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Atrophy

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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

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Synonyms

Degenerative; Wasting

Definition

Atrophy is a loss of cells of any tissue. In the brain, atrophy refers to a loss of neurons that may be generalized (e.g., diffuse atrophy) or focal, reflecting circumscribed regional loss. Focal atrophy may occur as a result of trauma or cerebrovascular lesions, for example. Generalized atrophy may occur with neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. With atrophy, there is also corresponding loss of neural connections (synapses). Visual features of atrophy include sulcal widening, shrunken gyri, and enlarged ventricles. Atrophy may be viewed on gross inspection of the brain post-mortem or antemortem with structural imaging techniques such as MRI or CT scan. Figure 1 displays diffuse brain atrophy of the cerebral hemispheres viewed from the top.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Displays diffuse atrophy of the cerebral hemispheres. Note the shrunken gyri and prominent, widened sulci (Photo courtesy of Steven S. Chin, M.D., Ph.D., University of Utah Health...

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References and Reading

  • Smits, L. L., Tijms, B. M., Benedictus, M. R., Koedam, E. L. G. E., Koene, T., Reuling, I. E. W., Barkhof, F., Scheltens, P., Pijnenburg, Y. A. L., Wattjes, M. P., & van der Flier, W. M. (2014). Regional atrophy is associated with impairment in distinct cognitive domains in Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 10, S299–S305.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Epidemiologic Studies, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA

    JoAnn Tschanz

  2. Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA

    JoAnn Tschanz & Stephanie Behrens

Authors
  1. JoAnn Tschanz
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  2. Stephanie Behrens
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to JoAnn Tschanz .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Richmond, Virgin Islands, USA

    Jeffrey Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation , West Orange, New Jersey, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Suite 200 , Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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Tschanz, J., Behrens, S. (2018). Atrophy. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_527-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_527-2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

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