To characterize neurons containing cortical Lewy bodies (LBs), vibratome sections of the superior temporal cortex from eight patients with the LB variant of Alzheimer's disease (LBV) were double-immunolabeled with anti-ubiquitin (a marker of LBs) and anti-nonphosphorylated neurofilament (SMI32; a marker of pyramidal cells) or parvalbumin (PV; a marker of interneurons) and were viewed with a laser-scanning confocal microscope. Almost all (96.1%) the LB-containing neurons were positive for SMI32, but not for PV. Furthermore, the average numbers of SMI32-immunoreactive neurons in layers 3 and 5 were 63% and 77% of those in controls, respectively. PV-immunoreactive neurons showed a greater than 40% decrease. These findings indicate that cortical LB-containing neurons are pyramidal cells and suggest that in LBV, there may be some differences in the degenerative processes effecting pyramidal cells and interneurons.