Motor dysfunction and cognitive impairment are major symptoms in both
Huntington's Disease (HD) and Parkinson's Disease (PD). A breakthrough
in HD research was the identification of the gene that causes this
devastating monogenetic illness. Similarly, several genes were found to
cause familial forms of PD. With their identification, a plethora of
genetic animal models has been generated and has revolutionized the
understanding of the pathobiology and pathophysiology of these
disorders. The models allow us to study the earliest manifestations of
the diseases behaviorally and neuropathologically and help us understand
how they progress over time. Additionally, neurotoxic animal models are
still of high interest to the PD field, as they are being used to study
e.g. mitochondrial dysfunction in PD. This book focuses on animal models
of both diseases and how they have helped and will continue to help
understand the behavioral neurobiology in these disorders.