What are "plaques" and "tangles"?

What are "plaques" and "tangles"?

Gus Alva (Medical Director, ATP Clinical Research) gives expert video advice on: What is "Alzheimer's disease"?; How can I identify the first stage of Alzheimer's disease?; What happens to the brain of an Alzheimer's patient? and more...

Plaques and tangles are features that are characteristics of Alzheimer's disease. Let's break this down. Plaques are accumulations of a compound or material called amyloid. And the specific type of amyloid that we find is beta-amyloid outside of cells. Literally, an insoluble type of amyloid that cannot be carried out of the brain that literally chokes off brain cells. That is not, however, the only problem that exists with Alzheimer. So the tangles are found inside of the cells themselves. The plaques are outside of the cells. The problem within the cells is that there's been a hyperphosphorylation - a fancy word of saying that the structures that hold up that cell cave in and cause it to die.