Little Exercise, Big Effects: Reversing Aging and Infection-Induced Memory Deficits, and Underlying Processes

Ruth M. Barrientos; Matthew G. Frank; Nicole Y. Crysdale; Timothy R. Chapman; Jared T. Ahrendsen; Heidi E. W. Day; Serge Campeau; Linda R. Watkins; Susan Patterson; Steven F Maier

doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2266-11.2011

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Little Exercise, Big Effects: Reversing Aging and Infection-Induced Memory Deficits, and Underlying Processes

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Little Exercise, Big Effects: Reversing Aging and Infection-Induced Memory Deficits, and Underlying Processes

Ruth M. Barrientos, Matthew G. Frank, Nicole Y. Crysdale, Timothy R. Chapman, Jared T. Ahrendsen, Heidi E. W. Day, Serge Campeau, Linda R. Watkins, Susan Patterson and Steven F Maier

The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.31(32), pp.11578-11586

08/10/2011

DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2266-11.2011

PMCID: PMC3171131

PMID: 21832188

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Abstract

We have previously found that healthy aged rats are more likely to suffer profound memory impairments following a severe bacterial infection than are younger adult rats. Such a peripheral challenge is capable of producing a neuroinflammatory response, and in the aged brain this response is exaggerated and prolonged. Normal aging primes, or sensitizes, microglia, and this appears to be the source of this amplified inflammatory response. Among the outcomes of this exaggerated neuroinflammatory response are impairments in synaptic plasticity and reductions of brain-derived neurotrophic factor ( BDNF), both of which have been associated with cognitive impairments. Since it has been shown that physical exercise increases BDNF mRNA in the hippocampus, the present study examined voluntary exercise in 24-month-old F344 x BN rats as a neuroprotective therapeutic in our bacterial infection model. Although aged rats ran only an average of 0.7 km per week, this small amount of exercise was sufficient to completely reverse infection-induced impairments in hippocampus-dependent long-term memory compared with sedentary animals. Strikingly, exercise prevented the infection-induced exaggerated neuroinflammatory response and the blunted BDNF mRNA induction seen in the hippocampus of sedentary rats. Moreover, voluntary exercise abrogated age-related microglial sensitization, suggesting a possible mechanism for exercise-induced neuroprotection in aging.

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Neurosciences

Neurosciences & Neurology

Science & Technology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Little Exercise, Big Effects: Reversing Aging and Infection-Induced Memory Deficits, and Underlying Processes
Creators: Ruth M. Barrientos - Univ Colorado, Dept Psychol & Neurosci, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
Matthew G. Frank - Univ Colorado, Dept Psychol & Neurosci, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
Nicole Y. Crysdale - Univ Colorado, Dept Psychol & Neurosci, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
Timothy R. Chapman - Univ Colorado, Dept Psychol & Neurosci, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
Jared T. Ahrendsen - Univ Colorado, Dept Psychol & Neurosci, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
Heidi E. W. Day - Univ Colorado, Dept Psychol & Neurosci, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
Serge Campeau - Univ Colorado, Dept Psychol & Neurosci, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
Linda R. Watkins - Univ Colorado, Dept Psychol & Neurosci, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
Susan Patterson
Steven F Maier - Univ Colorado, Dept Psychol & Neurosci, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.31(32), pp.11578-11586
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2266-11.2011
PMID: 21832188
PMCID: PMC3171131
NLM abbreviation: J Neurosci
ISSN: 0270-6474
eISSN: 1529-2401
Publisher: Soc Neuroscience
Language: English
Date published: 08/10/2011
Academic Unit: Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984454746602771

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