Creating memories is one of the brain's most remarkable functions.The hippocampus, located deep inside the brain, serves as the hub for making and storing memories. Located in front of the hippocampus is the amygdala, your emotional nexus. The entorhinal cortex acts as a gateway between the hippocampus and the rest of the cerebral cortex.

The nerve cell is the hub for all of the activity that occurs in the brain, and the connections between nerve cells create a living, dynamic framework for everything that we see, hear, taste, smell, touch and experience. In Alzheimer's disease, beta amyloid proteins accumulate to form large plaques between nerve cells. Eventually, the amyloid deposits block off the nerve cells from their network and cause the cells to die.

Alzheimer's is not thought to be caused by amyloid alone. Experts say that the amyloid buildup has an accomplice in another compound that interferes with nerve cell function, neurofibrillary tangles.