A strong core of laboratories at the University of Minnesota undertake studies on neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers of Alzheimer's disease have developed one of the most widely used transgenic mice model, which express the human amyloid precursor protein and exhibit some of the neuropathological hallmarks seen in Alzheimer's patients.

These will help determine mechanisms of pathophysiology and therapy.
Other Alzheimer's researchers have discovered a simple non-invasive intranasal method to bypass the blood-brain barrier and deliver therapeutic agents to the brain to treat Alzheimer's disease, stroke and other brain disorders. Researchers into Multiple Sclerosis (MS) investigate the antigens responsible for the destruction of myelin by cells of the immune system and seek ways to control the destructive inflammation by modulating the responses to these antigens. Studies involve both patient material and animals with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, a model of MS. Cerebellar ataxia is characterized by the progressive loss of neurons in the cerebellum. Transgenic mice with a variant called spinocerebellar ataxia have been developed at the University of Minnesota and are used to study the neuropathological basis of this disease. In the study of Parkinson's disease (PD), laboratory animals with a selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra are used to evaluate the efficacy of neuronal transplants and stem cells to restore function. Investigations also include neurogenetic studies to identify possible genes involved in PD.

Another group of investigators are interested in spinal cord injury and study intrinsic mechanisms of axonal regeneration, such as the control of the motile activity of growing nerve tips and neuronal surface molecules that mediate nerve cell adhesion to intrinsic nervous system tissue and connective tissue. A new translational research facility will help bring together basic and clinical sciences and increase the speed of moving from the laboratory bench to treating human patients.