Wang Hao, Xie Xiaoqiao, Li Xiangrui, Chen Bo, Zhou Yifeng
Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, PR China.
Brain Res. 2006 Nov 29;1122(1):93-8. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2006.09.010. Epub 2006 Sep 29.
Functional degradation of mammalian visual cortex is associated with aging. It has been hypothesized that much of the decline might be mediated by a degradation of cortical inhibitory system during senescence. In the present work, we compared the properties of adaptation, onset latency and signal-to-noise ratio in primary visual cortex of young and old rats using extracellular single-unit techniques. The short-term synaptic plasticity of young and old rats was also studied using field potential recording techniques. We found significant increased adaptation, prolonged onset latency, lower signal-to-noise ratio and decreased short-term synaptic plasticity in aged rats. The results are in accordance with previously reported functional declines in old monkeys and old cats, indicating a universal mechanism of degradation in cortical function that accompanies old age in different mammalian species.
哺乳动物视觉皮层的功能退化与衰老有关。据推测，这种衰退的很大一部分可能是由衰老过程中皮层抑制系统的退化介导的。在本研究中，我们使用细胞外单单位技术比较了年轻和老年大鼠初级视觉皮层的适应特性、起始潜伏期和信噪比。我们还使用场电位记录技术研究了年轻和老年大鼠的短期突触可塑性。我们发现老年大鼠的适应性显著增加、起始潜伏期延长、信噪比降低以及短期突触可塑性下降。这些结果与先前报道的老年猴子和老年猫的功能衰退一致，表明在不同哺乳动物物种中，伴随衰老的皮层功能退化存在普遍机制。
