NGF trkA and p75

Relationship between basal forebrain
cholinergic neuron morphology and spatial
learning performance is still unclear
Some studies have not observed any age-
related changes in cholinergic neuron
morphology
Potential variability of relationship
- Rat strain
- Sex of animals
Many investigators have found sex
differences in the spatial learning ability of
rodents
- Male rodents perform better on spatial
tasks than females.
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Sex differences in performance of the
Morris water maze task have not always
been found, may be related to
– differences in behavioral testing
procedures
– age
– gonadal status
Comparisons of studies examining the
relationships between age-related spatial
learning deficits and BFCN morphology
may be confounded by the variability in
age, strain, or sex of the rats that have
been used, as well as by differences in
experimental paradigms.
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AIM
Therefore, a direct evaluation of the
relationship between BFCN morphology
and spatial learning performance in males
and females of the same rat strain, and
the effects of aging on these measures, is
needed.
Fischer 344 (F344) rats was employed
– to evaluate the relationships between
sex, age and cholinergic neuron size
in the medial septal nucleus-diagonal
band of Broca (MSN-DBB) complex
and performance in the Morris water
maze
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