THE USE OF ANIMAL-MODELS TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF AGING ON COGNITION

This review addresses the importance of animal models for understandin g the effects of normal aging on the brain and cognitive functions. Fi rst, studies of laboratory animals can help to distinguish between hea lthy aging and pathological conditions that may contribute to cognitiv e decline late in life. Second, research on individual differences in aging, a theme of interest in studies of elderly human beings, can be advanced by the experimental control afforded in the use of animal mod els. The review offers a neuropsychological framework to compare the e ffects of aging in human beings, monkeys, and rodents. We consider agi ng in relation to the role of the medial temporal lobe in memory, the information processing functions of the prefrontal cortex in the strat egic use of memory, and the regulation of attention by distributed neu ral circuitry. We also provide an overview of the neurobiological effe cts of aging that may account for alterations in psychological functio ns.