A Neurocomputational Model of the Role of Cholesterol in the Development Process of Alzheimer's Disease

摘要

This work presents a mathematical-computational model of the development process of Alzheimer's disease, based on the assumption that cholesterol plays a key role in the formation of hallmark neuropathological lesions that characterize the disease: the senile amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The final model, conceived as a system of equations, was implemented as a computer program and, thereafter, two sets of tests were carried out. In the first set of tests, aimed at validating the model, the results obtained from the simulations carried out were qualitatively coherent with in vivo or in vitro experiments found in the consulted literature. In the second set, we performed simulations in order to test a number of hypotheses about the development process of the disease, collected from the literature but yet without experimental confirmation. From the results of these simulations, it was possible to validate those hypotheses and to draw some conclusions about the development process of the disease.