India, June 24 -- Domestic cats age in remarkably similar ways to humans and show comparable age-related patterns of brain deterioration, according to an international collaboration between the University of Bath, Auburn College of Veterinary Medicine in the US and Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse in France.

This research, published in Biology Open, offers new opportunities for studying human ageing and age-related diseases for two key reasons:

Pet cats - unlike many laboratory animals - can live long enough to develop age-related brain changes similar to those seen in older humans.

Current research often relies on laboratory animals, where diseases are artificially induced and lifespans are limited.

These data points covered b...