Persistence of the effects of voluntary exercise on spatial learning in the rat: assessment of underlying mechanisms.

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Persistence of the effects of voluntary exercise on spatial learning in the rat: assessment of underlying mechanisms. Robert T. O' Connell1*, Robert Kerley1, Jack Prenderville1 and Áine Kelly1 1 Trinity College Dublin, Department of Physiology, Ireland We have previously shown that the enhancing effect of wheel running on spatial learning in rats persists for 3 weeks after exercise cessation, but expression and phosphorylation of plasticity-related proteins is not enhanced by exercise at this timepoint. We hypothesise that neurogenesis may mediate the persistence of the exercise-induced improvement in cognitive function. Male Han Wistar rats (n=16) were divided into voluntary wheel running (n=8) or sedentary control (n=8) groups. Exercising rats had access to a running wheel for 1 hr/day for 1 week; all rats received daily injections of the thymidine analogue bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU; 50mg/kg ip). Rats were trained in an object displacement (OD) task and tested and killed 2 weeks after training. Brains were hemisected; sections were prepared from left hemispheres for immunohistochemical analysis. Dentate gyrus and hippocampus were subdissected from right hemispheres and prepared for RNA isolation and qPCR. We show that mRNA expression of Ki67, a cell proliferation marker, does not differ significantly between groups. Neither were there significant differences in mRNA expression of the exercise and plasticity-related proteins brain-derived neurotrophic factor, nerve growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor or TrkA and TrkB between groups, suggesting a return to baseline expression levels at this time point. Cognitive testing occurred during a critical period in neuronal development during which the immature cells are known to exhibit enhanced plasticity. Immunohistochemical analysis of BrdU labelled cells in the dentate gyrus samples is currently underway to test whether the cognitive enhancement we observed in exercised rats is due to increased neurogenesis. Acknowledgements Funding support from Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin. Keywords: rat model, object displacement, Spatial learning, Exercise, synaptic plasticity, Neurogenesis, neurotrophins Conference: Neuroscience Ireland Young Neuroscientists Symposium 2014 , Dublin, Ireland, 20 Sep - 20 Sep, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Early Career Neuroscience Citation: O' Connell RT, Kerley R, Prenderville J and Kelly Á (2014). Persistence of the effects of voluntary exercise on spatial learning in the rat: assessment of underlying mechanisms.. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Neuroscience Ireland Young Neuroscientists Symposium 2014 . doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2014.87.00009 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 06 Sep 2014; Published Online: 06 Sep 2014. * Correspondence: Mr. Robert T O' Connell, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Physiology, Dublin, Ireland, oconner6@tcd.ie Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Robert T O' Connell Robert Kerley Jack Prenderville Áine Kelly Google Robert T O' Connell Robert Kerley Jack Prenderville Áine Kelly Google Scholar Robert T O' Connell Robert Kerley Jack Prenderville Áine Kelly PubMed Robert T O' Connell Robert Kerley Jack Prenderville Áine Kelly Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.