Cummings Jeffrey L, Zhong Kate
Department of Neurology, 710 Westwood Plaza, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2006 Jan;5(1):64-74. doi: 10.1038/nrd1928.
Neuropsychiatric symptoms and behavioural alterations are common in neurodegenerative diseases, and effective treatment of these changes represents an important unmet public health need. Imaging, neuropathological, neurotransmitter and molecular genetic studies increasingly identify specific mechanisms that mediate behavioural changes in neurodegenerative disorders and provide a platform for seeking effective therapeutic interventions. Measuring behavioural outcomes in clinical trials of antidementia agents represents an important means of evaluating treatment effectiveness, and clinical trial methodologies and behavioural instrumentation are evolving to facilitate drug development in this important therapeutic target area.
神经精神症状和行为改变在神经退行性疾病中很常见，有效治疗这些变化是一项尚未满足的重要公共卫生需求。影像学、神经病理学、神经递质和分子遗传学研究越来越多地确定了介导神经退行性疾病行为改变的具体机制，并为寻求有效的治疗干预措施提供了一个平台。在抗痴呆药物的临床试验中测量行为结果是评估治疗效果的重要手段，临床试验方法和行为检测手段也在不断发展，以促进这一重要治疗靶点领域的药物开发。
