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Running enhances spatial pattern separation in mice.

David J Creer1, Carola Romberg, Lisa M Saksida

  • 1Laboratory of Neurosciences, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|February 6, 2010
PubMed
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Regular exercise enhances spatial learning in adult mice by promoting neurogenesis. However, aged mice show impaired learning and reduced neurogenesis, which exercise cannot reverse, suggesting new neurons are key for spatial memory.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Exercise Physiology
  • Aging Research

Background:

  • Regular exercise is linked to improved brain health, synaptic plasticity, and hippocampal neurogenesis.
  • While exercise benefits learning, the precise mechanisms of information processing affected by physical activity remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how voluntary running affects spatial information processing and neurogenesis in adult and aged mice.
  • To determine the correlation between enhanced spatial discrimination and increased neurogenesis.

Main Methods:

  • Adult (3 months old) and aged (22 months old) male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to voluntary running.
  • Spatial discrimination ability was assessed by testing the mice's capacity to differentiate between adjacent identical stimuli locations.

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  • Neurogenesis levels were quantified in the dentate gyrus.

    • Main Results:

    • Adult mice that engaged in voluntary running showed enhanced spatial pattern separation, a measure of fine spatial discrimination.
    • This improvement in spatial discrimination was strongly correlated with increased hippocampal neurogenesis in adult runners.
    • Aged mice exhibited impaired spatial discrimination and low basal cell genesis, which running did not ameliorate.

    Conclusions:

    • Newly generated neurons in the dentate gyrus appear crucial for encoding fine spatial distinctions.
    • Exercise-induced neurogenesis may be a key mechanism underlying improved spatial learning in younger adults.
    • Aging significantly impairs spatial learning and the brain's ability to generate new neurons, rendering exercise less effective in very old mice.