A sensitive method for the demonstration of senile plaques in the dementing brain

Senile plaques occur mainly in the cerebral grey matter and are increased in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. A new method for the demonstration of senile plaques is described which consists of irradiating unstained paraffin wax embedded sections with ultraviolet light. Senile plaques exhibit blue autofluorescence which is usually clearly visible against the background autofluorescence of the neuropil.