Effects of short-term running exercise on spatial learning capacity of middle-aged and aged rats
AIM: To investigate the effects of short-term running exercise on the spatial learning capacity of middle-aged and aged rats. METHODS: Fourteen months and twenty-four months aged male and female SD rate were randomly assigned to running group and control group. The rats in running group took treadmill exercise for 4 months. The rats in control group were housed under standard condition for 4 months without running. The spatial learning capacity of animals in both running group and in control group was then assessed using Morris Water Maze. RESULTS: The running exercise significantly improved the spatial learning capacity of the 18-month female rats, but the difference in the spatial learning capacity of the 18-month male rats between running group and control group was not statistically significant. The spatial learning capacity of the 28-month male and female rats between running group and control group was not significantly different. CONCLUSION: Short-term running exercise remarkably improves the spatial learning capacity of middle-aged female rats. This result provides an important theoretical basis for the application of similar strategy to delay the progress of brain function decline with aging.
ratsspatial learning capacityrunning exercisemorris water maze
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
维普
