Cognitive behavior and sensory function were significantly influenced by restoration of active ovarian function in postreproductive mice.

Cognitive behavior and sensory function were significantly influenced by restoration of active ovarian function in postreproductive mice. Exp Gerontol. 2017 Mar 10;: Authors: Parkinson KC, Peterson RL, Mason JB Abstract In mammals, the relationship between reproductive function and health has been particularly difficult to define. Previously, in old, postreproductive-aged mice, replacement of senescent ovaries with new ovaries from young, actively cycling mice increased life span. We hypothesized that the same factors that increased life span would also influence health span. In the current experiments, we tested two of the seven domains of function/health, sensory function and cognition to determine if exposure of postreproductive female mice to young transplanted ovaries influenced health span. We evaluated control female CBA/J mice at six, 13 and 16months of age. Additional mice received new (60d) ovaries at 12 or 17months of age and were subsequently evaluated at 16 or 25months of age, respectively. Evaluation of sensory function included two measures of olfactory perception; olfactory identification (buried pellet test) and olfactory discrimination (novel recognition block test). We found a significant age-related decline in olfactory identification in 16-month old mice. This decline was avoided by ovarian transplantation at 12months of age. The olfactory discrimination block test revealed an age-associated increase in time spen...
Source: Experimental Gerontology - Category: Geriatrics Authors: Tags: Exp Gerontol Source Type: research