Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the main cause of dementia in humans and represents one of the greatest challenges for public health1. One significant obstacle in AD research is the absence of a natural animal model. A reliable animal model of disease is a mainstay of effective translational research2.
Humans and many mammals exhibit cognitive and behavioral declines associated with aging. Nevertheless, while cognitive decline in humans is mainly attributed to AD, aging has been assumed to cause the decline in other mammals3.
The presence of amyloid in the brains of older mammals has been reported; however, these animals have not been shown to exhibit neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) pathology4,5. Abnormally hyperphosphorylated tau has been reported in neurons in several aged mammalian models, but most of these animals lacked classic NFT6,7. The consensus that has prevailed for several years…
