STUDIES OF AGING AND COGNITION IN NONHUMAN PRIMATES

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 我们之前曾对认知和大脑中与年龄相关的变化进行过研究。在这项早期的工作中，我们研究了背外侧前额叶皮质中单胺受体对执行功能的作用，以及性别对与年龄相关的空间认知和运动功能下降的影响。在本项目期间，我们将这些研究扩展到检查衰老早期的认知缺陷，以确定衰老和荷尔蒙状态对运动功能的影响，通过双手运动任务来衡量，并确定一般认知功能和运动表现是否相关。在一项解决第一个问题的研究中，我们发现猴子早在中年(12-19岁)就表现出执行功能缺陷，这一发现与人类相似，并表明旨在防止执行功能下降的干预必须在老年之前开始。该项目实现的另一个目标是执行一项新的运动任务，该任务需要在协调运动中使用双手。这样的任务是必要的，因为它在认知上更繁重，而且可能对与年龄相关的变化更敏感。事实上，我们发现这项任务的表现确实随着年龄的增长而下降，而且随着动物学习这项任务，执行这项任务的策略发生了重大变化。最后，我们发现，与衰老相关的运动缺陷与认知衰退的一般衡量标准的损害有关。

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. We have previously conducted studies of age-related changes in cognition and the brain. In this earlier work we examined the role of monoamine receptors in the dorso-lateral pre-frontal cortex on executive function, and the effect of sex on age-related decline of both spatial cognition and motor function. In the present project period, we have extended these studies to examine cognitive deficits early in aging, to determine the effect of aging and hormonal status on motor function, as measured by a bi-manual motor task, and to determine whether general cognitive function and motor performance are related. In a study to address the first of these questions, we found that monkeys display deficits on a task of executive function as early as middle age (12-19 years), a finding paralleled in humans, and one that suggests that interventions designed at preventing decline of executive function must begin before old age. An additional goal accomplished in the project was the implementation of a new motor task that required the use of two hands in a coordinated movement. Such a task is needed because it is cognitively more taxing and may be more sensitive to age-related changes. Indeed we found that performance of this task did decline with age, and that there were significant changes in strategy for performance of the task as animals learned the task. Finally, we found that motor deficits associated with aging were correlated with impairments with a general measure of cognitive decline.