Animal models of brain ageing and dementia.

Six animal models of human brain ageing or of age-related diseases, especially Alzheimer's disease, are evaluated. Special emphasis is laid on comparing the neuropathological symptoms found in aged human brains or in Alzheimer patients, with the neuronal symptoms induced experimentally by the different treatments described here. For each model, the experimental methods for induction of the neuropathological symptoms (lipofuscin accumulation, senile plaques, neurofibrillary degeneration, etc.) and for their identification are discussed. In addition, the behavioral significance of each animal model is evaluated in the content of its meaning for cognitive alterations in senescence or in dementia.