COGNITIVE AND MOTORIC AGING

随着年龄的增长，人类最具破坏性的疾病之一就是认知能力的退化。 正常衰老和神经退行性疾病如阿尔茨海默病（AD）时发生的功能。 衰老如何促进人类AD和其他神经退行性疾病的发病机制仍然存在 不清楚，但与其他灵长类动物相比，人类独特的长时间衰老可能是一种 诱发因素人类和两种非人类与年龄相关的认知能力下降的直接比较 有着不同生活史和适应能力的灵长类动物，比如恒河猴和黑猩猩， 重要线索，独特的人类易感性神经退行性疾病和衰老 三个物种的表型。在此过程中，我们将把调查范围限制在女性。首先，女性比男性 男性在人类和黑猩猩，因此更有可能受到与年龄有关的认知 这些物种的减少。第二，寿命在多大程度上超过了生育年龄， 雌性可能在这三个物种认知老化模式的形成中发挥关键作用。拟议 研究将对每个物种的年轻和年老的成年人进行为期5年的纵向研究，包括1）12个年轻人， 雌性恒河猴12只，中年猴12只，老年猴12只; （3）54名志愿者妇女，平均分为三个年龄组：（年轻18-25岁 老年人;中年40-59岁;老年60-80岁）;（4）轻度认知障碍女性18例 (MCI)（5）女性AD患者18例。此外，还将招募300名正常女性，以验证这些测试 通常用于评估非人类灵长类动物的认知功能，测量人类的相同能力。 我们将评估关于年龄相关的神经和社会情绪伴随的假设。 这三个物种的认知能力下降。认知老化项目的具体目标是： 1.对人类、黑猩猩和雌性恒河猴的认知能力下降进行纵向研究， 检查三个物种中认知缺陷的下降率和连续出现。 2.确定与年龄相关的认知衰退和与年龄相关的社会情绪之间的关系 和神经系统的变化 3.测试在动物模型和人类中使用的任务的结构效度。 这些数据将为雌性灵长类动物与年龄相关的功能衰退的生物学提供新的见解， 以及决定衰老成功与否的因素。这些信息也将有助于 开发治疗AD等疾病的方法。

One of the most devastating maladies of advancing age in humans is the deterioration of cognitive function that occurs with normal aging and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). How aging promotes the pathogenesis of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases in humans remains unclear, but the uniquely long period of senescence in humans compared to other primates may be a predisposing factor. The direct comparison of age-related cognitive decline in humans and two nonhuman primates with distinct life histories and adaptations, the rhesus monkey and the chimpanzee, could yield important clues to the uniquely human predisposition to neurodegenerative diseases and the aging phenotype of the three species. In doing so, we will restrict our investigation to females. First, females outlive males in both humans and chimpanzees and are therefore more likely to be affected by age-related cognitive decline in these species. Second, the extent to which the lifespan expands beyond the reproductive years in females may play a critical role in shaping the patterns of cognitive aging in the three species. The proposed study will examine young and old adults of each species longitudinally for 5 years, including 1) twelve young, 12 middle aged, and 12 old female rhesus monkeys; (2) twelve young, 12 middle aged and 12 old female chimpanzees; (3) Fifty-four volunteer women, equally divided into three age groups: (Young 18-25 years old; middle-aged 40-59 years old; and old 60-80 years old); (4) 18 women with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and (5) 18 women with AD. In addition, 300 normal women will be recruited to verify that the tests classically used to assess cognitive function in nonhuman primates measure the same abilities in humans. We will evaluate hypotheses concerning the neural and socioemotional concomitants of age-related cognitive decline in the three species. The specific aims of the Cognitive Aging project are to: 1. Conduct longitudinal studies of cognitive decline in human, chimpanzee, and rhesus monkey females, examining the rates of decline in, and sequential appearance of cognitive deficits in the 3 species. 2. Determine the relationships between age-related cognitive decline and age-related socioemotional and neural changes in the three species. 3. Test the construct validity of tasks used in animal models and in humans. The data will provide new insights into the biology of age-related functional decline in female primates, and into the factors that govern successful versus unsuccessful aging. This information will also facilitate the development of treatments for diseases such as AD.