Measurement of cognitive function: relating rodent performance with human minds.
Rodents are the most commonly employed animals to model human cognitive dysfunction, but many of the behavioural paradigms employed for evaluation of rodent cognitive abilities measure functions rather different from those generally assessed in humans. This may be one reason for the failure of these models to allow valid predictions about drug effects in demented patients. One solution to this may be the use of a more comparative approach. Careful experimental designs indicate that comparative attentional as well as mnemonic processes can be assessed in rat and human subjects. This could be an essential step towards the successful development of drugs with therapeutic potential in cognitive disorders.
Steckler
T
T
MRC Neurochemical Pathology Unit, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK.
Muir
J L
JL
D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats