Long-term potentiation is lost in aged rats but preserved by calorie restriction.
Recordings of synaptic population responses, post-tetanic potentiation (PTP) and long-term potentiation (LTP) were made from area CA1 in hippocampal slices from ad libitum-fed rats at about 2 and 24 months of age, and also in animals at about 24 months of age that had been restricted to 60% of the caloric intake of control animals since weaning. Both PTP and LTP were greatly reduced in the old ad-lib animals. Calorically-restricted rats at about 24 months of age showed hippocampal responses with initial peak amplitudes more like those of 2-month controls than the ad-lib animals at 24 months. These observations suggest that calorie restriction preserves nervous-system functions, including indicators of plasticity such as LTP, which are otherwise lost in aging.
Hori
N
N
Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research, New York State Department of Health, Albany 12201-0509.
Hirotsu
I
I
Davis
P J
PJ
Carpenter
D O
DO
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; D004032:Diet; D004594:Electrophysiology; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000187:drug effects*; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology
D011494:Protein Kinases; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases