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Alzheimer s disease (AD) is characterized by profound memory loss sufficient to interfere with social and occupationalfunctioning. It is the most common form of dementia, affecting more than 20 million people worldwide. AD is characterized by an insidious loss of memory, associated functional decline, and behavioral disturbances. Patients may live for more than a decade after they are diagnosed with AD, making it the leading cause of disability in the elderly. The incidence of AD rangesfrom I to 4 percent of the population per year, rising from its lowest level at ages 65 to 70 years to rates that may approach 6 percent for those over the age of 85 years. The first neurotransmitter defect discovered in AD involved acetylcholine (A Ch). As cholinergic function is requiredfor short-term memory, the cholinergic deficit in AD was also believed to be responsible for much of the short-term memory deficit. Clinical drug trials in …