Recovery of functional and structural age-related changes in the rat primary auditory cortex with operant training
Recovery of functional and structural age-related changes in the rat primary auditory cortex with operant training
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1007885107
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发表时间：
2010-08-03
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Merzenich, Michael M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
de Villers-Sidani, Etienne;Alzghoul, Loai;Merzenich, Michael M.
认知能力下降几乎是衰老过程的一个普遍方面。然而，其神经生理学基础仍然知之甚少。我们在这里描述了20多个与年龄相关的皮质加工缺陷的初级听觉皮层的老化与年轻的大鼠，似乎是强烈的皮质抑制的改变。与这些变化相一致的是，在老年大鼠中，小清蛋白标记的抑制性皮层神经元减少。此外，老年大鼠掌握简单行为的速度较慢，学习进展的标志是更多的假阳性反应。然后，我们研究了强化听觉训练对这些老年大鼠的初级听觉皮层的影响，通过使用一个古怪的辨别任务。训练后，我们发现以前观察到的大多数功能和结构性皮质损伤几乎完全逆转。这些发现表明，与年龄相关的认知能力下降是一个受到严格调控的可塑性过程，并表明这些与年龄相关的变化中的大多数从根本上说是可逆的。
Cognitive decline is a virtually universal aspect of the aging process. However, its neurophysiological basis remains poorly understood. We describe here more than 20 age-related cortical processing deficits in the primary auditory cortex of aging versus young rats that appear to be strongly contributed to by altered cortical inhibition. Consistent with these changes, were corded in old rats a decrease in parvalbumin-labeled inhibitory cortical neurons. Furthermore, old rats were slower to master a simple behavior, with learning progressions marked by more false-positive responses. We then examined the effect of intensive auditory training on the primary auditory cortex in these aged rats by using an oddball discrimination task. Following training, we found a nearly complete reversal of the majority of previously observed functional and structural cortical impairments. These findings suggest that age-related cognitive decline is a tightly regulated plastic process, and demonstrate that most of these age-related changes are, by their fundamental nature, reversible.