Reactivity to novelty during youth as a predictive factor of cognitive impairment in the elderly: a longitudinal study in rats
Brain Research. 1994-08-01; 653(1-2): 51-56
DOI: 10.1016/0006-8993(94)90371-9
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Dellu F(1), Mayo W, Vallée M, Le Moal M, Simon H.
Author information:
(1)Laboratoire de Psychobiologie des Comportements Adaptatifs, INSERM U.259,
Université de Bordeaux II, France.
A life-span study of certain behavioral traits was conducted in rats. Animals
were repeatedly tested in a circular corridor for reactivity to novelty and in a
recognition memory task for cognitive abilities. These measures revealed
important inter-individual differences in young as well as in old subjects. Some
of these differences appear with aging (memory deficits) and others disappear
(high reactivity to novelty). Moreover, a relationship between high reactivity
to novelty in youth and deficits in memory recognition in elderly was found.
Rats that are high-responders to novelty had age-related memory impairments
whereas the low-responder rats did not. While the biological mechanism linking
these two behavioral traits remains to be demonstrated, this study shows that
age-related impairments can be predicted by factors detectable early in life.
DOI: 10.1016/0006-8993(94)90371-9
PMID: 7982075 [Indexed for MEDLINE]