TY - JOUR
T1 - Retardation of cognitive aging by life-long diet restriction
T2 - Implications for genetic variance
AU - Markowska, Alicja L.
AU - Savonenko, Alena
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by NIA Grants AG07735 and AG15947 to ALM. The authors would like to thank D. Grinnell and T. Stiefel for their assistance with behavioral testing and data analyses.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - Long-term moderate dietary restriction (DR) has been reported to extend life spans, delay the onset and decrease the incidence of a broad spectrum of age-associated diseases; however, its effect on cognition is still unclear. Our previous results indicated that long-term DR failed to retard cognitive and psychomotor aging in the inbred strain, Fischer-344 rats [18]. In the present experiment, an anti-aging effect of DR on various types of cognitive and sensorimotor behaviors was found in F1 hybrid Fischer-344 X Brown Norway (F-344 X BN) rats, while no effect of DR was detected in the second parental inbred strain, Brown-Norway (BN) rats. These findings show that the lack of an effect of DR on cognitive aging, which was previously found in Fischer-344 rats, is not a universal phenomenon. Instead, the effect of DR may depend upon the genetic makeup of the animals. Thus, a more diverse genetic milieu, such as in hybrid rats, relative to inbred rats, may increase the susceptibility to an effect of DR on age-related cognitive decline.
AB - Long-term moderate dietary restriction (DR) has been reported to extend life spans, delay the onset and decrease the incidence of a broad spectrum of age-associated diseases; however, its effect on cognition is still unclear. Our previous results indicated that long-term DR failed to retard cognitive and psychomotor aging in the inbred strain, Fischer-344 rats [18]. In the present experiment, an anti-aging effect of DR on various types of cognitive and sensorimotor behaviors was found in F1 hybrid Fischer-344 X Brown Norway (F-344 X BN) rats, while no effect of DR was detected in the second parental inbred strain, Brown-Norway (BN) rats. These findings show that the lack of an effect of DR on cognitive aging, which was previously found in Fischer-344 rats, is not a universal phenomenon. Instead, the effect of DR may depend upon the genetic makeup of the animals. Thus, a more diverse genetic milieu, such as in hybrid rats, relative to inbred rats, may increase the susceptibility to an effect of DR on age-related cognitive decline.
KW - Brown Norway
KW - Diet restriction
KW - F1 hybrid
KW - Fischer-344
KW - Genetic variance
KW - Inbred
KW - Memory
KW - Outbred
KW - Rats
KW - Retardation of aging
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U2 - 10.1016/S0197-4580(01)00249-4
DO - 10.1016/S0197-4580(01)00249-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 11755022
AN - SCOPUS:0036145443
SN - 0197-4580
VL - 23
SP - 75
EP - 86
JO - Neurobiology of aging
JF - Neurobiology of aging
IS - 1
ER -