In 1906, Alois Alzheimer, a psychiatrist and neuroanatomist, reported “a peculiar severe disease process of the cerebral cortex” to a gathering of psychiatrists in Tübingen, Germany.
The case was a 50-year-old woman who suffered from memory loss, delusions, hallucinations, aggression, and confusion – all of which worsened until her untimely death five years later.
In the autopsy, Alzheimer noticed distinctive plaques on her brain. These plaques – clumps of amyloid-beta protein – are still considered to be the cause of Alzheimer’s disease.
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