Animal Models for the Study of Human Neurodegenerative Diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases encompass a wide variety of age-related neuropathological conditions. Despite their enormous diversity in clinical phenotypes, most neurodegenerative diseases share a common feature, which is the accumulation of disease-specific proteins into insoluble aggregates that are thought to cause neuronal dysfunction. The precise understanding of the pathophysiology of these diseases is essential for developing disease-modifying strategies able to halt their progression. Animal models can contribute to increase the knowledge on the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases and, hence, to define new therapeutic strategies. These models may reproduce different aspects of the disease as defining symptoms and/or histopathological lesions. The purpose of this chapter is reviewing the most relevant animal models for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and frontotemporal dementia.