An assessment of behavioral aging in the Mongolian gerbil

• Published in: Experimental gerontology 1997-11, Vol.32 (6), p.707-717
• Main Authors: Spangler, Edward L., Hengemihle, John, Blank, Grant, Speer, Dorey L., Brzozowski, Stacie, Patel, Namisha, Ingram, Donald K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aging - psychology; animal model; Animals; Avoidance Learning - physiology; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Body Weight - physiology; Circadian Rhythm - physiology; epilepsy; Gerbillinae - physiology; Gerbillinae - psychology; Incidence; learning; Male; Maze Learning - physiology; memory; Motor Activity - physiology; motor skills; Seizures - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0531-5565; 1873-6815
• DOI: 10.1016/S0531-5565(97)00055-7

Male Mongolian gerbils ( Meriones unguiculatus) 14–54 months old ( n = 77) were evaluated in a battery of psychomotor (open field, locomotor, and runwheel activity, rotorod performance) and learning (one-way active avoidance in a straight runway and in 14-unit T-maze performance) tests. Body weight and seizure activity were also monitored. According to linear regression analysis, runwheel activity decreased with age; and the number of errors in the 14-unit T-maze increased as a function of age ( ps ⩽ 0.05). None of the other behavioral measures or body weight were significantly correlated with age. This gerbil strain (Tumblebrook Farms; West Brookfield, MA) tended to be very prone to seizures with 64% of the gerbils experiencing at least one seizure while being tested. Seizures tended to occur when the gerbil was exposed to a novel situation (e.g., initial weighing, placement on the rotorod). An age-related decline in some aspects of psychomotor and learning performance was observed, suggesting the gerbil as an additional mammalian model of aging. The high incidence of seizure activity presented a complicating and confounding variable to the interpretation of the results of the behavioral tests used in the present study. Interventions to control seizure activity (e.g., systematic, controlled breeding; adaptation to apparati) in this model will likely increase its viability as a mammalian model of aging.