Brain Aging in Mouse Lemurs
John Allman
Division of Biology 216-76
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125
Among primates, the small nocturnal mouse lemur is a promising animal for
aging research. This primate offers a good model system for aging
chronobiology because its life span can be changed by manipulating
photoperiodic cycles. Age-related behavioral alterations as well as
amyloid deposits, neurofibrillary degeneration, and iron and lipofuscin
deposits, the hallmarks of normal and pathologic human aging, have been
observed in the brains of old mouse lemurs. Cerebral atrophy is also
present in some aged animals. Magnetic resonance imaging allowed the
evaluation of an iron content-based index of aging and the detection, in
vivo, of iron levels in the basal forebrain.
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