Modeling disorders of fatty acid metabolism in the mouse.

There are at least 17 enzymes involved in mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation encoded by at least 21 genes. For most of these genes, humans with genetic deficiencies have been identified. The mouse possesses a very similar fatty acid oxidation system and has served well as an organism for modeling genetic loss of function.

Drug therapies for cognitive impairment and dementia.

Drugs currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease include acetylcholinesterase inhibitor drugs (tacrine [Cognex®], donepezil [Aricept®], rivastigmine [Exelon®, Exelon Patch®], and galantamine [Reminyl®, Razadyne®]) and glutamate-modulating drugs (memantine [Namenda®]).

The relationship between pain and mental flexibility in older adult pain clinic patients.

Objective: Persistent pain and cognitive impairment are each common in older adults. Mental flexibility, memory, and information-processing speed may be particularly vulnerable in the aging brain. We investigated the effects of persistent pain on these cognitive domains among community-dwelling, nondemented older adults.