The Exceptional Vulnerability of Humans to Alzheimer's Disease

Like many humans, non-human primates deposit copious misfolded A beta protein in the brain as they age. Nevertheless, the complete behavioral and pathologic phenotype of Alzheimer's disease, including Ab plaques, neurofibrillary (tau) tangles, and dementia, has not yet been identified in a non-human species. Recent research suggests that the crucial link between Ab aggregation and tauopathy is somehow disengaged in aged monkeys. Understanding why Alzheimer's disease fails to develop in species that are biologically proximal to humans could disclose new therapeutic targets in the chain of events leading to neurodegeneration and dementia.