Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915): The Father of Modern Dementia Research and the Discovery of Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Alois Alzheimer was a German psychologist and neuropathologist who significantly advanced the study of dementia with his discovery of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Based on his assessment of a 51-year-old female patient with symptoms of presenile dementia and after conducting a postmortem autopsy of her brain, Alzheimer distinguished two neurological substances - senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles - as unique markers of what was later deemed as AD. He recognized that dementia is not a natural consequence of age but rather a recognizable neurocognitive disorder. Despite the long-lasting criticism of his findings, Alzheimer’s discovery fundamentally altered the landscape of neuropathological studies by establishing that AD was a clinically identifiable disease with distinct markers that could be targeted for treatment. Today, modern research on AD continues to build on the foundation laid by Alzheimer’s discovery.