Previous Article |
Table of Contents
| Next Article 
NEUROSCIENCE
Nonpharmacological amelioration of age-related learning deficits: The impact of hippocampal 
-triggered training
Department of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056
Communicated by Richard F. Thompson, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, July 29, 2005 (received for review February 3, 2005)
Age-related learning deficits are often attributed to deterioration of hippocampal function. Conversely, a well studied index of hippocampal activity, the 
rhythm, is known to enhance hippocampal plasticity and accelerate learning rate in young subjects, suggesting that manipulations of activity might be used as a means to counteract impairments related to the aging process. Here, young and older rabbits were given eyeblink conditioning trials either when exhibiting hippocampal (+) or regardless of hippocampal activity (yoked control). Although, as expected, older-yoked control animals showed a learning deficit, the older + group learned as fast as young controls, demonstrating that aging deficits, at least in eyeblink classical conditioning, can be overcome by giving trials during episodes of hippocampal activity. The use of several learning criteria showed that the benefits of hippocampal occur in multiple phases of learning that may depend on different cognitive or motor processes. Whereas there was a benefit of -triggered training in both age groups during the early phase of acquisition, the enhancement persisted in older animals, peaking during later performance. These findings have implications for theories of age-related memory deficits and may contribute to the development of beneficial treatments.
aging | eyeblink conditioning | memory | Alzheimer's disease
Abbreviations: EB, eyeblink; CS, conditioned stimulus; US, unconditioned stimulus; CR, conditioned response.
* Present address: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Bowdoin College, 6900 College Station, Brunswick, ME 04011.
Present address: Boston University Center for Memory and Brain, Boston, MA 02215.
Present address: Department of Alzheimer's Research, Merck Research Laboratories, West Point, PA 19486.
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: berrysd{at}muohio.edu.
© 2005 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg What's this?
