Neuropathology

Neuropathology is the study of diseases and structural abnormalities of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and related tissues. It uses tissue examination and other diagnostic methods to identify and characterize nervous-system disorders.

Neurodegeneration: The progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, often leading to their death. Microscopic evidence of neuronal loss is central to diagnosing many degenerative disorders.
Brain biopsy: A procedure that removes a small sample of brain tissue for diagnostic examination. Biopsy can identify tumors, infections, and inflammatory lesions when other tests are inconclusive.
Histopathology: The study of diseased tissues using microscopic examination. Neuropathology applies histopathological methods specifically to nervous-system tissue.
Neurology: The medical specialty concerned with diagnosing and treating disorders of the nervous system. Neurology emphasizes clinical assessment, while neuropathology focuses on disease in tissue.
Neuroinflammation: Inflammatory activity in the brain or spinal cord involving resident immune cells and other immune responses. Inflammatory patterns help distinguish immune-mediated disease from other forms of nervous-system injury.
Autopsy: A postmortem examination of a body to determine disease processes and cause of death. Neuropathological autopsy can establish diagnoses that remained uncertain during life.
Neuropathology staining: Methods that color or label tissue components to reveal cells, structures, or molecules. Stains make otherwise subtle lesions and cellular features visible for diagnosis.
Neuroradiology: The medical specialty that uses imaging to diagnose disorders of the brain, spine, and nervous system. Imaging shows anatomy in living patients; neuropathology examines cellular and tissue changes.
Demyelinating disease: A disorder in which myelin sheaths around nerve fibers are damaged. Loss of myelin creates characteristic lesions in central and peripheral nervous-system tissue.
Neuropathological diagnosis: The identification of nervous-system disease through examination of tissue and related evidence. This is the clinical task that turns microscopic findings into a disease classification.

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