Proposed pathway of mutant huntingtin (IMAGE) IOS Press Caption Proposed pathway of mutant huntingtin (mHtt) contribution to cognitive dysfunction and cell death through impairments in synaptic autophagy: the Huntingtin protein (mHtt) interferes with autophagic efficiency, leading to a decline in synaptic autophagy. This may in turn interfere with synaptic plasticity, causing both cognitive dysfunction and loss of normal synaptic input to post-synaptic cells and feedback to presynaptic cells. Loss of normal synaptic feedback and input may then contribute to cell death. Credit: Journal of Huntington's Disease. Credit Journal of Huntington's Disease Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.