Objective.—To determine the relationship of brain infarction to the clinical expression of
Alzheimer disease (AD). Design.—Cognitive function and the prevalence of dementia were
determined for participants in the Nun Study who later died. At autopsy, lacunar and larger
brain infarcts were identified, and senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the neocortex
were quantitated. Participants with abundant senile plaques and some neurofibrillary
tangles in the neocortex were classified as having met the neuropathologic criteria for AD …