Similar alterations in the neuronal cytoskeleton (paired helical filaments) and modifications in the molecular forms of acetylcholinesterase (specific decrease in the G4 form) have been detected in the elderly rat as well as in patients suffering from SDAT. These observations challenge the specificity of some manifestations of dementia to the human species and provide new opportunities to study these alterations using rat peripheral nervous system as an experimental model.
Klosen, P., Goemaere-Vanneste, J., Terao, E., & Van den Bosch de Aguilar, P. (1989). Approche expérimentale des manifestations de la démence sénile. Acta Neurologica Belgica, 89(3-4), 294-299. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/135118 (Original work published 1989)