title: Functional degradation of visual cortical cells in aged rats.
abstract: Functional degradation of mammalian visual cortex is associated with aging. It has been hypothesized that much of the decline might be mediated by a degradation of cortical inhibitory system during senescence. In the present work, we compared the properties of adaptation, onset latency and signal-to-noise ratio in primary visual cortex of young and old rats using extracellular single-unit techniques. The short-term synaptic plasticity of young and old rats was also studied using field potential recording techniques. We found significant increased adaptation, prolonged onset latency, lower signal-to-noise ratio and decreased short-term synaptic plasticity in aged rats. The results are in accordance with previously reported functional declines in old monkeys and old cats, indicating a universal mechanism of degradation in cortical function that accompanies old age in different mammalian species.
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, PR China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiaoqiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Xiangrui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yifeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D011930:Reaction Time; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*