Magnusson Kathy R
Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Healthy Aging Program, Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA ■ Tel.: +1 541 737 6923 ■ ■
Future Neurol. 2012 Sep;7(5):627-637. doi: 10.2217/fnl.12.54.
Our elderly population is growing and declines in cognitive abilities, such as memory, can be costly, because it can interfere with a person's ability to live independently. The NMDA receptor is very important for many different forms of memory and this receptor is negatively affected by aging. This review examines the progress that has been made recently in characterizing selective vulnerabilities of different subunits and splice variants of the NMDA receptor to normal aging in C57BL/6 mice. Evidence is also presented for changes in the relationships of NMDA receptors to plasticity across aging. Recent interventions show that enhancing NMDA receptors in aged individuals is associated with improvements in memory, but mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases suggest that finding the right balance between too little and too much NMDA receptor activity will be the key to enhancing memory without inducing pathology.
我们的老年人口正在增长，认知能力的下降，如记忆力衰退，代价高昂，因为它会干扰一个人独立生活的能力。N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸（NMDA）受体对多种不同形式的记忆非常重要，并且该受体受到衰老的负面影响。本综述考察了最近在表征C57BL/6小鼠中NMDA受体不同亚基和剪接变体对正常衰老的选择性易损性方面所取得的进展。还提供了证据证明NMDA受体与衰老过程中可塑性之间关系的变化。最近的干预措施表明，增强老年个体的NMDA受体会改善记忆力，但神经退行性疾病的小鼠模型表明，在NMDA受体活性过少和过多之间找到正确的平衡将是在不诱发病变的情况下增强记忆力的关键。
