Lay summary
Alzheimer's disease is a serious health problem in New Zealand and around the world. In Alzheimer's disease, the cholinergic cells in the brain are injured causing impairment of intellectual function. The female hormone, estrogen, helps cholinergic cells recover from injury but unfortunately has several serious side-effects that prevent its use as a therapy for Alzheimer's disease. However, synthetic estrogens, ANGELS, do not cause the unwanted effects of estrogen. Using quantitative immunohistochemistry, imaging and transgenic technologies, we will investigate whether ANGELS help cholinergic brain cells recover from injury. This work will establish whether ANGELS have potential as a future treatment for Alzheimer's disease.