MOLECULAR NEUROBIOLOGY OF AGING

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. A characteristic feature of the human menopause is an attenuation of the production and release of ovarian steroids, such as estradiol and progesterone, which have a major influence on brain function. However, much less is known about the contribution of the adrenal gland to brain aging. Like women, female rhesus macaques show marked age-related changes in the secretion of ovarian and adrenal steroids, and similar age-related functional brain changes, including cognitive impairment and disruption of their sleep-wake cycles. This "Partners-in-Science" project gives a high-school teacher the opportunity to examine how genes involved in the biosynthesis and metabolism of steroids changes during aging, especially in brain areas that are associated with learning and memory and with the control of sleep-wake cycles. By elucidating the interacting impact of declining ovarian and adrenal steroids on brain function, the proposed research should help to lay a foundation for the development of therapies for many aging-associated disorders in women.