title: Insights into age-related locomotor declines from studies of insects.
abstract: Locomotor deficits frequently accompany aging in animals. These deficits are often caused by degeneration in the nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Insects are an excellent model for age-related behavior studies because they are short-lived and have a reduced nervous system with fewer cells than vertebrates. Furthermore, they are highly mobile and display a complex set of locomotor behaviors. This review presents research that has examined age-related locomotor deficits in insects and discusses the value of these studies to understand aging processes in all animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. angela.ridgel@case.edu
authors.forename: Angela L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Ridgel
authors.forename: Roy E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Ritzmann
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*