Recent advances in neuroscience and molecular neurochemistry have subs
tantially increased the knowledge of the neuropathobiology of senile d
ementia and Alzheimer's disease. On the basis of various hypotheses co
ncerning degenerative processes in aging brains, new therapeutic strat
egies have been developed, including nootropic drugs with different me
chanisms of action and heterogenous chemical structures. Mutual relati
onships exist between neuroscientific research and nootropic drug deve
lopment. To date, such areas of research and drug development have inv
olved deficits of brain neurotransmission (cholinergic, monoaminergic,
peptidergic), free radical-induced damage, disturbances of calcium ho
meostasis and excitatory amino acid function, and deposition of amyloi
d protein.