title: Changes in electrophysiological properties of axon terminals of locus coeruleus neurons with age in F344 rat.
abstract: Age-dependent changes in electrophysiological properties of locus coeruleus (LC) neurons were studied in urethane anesthetized male F344 rats aged 8, 17 and 22 months. These properties, such as spontaneous firing rate, conduction time, and threshold currents were measured for individual LC neurons antidromically activated from terminals in the frontal cortex. We found no change in the electrophysiological properties with age except for an increased number of low-threshold LC neurons in 22-month-old rats compared to that of 8-month-old rats. These results suggested that the electrophysiological properties of cortical axon terminals of LC neurons changed with age.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Physiology, Department of Basic Gerontology, National Institute for Longevity Sciences, 474-8522, Obu, Japan. shiro@nils.go.jp
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shirokawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Isobe
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D004056:Differential Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D004594:Electrophysiology; D008125:Locus Coeruleus / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344