The Use of Neuroengineering to Model Brain Disease: Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and Schizophrenia

Abstract

Predicting, diagnosing, and treating neurological disease is a significant challenge in current medical research. This review will consider computational neuroengineering models of the brain for three specific neurological diseases: Alzheimers disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and schizophrenia. These diseases were specifically chosen because they affect similar areas of the brain and involve similar symptoms. The physiology and pathology of each disease will be reviewed, as well as the most promising computational models of these diseases. Computational simulation is expected to help improve the understanding of the relationship between cellular pathology and cognitive performance. Future approaches for diagnosing and treating AD, PD, and schizophrenia will be suggested based on conclusions made from the models’ results.