Overview on Rodent Models of Alzheimer's Disease

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), characteristic lesions develop in brain regions that subserve cognitive functions, ultimately leading to dementia. There are now several lesioned or transgenic small-animal models of the disease that model select aspects of cognitive deficits and/or recapitulate many, but not all, of the characteristic pathologic lesions observed in AD. This overview describes the most common approaches used to model AD in rodents, highlights their utility, and discusses some of their deficiencies. Keywords: Alzheimer; Neurodegeneration; Lesion models; Transgenic; Cholinergic; Amyloid; Tau