Transplantation of norepinephrine neurons into aged rats improves performance of a learned task

A reproducible behavioral correlate of aging in rodents is deficient performance of inhibitory avoidance memory tasks. Impaired performance has been attributed, in part, to age-related changes in brain norepinephrine (NE) system function. To determine whether supplementation of brain NE can ameliorate avoidance deficits in aged animals, we transplanted noradrenergic locus coeruleus neurons from fetal rat donors into the third cerebral ventricle of 24-month-old male F344 rats. Aged rats that received NE-containing grafts exhibited significant improvement of inhibitory avoidance retention performance compared to both unoperated aged animals and aged animals that received grafts of cerebellar tissue. Improved behavioral performance was prevented by pretreatment of NE graft recipients with the beta-adrenergic receptor blocking agent, propranolol, and was mimicked by chronic intraventricular infusion of NE. Taken together, our findings support the view that age-related declines in brain NE content contribute to age-related deficits in inhibitory avoidance performance, and that NE replacement therapy can improve performance of this task in aged rats.