Amyloid Plaque

• The sticky, abnormal accumulations of amyloid-beta protein aggregate around neurons and synapses in the memory and intellectual centers of the brain, in people with Alzheimer’s. These are sometimes referred to as neuritic plaques or senile plaques. While amyloid plaques have long been considered markers of Alzheimer’s, they are also found to some extent in many cognitively normal elderly people. The plaques’ role in Alzheimer’s neurodegeneration remains unclear.