Author/Editor		Swaab, Dick Frans; Fliers, Eric; Partiman, T. S.
Title		The suprachiasmatic nucleus of the human brain in relation to sex, age and senile dementia
Type		članek
Vol. and No.		Letnik 342, št. 1
Publication year		1985
Volume		str. 37-44
ISSN		0006-8993 - Brain research
Language		eng
Abstract		The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is considered to be the endogenous clock of the brain, essential for the ovulation cycle and the temporal organization of sleep-wake patterns, among other things. Immunocytochemical staining with anti-vasopressin as a marker permitted a morphometric study of this nucleus in the human brain, which revealed that the shape of the SCN is sexually dimorphic. The shape of the SCN was elongated in women and more spherical in men. In both sexes a decrease in SCN volume and cell number was observed in senescence (80-100 years). The latter change was especially pronounced in patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT). This suggests the presence of a structural defect in the SCN which underlies the general disturbance of biological rhythms in senescence and SDAT.
Keywords		Alzheimer's disease circadian rhythms dementia Alzheimerjeva bolezen cirkadiani ritem demenca