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Neuritic plaques

Dr Yuranga Weerakkody and Dr Frank Gaillard et al.

Neuritic plaques (also known as senile plaques) are a feature of Alzheimer's disease. They are extracellular and composed of a central core of beta-amyloid peptides aggregated together with fibrils of beta-amyloid, dystrophic neurites, reactive astrocytes, phagocytic cells, and other proteins and protein fragments derived from degenerating cells or liberated from neurons ¹.

They should not be confused with neurofibrillary tangles which are intracytoplasmic.