THE ORIGIN AND FORMATION OF SENILE PLAQUES

Abstract

Senile plaques were first described in 1892 by Blocq and Marinesco,¹ who called them sclerotic plaques of neuroglia, a name which was later changed by Redlich² to miliary sclerosis. The term senile plaque was first applied to the lesion by Simchowicz.³ Since the first description of Blocq and Marinesco, numerous authors have tried to establish the significance as well as the pathogenesis of such a lesion. The fact that these plaques are found in the brains of normal senile persons has increased interest in their microscopic study. Furthermore, the fact that they are found in the presenium in that particular pathologic condition which was first described by Alzheimer in 1906, and since then has been known as Alzheimer's disease, has made the significance of these plaques more puzzling. In regard to the histologic nature of the lesion, Blocq and Marinesco, in 1892, spoke of sclerotic plaques of