Journal ofNeurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 1984;47: 56-60 The olfactory bulbs in Alzheimer's disease

SUMMARY The olfactory bulbs have been examined in patients with Alzheimer's disease and compared with those in elderly undemented and younger undemented control patients. In Alzheimer's disease neurofibrillary tangles were found in the anterior olfactory nucleus but not elsewhere in the olfactory bulb. Cell loss in the anterior olfactory nucleus was also found in Alzheimer's disease. It is clear that the olfactory sensory pathway is pathologically affected in Alzheimer's disease and would merit further study. Alzheimer's disease is characterised pathologically by the development of numerous argyophilic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles within the brain. Regions of the brain that are particularly severely affected in this disease include important parts of the olfactory system such as the uncus ' and the cortico-medial part of the amygdaloid nucleus.2 We therefore decided to examine more peripheral parts of the olfactory sensory pathway. The olfactor