NGF improves spatial memory in aged rodents as a function of age.
Aged rats were tested for place navigation in a circular water maze for spatial memory ability at 18 and 30 months of age; 45% of the 18-month-old rats displayed impaired place navigation performance relative to young control rats, while essentially all of the 30-month-old rats were impaired. The aged impaired rats were retested twice during NGF or vehicle infusion in the right lateral ventricle. In the 18-month-old group, NGF-infused rats showed improved retention of previously acquired place navigation performance and improved spatial acuity over the former platform site when the invisible platform was removed. NGF infusion also had a significant effect in the much more severely impaired 30-month-old rats: while the vehicle-infused aged rats showed a progressive decline in the performance between the first and second test weeks, the performance of the NGF-infused rats remained stable throughout the infusion period. The interpretation of these effects in the oldest animals, however, was confounded by a progressive decline in swim speed seen in the vehicle-infused animals. The 30-month-old vehicle-infused control rats showed a significant cell loss and cell shrinkage relative to the young control rats in the septal/diagonal band area, the striatum, and the nucleus basalis as assessed by NGF-receptor (NGFr) and ChAT double-label immunocytochemistry. A significant increase in the size but not in the number of cells was observed on the side of the NGF infusion in the 30-month-old NGF-infused rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Fischer
W
W
Department of Medical Cell Research, University of Lund, Sweden.
Björklund
A
A
Chen
K
K
Gage
F H
FH
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology; D002452:Cell Count; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D007858:Learning; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000032:analysis; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor; D013550:Swimming
D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase