STUDIES OF AGING AND COGNITION IN NONHUMAN PRIMATES

这个子项目是许多利用资源的研究子项目之一 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目的主要支持 而子项目的主要调查员可能是由其他来源提供的， 包括其它NIH来源。 列出的子项目总成本可能 代表子项目使用的中心基础设施的估计数量， 而不是由NCRR赠款提供给子项目或子项目工作人员的直接资金。 这个项目的目的是描述年轻，老年和中年恒河猴的认知正常或受损。 在每只动物分配到该项目的开始，进行MRI扫描，以确定大脑是否大体正常。 从研究中筛选具有可见肿瘤或病变的动物。 检查医疗记录以筛选出可能具有先前CNS实验、慢性疾病和使其不适合分配的其他特征的猴。 在威斯康星州通用测试装置上训练动物，以做出对食物奖励的基本反应。 然后，猴子被转移到一系列认知测试中，这些测试在我们的实验室中已经标准化了很多年。标准化任务的优势在于，我们可以将当前的研究结果与之前的研究结果进行比较，以确定认知下降的神经基础。 表现的特点是在各种认知领域的特征是正常的人类认知老化。 这些包括任务学习，视觉识别，空间工作记忆，执行和运动功能。 在完成标准化任务组合后，猴子被运送到波士顿大学，在那里进行神经生理学，免疫组织化学和神经解剖学研究。 在过去的项目年中，一个重要的发现是，扣带束（但不是扣带束）的白色物质的完整性与老化过程中保存的工作记忆和短期记忆相关。 这些发现对于早期发现可能导致老年功能异常的大脑变化具有重要意义。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. This project is designed to characterize young, aged, and middle-aged rhesus monkeys as cognitively normal or impaired. At the outset of each animal's assignment to the project, an MRI scan is performed to determine if the brain is grossly normal. Animals with visible tumors or lesions are screened from the study. Medical records are checked to screen out monkeys that may have prior CNS experimentation, chronic disease, and other characteristics that would make them unsuitable for assignment. Animals are trained on the Wisconsin General Testing Apparatus to make basic responses for food reward. Monkeys are then moved to a series of cognitive tests that have been standard in our laboratory for a number of years. The advantage of standardized tasks is that we can compare current findings with prior findings in our ongoing efforts to identify the neural substrates of cognitive decline. Performance is characterized in a variety of cognitive domains that are characteristic of normal human cognitive aging. These include task learning, visual recognition, spatial working memory, executive and motor function. Following the completion of the standardized task battery, the monkeys are shipped to Boston University, where neurophysiological, immunohistochemical, and neuroanatomical studies are conducted. An important finding in the past project year is that the integrity of the white matter of the cingulum bundle (but not the genu) is correlated with preserved working memory and short-term memory in aging. These findings have important implications for early detection of brain changes that may lead to abnormal function in old age.