Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the effects of aerobic exercise on learning and memory of aging brain and the underlying potential mechanism. We adopted the method of intraperitoneal administration for 6 weeks to induce aging rat model and gave rats swimming exercise intervention in the process of aging modeling. Then the Morris Water Maze test, immunofluorescence, western blotting and real time PCR technology were adopted to estimate rats’ learning and memory abilities and the expression levels of BDNF and SYP in hippocampus respectively. Compared with the aging model rats induced by D-gal administration, the rats subjected to swimming exercise in the process of aging modeling showed not only faster acquisition and better retention of the maze but also higher expression levels of BDNF and SYP in hippocampus. These findings provide evidence that aerobic exercise could ameliorate learning and memory deficits of aging rats induced by D-gal, which is related to aerobic exercise’ promoting hippocampal BNDF and SYP expression.
Highlights
The decline in cognitive functions, especially learning and memory deficits, is prevalent among older adults, which results in degraded quality of life for them[1,2]
There was no significant difference in swimming speed among 3 groups during the 6-day training period (Figure 1b), suggesting that the escape latencies were not influenced by swimming velocity
Our previous studies have confirmed that rats injected with D-gal for 6 weeks resulted in deterioration of learning and memory capacity and increase of free radicals in the brain[19], which is similar to the performance in natural aging
Summary
The decline in cognitive functions, especially learning and memory deficits, is prevalent among older adults, which results in degraded quality of life for them[1,2]. How to slow down the impairments of learning and memory in the aging process to promote the development of cognitive function is one of the goals of public health. It has been demonstrated by both epidemiological and experimental studies that physical exercises contribute to achieving the goal[3,4], the underlying mechanism remains incompletely unclear. It is well known that the learning and memory formation are based on the neuron synaptic plasticity[5]. Previous studies have confirmed that the decrease of SYP in hippocampus, an important brain area responsible for learning and memory, is relevant to age-dependent impairments in learning and memory[8,9]. Whether aerobic exercise has influence on SYP in aging hippocampus still remains unknown
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