Water maze training in aged rats: effects on brain metabolic capacity and behavior

The effects of Morris water maze training on brain metabolism and behavior were compared between aged (20–22 months) and young (2–4 months) Fischer 344 male rats. Each group had yoked controls, which swam the same amount of time as the trained rats but without the platform. This was followed after 9...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain research 2002-06, Vol.939 (1), p.43-51
Main Authors: Villarreal, J.S., Gonzalez-Lima, F., Berndt, J., Barea-Rodriguez, E.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging
Animals
Behavior, Animal
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - enzymology
Cytochrome oxidase
Electron Transport Complex IV - metabolism
Fischer 344 rat
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Lateral habenula
Male
Maze Learning
Metabolic mapping
Miscellaneous
Perirhinal cortex
Physical Conditioning, Animal - physiology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Rats
Rats, Inbred F344
Stress, Psychological - physiopathology
Swimming
Vestibular nucleus
Visuospatial learning
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Summary:The effects of Morris water maze training on brain metabolism and behavior were compared between aged (20–22 months) and young (2–4 months) Fischer 344 male rats. Each group had yoked controls, which swam the same amount of time as the trained rats but without the platform. This was followed after 9 days by quantitative histochemical mapping of brain cytochrome oxidase, the terminal enzyme for cellular respiration. The aged rats spent a significantly lower percent of time in the correct quadrant and had a longer latency to escape to the hidden platform, relative to the young rats. Metabolic differences between trained aged and young rats were found in regions related to escape under stress: perirhinal cortex, basolateral amygdala and lateral habenula; and vestibular nuclei that guide orientation in three-dimensional space. These differences were not found in the yoked swimming rats. The results suggest that, at the time point investigated, water maze training in aged Fischer 344 rats produces altered oxidative energy metabolism in task-relevant limbic and vestibular regions.
ISSN:0006-8993
1872-6240
DOI:10.1016/S0006-8993(02)02545-3