Utilizing Braak staging to detect early brain region specific molecular process dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease

Dementia is a disease affecting many individuals worldwide resulting in neurological deficits. The most common form of dementia known as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. The disease is defined by neuron loss, the presence of intracellular tau protein (tubulin associated unit) neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), and extracellular amyloid- (Aβ) plaques. For this study, our aim was to understand the staging system used based off of the disease progression, called Braak Staging. Our hypothesis is that as disease progresses, marked by Braak stages, different brain regions will begin to show differential expressions of various biological dysregulations. Molecular dysfunctions of early disease will be precursors to later disease dysfunctions. The outcomes of our study indicated there were several molecular dysfunctions in early disease with tau pathology not present in the region yet.