Environmentally-induced Changes in the Brains of Elderly Rats

Cummins, Robert A.; Walsh, Roger; Budtz-Olsen, O. E.; Konstantinos, T; Horsfall, C R

doi:10.1038/243516a0

Cited by 139 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It was most probable that the strenuous nature of the treadmill running might have resulted in increased metabolic demand, and hence greater heart and brain sizes. These data are in line with previous literature implicating the role of enriched environment and exercise to observable brain changes (Cummins et al, 1973;Anderson et al, 2002). More simplistically, it was indicative of the training effects of treadmill running.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Alterations in spatial learning and memory after forced exercise

et al. 2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A B S T R A C TExercise has been shown to influence learning and memory. Most studies were performed with a voluntary running paradigm (e.g. running wheel) in mice. However, such effects of exercise on learning and memory are less well demonstrated using a forced running paradigm (e.g. treadmill). The present study was designed to examine the effects of 12 weeks of forced treadmill running on learning and memory performance in rats. We have previously shown that forced running resulted in qualitative and quantitative changes in the cholinergic neurons of the horizontal diagonal band of Broca (HDB) in the septum. This study was conducted in order to determine whether or not these changes occur simultaneously with enhanced learning and memory. The one-day version of the Morris water maze (MWM) test [Frick, K.M., Stillner, E.T., Berger-Sweeney, J., 2000. Mice are not little rats: species differences in a one-day water maze task. NeuroReport 11, 3461-3465] was used to test spatial learning and memory after the exercise period. Our data showed that runners displayed better spatial learning and memory when compared to nonrunners. This was evidently shown by a reduction in the time required for spatial acquisition (p < 0.05) and superior probe trial performance (p < 0.05). A shorter distance swam by the runners also suggested improved learning over the nonrunners (p < 0.05). In an attempt to revalidate our earlier quantitative results, we used design-based stereology (DBS) to estimate the number of cholinergic neuronal profile population in the medial septum and diagonal band (MSDB).We confirmed that forced running increased the cholinergic neuronal profile subpopulation in the HDB (Coefficient of Error < 0.2). Taken together, these results indicate that forced exercise could influence learning and memory with a concomitant increase in the number of cholinergic neurons in the HDB.⁎ Corresponding authors. E.-T. Ang is to be contacted at

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Alterations in spatial learning and memory after forced exercise

et al. 2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus we did not find that early deprivation of experience caused a permanent deficit, at least for rats tested on spatial problems. Also, decreases in cortical weights induced by 300 days in the IC (versus the EC) environment could be overcome by a few weeks of training and testing in the Hebb-Williams mazes (Cummins et al 1973). Below, we note a similar effect in birds.…”

Section: Enriched Experience Improves Ability To Learn and To Solve Pmentioning

confidence: 62%

Aspects of the Search for Neural Mechanisms of Memory

Rosenzweig

1996

Annu. Rev. Psychol.

102

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The search for neural mechanisms of memory has been under way for more than a century. The pace quickened in the 1960s when investigators found that training or differential experience leads to significant changes in brain neurochemistry, anatomy, and electrophysiology. Many steps have now been identified in the neurochemical cascade that starts with neural stimulation and ends with encoding information in long-term memory. Applications of research in this field are being made to child development, successful aging, recovery from brain damage, and animal welfare. Extensions of current research and exciting new techniques promise novel insights into mechanisms of memory in the decades ahead. CONTENTS

show abstract

“…In our previous experiment, mice participated in a battery of behavioral tasks lasting ∼5 wk. Previous studies have shown that behavioral testing can significantly alter brain cholinergic and GABAergic function (Matthies et al 1978;Caldji et al 2000) and increase brain weight (Cummins et al 1973). Synaptophysin immunoreactivity was unaltered by aging and enrichment in either sex, although correlations in males suggest a relationship between elevated hippocampal synaptophysin and better spatial memory.…”

Section: Enrichment Improves Memory In Middle-aged Micementioning

confidence: 79%

Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Spatial Memory and Neurochemistry in Middle-Aged Mice

Frick¹,

Stearns²,

Pan³

et al. 2003

Learn. Mem.

149

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study compared the effects of environmental enrichment on spatial memory, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) activity, and synaptophysin levels in middle-aged male and female mice. Prior to testing, a subset of 18-month-old male and female C57BL/6 mice was housed with two to three toys and a running wheel in the home cage for up to 29 d. Adult mice (7 mo) of both sexes and the remaining middle-aged mice were group (social) housed, but not exposed to enriching objects. After the enrichment period, all mice were tested in a 1-day version of the Morris water maze, in which both spatial and nonspatial memory were assessed. Immediately after testing, the hippocampus and frontoparietal cortex were dissected, and GAD activity and synaptophysin levels were measured. Environmental enrichment reduced the age-related impairment in spatial acquisition and retention; relative to adult social controls, middle-aged enriched mice were unimpaired, whereas middle-aged social controls were impaired. This reduction was similar in middle-aged males and females. Enrichment did not affect cued memory in either sex. Although hippocampal GAD activity was increased by enrichment in males, all other neurochemical measurements were unaffected by enrichment or aging in either sex. These data suggest that environmental enrichment initiated at middle age can reduce age-related impairments in spatial memory in males and females, although the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of this effect remain unknown.

show abstract

Environmentally-induced Changes in the Brains of Elderly Rats

Cited by 139 publications

References 5 publications

Alterations in spatial learning and memory after forced exercise

Alterations in spatial learning and memory after forced exercise

Aspects of the Search for Neural Mechanisms of Memory

Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Spatial Memory and Neurochemistry in Middle-Aged Mice

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About