Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 13, 2025
08:30
Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats
Published on: February 15, 2015
21.1K
Curcumin improves reversal learning in middle-aged rhesus monkeys.
Ajay Uprety1, Mark B Moss1, Douglas L Rosene1
1Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology.
Behavioral Neuroscience
|November 15, 2021
Summary
Curcumin (CUR) supplementation improved executive function in middle-aged monkeys, enhancing performance on object reversal learning tasks. This suggests CUR may mitigate age-related cognitive decline by targeting neuroinflammation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Aging
- Primatology
Background:
- Age-related cognitive decline, particularly in executive function, is observed in humans and nonhuman primates.
- Prefrontal cortex myelin degradation, linked to neuroinflammation, correlates with cognitive deficits in aging rhesus monkeys.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential of curcumin (CUR), an anti-inflammatory compound, to counteract age-related cognitive impairments.
- To assess CUR's effect on executive function in middle-aged rhesus monkeys.
Main Methods:
- Middle-aged rhesus monkeys (12-21 years) received daily dietary supplementation of 500 mg curcumin or vehicle for 3-4 years.
- Cognitive performance was evaluated using object and spatial reversal learning tasks.
Main Results:
- The curcumin group demonstrated enhanced performance on object reversal learning compared to the vehicle group.
- No significant difference was observed in spatial reversal learning between the groups.
Conclusions:
- Curcumin supplementation may selectively improve specific aspects of executive function related to object learning in aging primates.
- These findings suggest a potential therapeutic role for curcumin in mitigating age-related cognitive decline associated with neuroinflammation.
