Teaching an Old Rat New Tricks: Cerebellar Motor Learning
Paula C. Bickford
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
The aging process is accompanied by a number of changes in the brain
which underlie declines in learning and memory. One theory of aging,
the free radical theory, predicts that one of the major causes for
these changes in the brain is a result of oxidative damage. Our work
has focused on examining age-related changes in learning and memory
uisng the cerebellar noradrenergic system involvement in motor learning
as a model system. We have evidence that oxidative stress is involved
in age-realted declines in cerbellar motor learning and cerebellar
noradrenergic function. Moreover, we have demonsrated that short term
feeding of aged rats with diets supplemented with foods that are rich
in phytochemicals with antioxidant properties can reverse age-related
declines in both noradrerngic receptor function and motor learning.
Recent work in the lab also indicates that these diets have properties
to reduce inflammation in the aged brain.
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