title: A decreased survival of proliferated cells in the hippocampus is associated with a decline in spatial memory in aged rats.
abstract: In aged rats, although learning and memory impairment is prominent, both the number of granular cells and the degree of neuronal progenitor proliferation in the hippocampus are known to be preserved. We examined the association between the survival of newly generated neurons in the hippocampus and the learning ability in aged rats. By using BrdU, a cell proliferation marker to determine neurogenesis and contextual fear conditioning to determine learning ability, we found that in aged rats, along with memory impairment, the survival of both the proliferated cells at baseline and those enhanced by contextual fear conditioning decreased remarkably. These results suggest that the integration of newly generated neurons into hippocampal circuitry is decreased with aging, this phenomenon may, in part, explain the decline in learning and memory in aged rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, Yamanashi University, Yamanashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Henny
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wati
authors.forename: Koutaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Chunxiang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.forename: Toshihide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuroki
authors.forename: Shigenobu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanba
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D005239:Fear; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D051381:Rats; D013037:Spatial Behavior
chemical_list: D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine