Cognitive Rescue in Aging Through Prior Training
07-19-2023“Prior training shows profound benefits in cognitive aging [...]”
Listen to an audio version of this press release
BUFFALO, NY- July 19, 2023 – A new research paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 13, entitled, “Cognitive rescue in aging through prior training in rats.”
Cognitive decline in spatial memory is seen in aging. Understanding affected processes in aging is vital for developing methods to improve wellbeing. Daily memory persistence can be influenced by events around the time of learning or by prior experiences in early life.
Fading memories in young can last longer if a novel event is introduced around encoding, a process called behavioral tagging. In this new study based on this principle, researchers Alexandra Gros and Szu-Han Wang from The University of Edinburgh asked what processes are affected in aging and if prior training can rescue them.
“Here we asked if cognitive training in young and mid-life would improve cognitive aging and which elements of the cognitive processes at old age are preferentially protected through such training.”
Two groups of aged rats received training in an appetitive delayed matching-to-place task. One of the groups additionally received prior training of the same task in young and in mid-life, constituting a longitudinal study. The results showed long-term memory decline in late aging without prior training. This would reflect affected encoding and consolidation.
On the other hand, short-term memory was preserved and novelty at memory reactivation and reconsolidation enabled memory maintenance in aging. Prior training improved cognition by facilitating task performance, strengthening short-term and intermediate memory, and enabling encoding-boosted long-term memory. Learning ability, short-term memories, motor and motivation functions remained intact in older age, suggesting a phase when memory-associated processes are compromised before apparent navigation or learning deficits in advanced aging. Overall, the study's findings suggest a selective impairment in encoding for long-term memory formation in early aging and an additional impairment in consolidation in later aging.
“Prior training shows profound benefits in cognitive aging and it can provide a translatable model to simulate human cognition which is built upon lifelong experiences.”
Read the full paper: DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.204808
Corresponding Author: Szu-Han Wang
Corresponding Email: s.wang@ed.ac.uk
Keywords: memory consolidation, reconsolidation, memory modulation, lifelong training, cognitive stimulation
Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article: https://aging.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Faging.204808
About Aging-US:
Aging publishes research papers in all fields of aging research including but not limited, aging from yeast to mammals, cellular senescence, age-related diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s diseases and their prevention and treatment, anti-aging strategies and drug development and especially the role of signal transduction pathways such as mTOR in aging and potential approaches to modulate these signaling pathways to extend lifespan. The journal aims to promote treatment of age-related diseases by slowing down aging, validation of anti-aging drugs by treating age-related diseases, prevention of cancer by inhibiting aging. Cancer and COVID-19 are age-related diseases.
Aging is indexed by PubMed/Medline (abbreviated as “Aging (Albany NY)”), PubMed Central, Web of Science: Science Citation Index Expanded (abbreviated as “Aging‐US” and listed in the Cell Biology and Geriatrics & Gerontology categories), Scopus (abbreviated as “Aging” and listed in the Cell Biology and Aging categories), Biological Abstracts, BIOSIS Previews, EMBASE, META (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative) (2018-2022), and Dimensions (Digital Science).
Please visit our website at www.Aging-US.com and connect with us:
- X
- YouTube
- Spotify, Apple, SoundCloud, and available wherever you listen to podcasts
For media inquiries, please contact media@impactjournals.com.