Animal Models of the Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome

In humans, deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B,) is associated with two well-defined neurological disorders: a mixed sensorymotor neuropathy and the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Disturbances of thiamine metabolism may also play a role in other human diseases, such as infantile subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (Leigh Disease), as well as in some forms of inherited ataxias. One of the characteristics of a number of these thiamine-deficiency disorders is the predilection to neuropathologic damage of specific regions of the central nervous system (CNS).