The knowledge about the pathogenesis and the development of the neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been organised throughout the years into two theories, namely the cholinergic and the amyloid hypotheses. The loss of cholinergic neurotransmission and the abnormal aggregation and deposition of the amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) in the brain are retained as the central events by the two theories, respectively. These