AGING EFFECTS ON PEPTIDERGIC AND AMINERGIC NEURONS

在中枢神经递质中发现了与神经系统相关的缺陷， 几个神经系统。 一些单胺能和肽能 神经元似乎在啮齿动物和灵长类动物的大脑中都显示出这种下降。 许多人类神经退行性疾病的特征在于类似的 发射机下降。 最近的研究表明，衰老的大脑 具有显著的可塑性，例如，通过生长 皮质内的树突和从内侧的儿茶酚胺纤维的生长 前脑束后手术干预。 这种可塑性表明 神经重组可能发生在衰老过程中， 老年人的大脑可能在整合的意义上接受神经， 移植 神经移植技术已经被证明可以逆转 或改善年轻人大脑功能的某些遗传或退行性缺陷， 动物，在一个例子中，在老年大鼠。 现时的建议是 旨在测试神经移植物改善丢失或 与垂体后叶素神经元相关的脑功能减退 蓝斑视上核和去甲肾上腺素能神经元， 内分泌、行为、神经化学和形态学的结合 在啮齿类动物中的措施，然后将这个问题扩展到非人类灵长类动物， 为了确定年轻和老年猕猴的最佳嫁接条件， 作为潜在临床试验的先决条件。

Age-related deficits in central transmitters have been discovered for several neural systems. Some groups of monoaminergic and peptidergic neurons appear to show this decline in both rodent and primate brain. Numerous human neurodegenerative disorders are characterized by similar declines in transmitters. The aged brain recently has been shown to possess a marked plasticity as measured, for example, by growth of dendrites in cortex and by growth of catecholamine fibers from the medial forebrain bundle following surgical intervention. This plasticity suggests that neural reorganization may occur during aging and further, that the aged brain may be receptive in an integrative sense, to neural transplants. Neural transplantation techniques have been shown to reverse or improve some genetic or degenerative deficits in brain function in young animals and, in one instance, in aged rats. The present proposal is designed to test the potential of neural grafts to improve lost or diminished brain function associated with vasopressin neurons of the supraoptic nucleus and noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus, using a combination of endocrine, behavioral, neurochemical and morphological measures in rodent and then to extend this question to non-human primate in order to determine optimal grafting conditions in young and aged macaques as a prerequisite for potential clinical tests.