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Preparation of Acute Hippocampal Slices from Rats and Transgenic Mice for the Study of Synaptic Alterations during Aging and Amyloid Pathology
Published on: March 23, 2011
Sleep spindles: a physiological marker of age-related changes in gray matter in brain regions supporting motor skill
Stuart Fogel1, Catherine Vien2, Avi Karni3
1Functional Neuroimaging Unit, Centre de Recherche, Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montreal, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada; School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, Ottawa, Canada; University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
Abstract:
Sleep is necessary for the optimal consolidation of procedural learning, and in particular, for motor sequential skills. Motor sequence learning remains intact with age, but sleep-dependent consolidation is impaired, suggesting that memory deficits for procedural skills are specifically impacted by age-related changes in sleep. Age-related changes in spindles may be responsible for impaired motor sequence learning consolidation, but the morphological basis for this deficit is unknown. Here, we found that gray matter in the hippocampus and cerebellum was positively correlated with both sleep spindles and offline improvements in performance in young participants but not in older participants. These results suggest that age-related changes in gray matter in the hippocampus relate to spindles and may underlie age-related deficits in sleep-related motor sequence memory consolidation. In this way, spindles can serve as a biological marker for structural brain changes and the related memory deficits in older adults.
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