TY - JOUR
T1 - Aged monkeys exhibit behavioral deficits indicative of widespread cerebral dysfunction
AU - Bachevalier, Jocelyne
AU - Landis, Linda S.
AU - Walker, Lary C.
AU - Brickson, Mimi
AU - Mishkin, Mortimer
AU - Price, Donald L.
AU - Cork, Linda C.
N1 - Funding Information:
Preliminary reports of these data were presented at the 16th and 17th annual meetings of the Society for Neuroscience (9,44). We thank Robert G. Struble, Mary Lou Voytko, Cheryl A. Kitt, and Michael D. Ap-plegate for helpful discussions of this work. Some of the aged animals were kindly provided by Kenneth R. Brizzee of the Delta Primate Research Center and Matt J. Kessler of the Caribbean Primate Research Center. This study was supported by grants from the U.S. Public Health Service (NIH NS 20471 and AG 05146). D. L. Price is the recipient of a Leadership and Excellence in Alzheimer Disease Award (NIA AG 07914) and a Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award (NIH NS 10580).
PY - 1991
Y1 - 1991
N2 - To determine whether the decline of behavioral abilities with aging in monkeys is selective or widespread, we examined 18 monkeys ranging from 3 to 34 years of age on a wide variety of tests with the ultimate goal of correlating behavioral deficits with age-related changes in the brain. In our initial study we found impaired visual recognition ability in the aged monkeys (43). In the present study, we assessed the same animals on tests of spatial memory, visual habit formation, visuospatial orientation, visually guided reaching, motor skill learning, and reaction time, these categories having been chosen to test the integrity of different cerebral systems. There were three major findings. First, age-related impairments were observed in nearly all test categories, though often not on easy versions of the tests, suggesting that the deficits observed were in the specific abilities measured and not an artifact of lowered motivation or other general disability. Second, the behavioral decline began in the late teens for certain spatial abilities but did not affect other abilities until the late 20's, suggesting that although the cerebral dysfunction eventually becomes widespread, the cerebral systems underlying spatial abilities are compromised by aging earlier than others. Finally, the finding of correlations between scores of aged animals primarily within test categories as opposed to across categories suggests that different animals have different patterns of cerebral involvement.
AB - To determine whether the decline of behavioral abilities with aging in monkeys is selective or widespread, we examined 18 monkeys ranging from 3 to 34 years of age on a wide variety of tests with the ultimate goal of correlating behavioral deficits with age-related changes in the brain. In our initial study we found impaired visual recognition ability in the aged monkeys (43). In the present study, we assessed the same animals on tests of spatial memory, visual habit formation, visuospatial orientation, visually guided reaching, motor skill learning, and reaction time, these categories having been chosen to test the integrity of different cerebral systems. There were three major findings. First, age-related impairments were observed in nearly all test categories, though often not on easy versions of the tests, suggesting that the deficits observed were in the specific abilities measured and not an artifact of lowered motivation or other general disability. Second, the behavioral decline began in the late teens for certain spatial abilities but did not affect other abilities until the late 20's, suggesting that although the cerebral dysfunction eventually becomes widespread, the cerebral systems underlying spatial abilities are compromised by aging earlier than others. Finally, the finding of correlations between scores of aged animals primarily within test categories as opposed to across categories suggests that different animals have different patterns of cerebral involvement.
KW - Delayed response
KW - Macaca mulatta
KW - Memory
KW - Motor skill learning
KW - Object discrimination learning
KW - Reaction time
KW - Visually guided reaching
KW - Visuospatial orientation
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U2 - 10.1016/0197-4580(91)90048-O
DO - 10.1016/0197-4580(91)90048-O
M3 - Article
C2 - 2052134
AN - SCOPUS:0025969047
SN - 0197-4580
VL - 12
SP - 99
EP - 111
JO - Neurobiology of aging
JF - Neurobiology of aging
IS - 2
ER -