Abstract

Cognitive decline appears across aging. While some studies report beneficial effects of musical listening and practice on cognitive aging, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain unknown. This study aims to determine whether chronic (6 h/day, 3 times/week) and long-lasting (4–8 months) music exposure, initiated at middle age in rats (15 months old), can influence behavioral parameters sensitive to age effects and reduce age-related spatial memory decline in rats. Spontaneous locomotor, circadian rhythmic activity, and anxiety-like behavior as well as spatial working and reference memory were assessed in 14-month-old rats and then after 4 and 8 months of music exposure (19 and 23 months old, respectively). Spatial learning and reference memory data were followed up by considering cognitive status of animals prior to music exposure (14 months old) given by K-means clustering of individual Z-score. Hippocampal cell proliferation and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level in the hippocampus and frontal cortex were measured. Results show that music exposure differentially rescues age-related deficits in spatial navigation tasks according to its duration without affecting spontaneous locomotor, circadian rhythmic activity, and anxiety-like behavior. Hippocampal cell proliferation as well as hippocampal and frontal cortex BDNF levels was not affected by music across aging. Cognitive improvement by music in aging rats may require distinct neurobiological mechanisms than hippocampal cell proliferation and BDNF.

中文翻译：

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长期接触音乐可预防大鼠与年龄相关的认知缺陷，与海马神经发生无关。

摘要

随着年龄的增长，认知能力下降。虽然一些研究报告了音乐聆听和练习对认知衰老的有益影响，但潜在的神经生物学机制仍然未知。本研究旨在确定大鼠（15 个月大）中年开始的慢性（6 小时/天，3 次/周）和长期（4-8 个月）音乐暴露是否会影响对年龄敏感的行为参数影响并减少大鼠与年龄相关的空间记忆衰退。在 14 个月大的大鼠中以及在 4 个月和 8 个月的音乐暴露后（分别为 19 个月和 23 个月大）评估自发运动、昼夜节律活动和焦虑样行为以及空间工作和参考记忆。K - 表示单个Z分数的聚类。测量海马和额叶皮层中的海马细胞增殖和脑源性神经营养因子 (BDNF) 水平。结果表明，音乐暴露根据其持续时间不同地挽救空间导航任务中与年龄相关的缺陷，而不影响自发运动、昼夜节律活动和焦虑样行为。海马细胞增殖以及海马和额叶皮层 BDNF 水平不受衰老音乐的影响。音乐对衰老大鼠的认知改善可能需要与海马细胞增殖和 BDNF 不同的神经生物学机制。