neurodegenerativeof unknown cause that occurs in peoples of

age. According the intensity of the frame degenerative there is three clinical stages:

mild, moderate or severe that will lead brain atrophy.

1º Stage: mild

In this first stage the affected area is prefrontal

cortex, responsible for storing the temporary memory. All the others areas of the brain are

preserved, actives.

2º Stage - Moderate

The memory loss is progressive. At this stage already reached the hippocampus and the person

starts to forget things that happened years ago. The degenerative framework extends and begins to

compromise motor functions that are performed by the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, and cerebellum

preventing the person to perform daily activities, such as, bathing, brushing teeth, get changed,

always needing someone to help you. Other brain areas, temporal and occipital lobes still are

preserved and actives.

Hippocampus Frontal lobe

3º Stage - Severe

In this phase, considered advanced, my mother already did not remembered more of

the sons, already did not recognize. The brain areas are nearly all commited. Have not control over the esfícteres, change in

sleeping and waking, and was totally dependent on sons to perform daily routine.

Until when control of his breathing was compromised (the brainstem), preventing

oxygenation throughout the body, she died.

Tronco cerebral

As this course has allowed me to better analyze the events and phenomena of

our day to day

The course was very interesting. For ten weeks of studies that have given me ideas and

understandings of how our brain works in our day to day. Understanding the anatomy of the human brain, the electrical impulses transmitted by neurons and

the importance of blood flow in the brain were key so I could understand the disease that took my mother's

death, Alzheimer's.

My three children have myopia, a disease

inherited by the family of my wife, because

she also had myopia when child. During the

lessons learned about this disease and I

could understand what actually occurs in the

visual system related to the nervous system.

The nervous system is of utmost importance

in our lives. In order to have a healthy and

active life we need to keep this system in

order, remembering that it consumes a very

significant amount of glucose, nutrition is

essential for their maintenance.

Last week was addressed a topic that I am

passionate about it, the excitement!

Understand how it works and be able to

better manage our emotions is fascinating.

For me it was a privilege to be part of this

study group.

Congratulations to Professor Peggy Mason

for their work and congratulations also to the

whole team involved, directly or indirectly by

provide us students worldwide a quality

education.

Bibliografia

MASON, Peggy. Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life – The University of Chicago.

VARELLA, Drauzio. Doença de Alzheimer. http://drauzio varella. com.br/envelhecimento/doenca-de-alzheimer. Acesso em 25 mai 2014.

LENT, Roberto. Cem bilhões de neurônios? Conceitos Fundamentais de Neurociências. 2º ed. Rio de janeiro. Editora Atheneu, 2010.