FUNCTIONAL AND NEUROBIOLOGICAL SIMILARITIES OF AGING IN MONKEYS AND HUMANS

Aging in humans may be accompanied by alterations in several functiona l abilities. However, there is a great deal of individual variability in the functions that may be altered with age within and across aged p eople. One potential source of age-related behavioral variation may li e in a differential vulnerability of neurobiological systems to the ag ing process in particular individuals. Aged monkeys demonstrate behavi oral and brain alterations that have many parallels with those observe d in aged humans and are valuable animal models in which to investigat e the interrelationships between age, behavior and neurobiological mea sures. This review outlines the similarities of functional and neurobi ological aging in monkeys and humans, notes the variability that exist s in both behavioral and neural systems in aging, and identifies some of the areas of aging that are in need of further investigation.