Cerebral atrophy is a common feature of many of the diseases that affect brain. Atrophy of any tissue means a decrement in size of the cell.
Which can be due to progressive loss of cytoplasmic proteins. In brain tissue, atrophy describes a loss of neurons and connections between them.
Atrophy can be generalized, which means that all of the brain has shrunk. Or it can be focal, affecting only a limited area of the brain and resulting in a decrease of the functions.
That area of the brain controls. If the cerebral hemispheres ( two lobes of brain that form the cerebrum) are affected, conscious thought and voluntary processes may be impaired.
Atrophy can affect different parts of the brain.
*Focal atrophy affects cells in certain areas of the brain and results in a loss of function in those specific areas.
*Generalized atrophy affects cells all over the brain.
*Symptoms of atrophy:
- Dementia is the loss of memory, learning, abstract thinking, and executive functions such as planning and organizing.
- Seizures are surges of abnormal electrical activity in the brain that cause repetitive movements, convulsions, and sometimes a loss of consciousness.
- Aphasias involve trouble speaking and understanding language