Abstract
Alterations in the basal forebrain cholinergic system have been widely studied in brain aging and Alzheimer's disease, but the magnitude of decline and relationship to cognitive impairment are still a matter of debate. The rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) provides a compelling model to study age-related memory decline, as the pattern of impairment closely parallels that observed in humans. Here, we used antibodies against the vesicular acetylcholine transporter and a new stereological technique to estimate total cholinergic fiber length in hippocampal subregions of behaviorally characterized young and aged rhesus monkeys. The analysis revealed an age-related decline in the length of cholinergic fibers of 22%, which was similar across the hippocampal subregions studied (dentate gyrus granule cell and molecular layers, CA2/3-hilus, and CA1), and across the rostral-caudal extent of the hippocampus. This effect, however, was unrelated to performance on the delayed nonmatching-to-sample task, a test of recognition memory sensitive to hippocampal system dysfunction and cognitive aging in monkeys. These findings indicate that a decline in cholinergic input fails to account for the influence of normal aging on memory supported by the primate hippocampal region.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 238-246 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of Comparative Neurology |
| Volume | 475 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 19 2004 |
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Keywords
- Acetylcholine
- Aging
- Cognition
- Hippocampus
- Nonhuman primate
- Stereology
- Terms
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience(all)
Cite this
Reduction in hippocampal cholinergic innervation is unrelated to recognition memory impairment in aged rhesus monkeys. / Calhoun, Michael E.; Mao, Ying; Roberts, Jeffrey A; Rapp, Peter R.
In: Journal of Comparative Neurology, Vol. 475, No. 2, 19.07.2004, p. 238-246.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Reduction in hippocampal cholinergic innervation is unrelated to recognition memory impairment in aged rhesus monkeys
AU - Calhoun, Michael E.
AU - Mao, Ying
AU - Roberts, Jeffrey A
AU - Rapp, Peter R.
PY - 2004/7/19
Y1 - 2004/7/19
N2 - Alterations in the basal forebrain cholinergic system have been widely studied in brain aging and Alzheimer's disease, but the magnitude of decline and relationship to cognitive impairment are still a matter of debate. The rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) provides a compelling model to study age-related memory decline, as the pattern of impairment closely parallels that observed in humans. Here, we used antibodies against the vesicular acetylcholine transporter and a new stereological technique to estimate total cholinergic fiber length in hippocampal subregions of behaviorally characterized young and aged rhesus monkeys. The analysis revealed an age-related decline in the length of cholinergic fibers of 22%, which was similar across the hippocampal subregions studied (dentate gyrus granule cell and molecular layers, CA2/3-hilus, and CA1), and across the rostral-caudal extent of the hippocampus. This effect, however, was unrelated to performance on the delayed nonmatching-to-sample task, a test of recognition memory sensitive to hippocampal system dysfunction and cognitive aging in monkeys. These findings indicate that a decline in cholinergic input fails to account for the influence of normal aging on memory supported by the primate hippocampal region.
AB - Alterations in the basal forebrain cholinergic system have been widely studied in brain aging and Alzheimer's disease, but the magnitude of decline and relationship to cognitive impairment are still a matter of debate. The rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) provides a compelling model to study age-related memory decline, as the pattern of impairment closely parallels that observed in humans. Here, we used antibodies against the vesicular acetylcholine transporter and a new stereological technique to estimate total cholinergic fiber length in hippocampal subregions of behaviorally characterized young and aged rhesus monkeys. The analysis revealed an age-related decline in the length of cholinergic fibers of 22%, which was similar across the hippocampal subregions studied (dentate gyrus granule cell and molecular layers, CA2/3-hilus, and CA1), and across the rostral-caudal extent of the hippocampus. This effect, however, was unrelated to performance on the delayed nonmatching-to-sample task, a test of recognition memory sensitive to hippocampal system dysfunction and cognitive aging in monkeys. These findings indicate that a decline in cholinergic input fails to account for the influence of normal aging on memory supported by the primate hippocampal region.
KW - Acetylcholine
KW - Aging
KW - Cognition
KW - Hippocampus
KW - Nonhuman primate
KW - Stereology
KW - Terms
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=3042769201&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=3042769201&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/cne.20181
DO - 10.1002/cne.20181
M3 - Article
C2 - 15211464
AN - SCOPUS:3042769201
VL - 475
SP - 238
EP - 246
JO - Journal of Comparative Neurology
JF - Journal of Comparative Neurology
SN - 0021-9967
IS - 2
ER -