title: Effect of dietary fish oil supplementation on the exploratory activity, emotional status and spatial memory of the aged mouse lemur, a non-human primate.
abstract: The data are inconsistent about the ability of dietary omega-3 fatty acids to prevent age-associated cognitive decline. Indeed, most clinical trials have failed to demonstrate a protective effect of omega-3 fatty acids against cognitive decline, and methodological issues are still under debate. In contrast to human studies, experiments performed in adult rodents clearly indicate that omega-3 fatty acids supplement can improve behavioural and cognitive functions. The inconsistent observations between human and rodent studies highlight the importance of the use of non-human primate models. The aim of the present study was to address the impact of omega-3 fatty acids (given in the form of dietary fish oil) on exploratory activity, emotional status and spatial reference memory in the aged mouse lemur, a non-human primate. Aged animals fed fish oil exhibited decreased exploratory activity, as manifested by an increase in the latency to move and a reduced distance travelled in an open-field. The fish oil-supplemented animals exhibited no change in the anxiety level, but they were more reactive to go into the dark arms of a light/dark plus-maze. In addition, we found that fish oil supplementation did not significantly improve the spatial memory performance in the Barnes maze task. This study demonstrated for the first time that a fish oil diet initiated late in life specifically modifies the exploratory behaviour without improving the spatial memory of aged non-human primates. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation may be effective when started early in life but less effective when started at later ages.
authors.affiliation: UMR 7179 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Brunoy, France.
authors.forename: Solène
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Languille
authors.forename: Fabienne
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aujard
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pifferi
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects; D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000178:diet therapy; D016565:Cheirogaleidae; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004644:Emotions / Q000187:drug effects*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005395:Fish Oils / Q000737:chemistry; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D005395:Fish Oils; D008055:Lipids