Lobar atrophy with pontine neuronal chromatolysis ("ballooned" neurons).

A 64-year-old man developed progressive dementia over a period of 11 years. Postmortem examination showed severe atrophy of the temporal lobes of the brain with extensive neuronal loss and a remarkable alteration of the neuronal perikaryon--the "ballooned" neuron--restricted to the nuclei of the basis pontis. No neuritic plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, or Pick bodies were seen.