Cognitive aging is associated with redistribution of synaptic weights in the hippocampus.

ABSTRACT: Behaviors that rely on the hippocampus are particularly susceptible to chronological aging, with many aged animals (including humans) maintaining cognition at a young adult-like level, but many others the same age showing marked impairments. It is unclear whether the ability to maintain cognition over time is attributable to brain maintenance, sufficient cognitive reserve, compensatory changes in network function, or some combination thereof. While network dysfunction within the hippocampal circuit of aged, learning-impaired animals is well-documented, its neurobiological substrates remain elusive. Here we show that the synaptic architecture of hippocampal regions CA1 and CA3 is maintained in a young adult-like state in aged rats that performed comparably to their young adult counterparts

SUBMITTER: Buss EW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7923642 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature