Pick's disease. Coloured axial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain of a 50-year-old patient with Pick's disease. The front of the brain is at top in this view from below. The progression of this degenerative disease has caused atrophy in both halves of the brain, but especially at the front of the brain (top, brown areas). Pick's disease, or focal lobar atrophy, is a degenerative condition that causes shrinking of the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain, accompanied by the death of the brain's neurones. A feature of the disease is the accumulation of protein filaments in the nerve cells (neurones) of the brain, which severely impairs their ability to process sensory information.