Neurological conditions are difficult to study because of the limited accessibility to human brain tissue. Animal models, such as transgenic rodents, can recapitulate AD phenotypes to an extent; however, a number of drugs that have shown promising results in mouse models have, failed to prevent cognitive decline in late phase clinical trials [27–30]. There are general concerns on the validity of rodent models [31,32], and a number of genetic variants associated with increased risk for human disease are located in non-coding regions of the genome that are not well-conserved between species [33]. Thus, an alternative model for AD that exhibits pathology in human cells may better serve to predict clinical outcomes. In the last decade, the advent of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has revolutionized human in vitro models systems [34–37]. Using this technology, we can derive specific neural cell types from patients with sporadic or familial AD, and use these cultures to both study disease mechanisms and develop novel therapies [38,39]. A number of groups have performed functional studies using iPSC-derived neural cells to model various aspects of AD pathology [40–50].
