Sex in aging matters: exercise and chronic stress differentially impact females and males across the lifespan.

ABSTRACT: Assessing sex as a biological variable is critical to determining the influence of environmental and lifestyle risks and protective factors mediating behavior and neuroplasticity across the lifespan. We investigated sex differences in affective behavior, memory, and hippocampal neurogenesis following short- or long-term exposure to exercise or chronic mild stress in young and aged mice. Male and female mice were assigned control, running, or chronic stress rearing conditions for 1 month (young) or for 15 months (aged), then underwent a behavioral test battery to assess activity, affective behavior, and memory. Stress exposure into late-adulthood increased hyperactivity in both sexes, and enhanced anxiety-like and depressive-like behavior in aged female, but not male, mice. One month of str

SUBMITTER: Sullens DG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11774976 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature