On the biological side, a brain with Alzheimer’s is easily recognized by the shrinkage of the hippocampus—the seat of memory—and of the outer layers of the cerebral cortex (the part of the brain associated with complex thought and movements). You may have heard of amyloids, aggregates of proteins that have been found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. One particular protein, beta-amyloid, begins destroying synapses (connections between the brain’s neurons) before it clumps into plaques that cause the death of neurons themselves.
