Longitudinal study on age-related changes of working and reference memory in the rat.
Age-related changes of working memory and reference memory were examined using different age groups of Fischer 344 rats (cross-sectional study) and one group of the same strain which was repeatedly tested at different age points (longitudinal study). Delayed non-matching test in a T-maze revealed 3 points as follows: (1) since motivation by food deprivation in the task performance seemed to decrease with aging, it was needed to adjust the food deprivation level so as to attain a similar degree of motivation in different age groups; (2) scores in reference memory task remained very high in the aged in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies; and on the other hand (3) performance of working memory task declined with aging to the same degree in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, suggesting that working memory progressively deteriorates in advancing age.
Department of Membrane Biochemistry, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Japan.
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Ando
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Ohashi
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344