Sullens D Gregory, Gilley Kayla, Moraglia Luke E, Dison Sarah, Hoffman Jessica T, Wiffler Madison B, Barnes Robert C, Ginty Annie T, Sekeres Melanie J
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States.
Department of Biology and Chemistry, Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA, United States.
Front Aging Neurosci. 2025 Jan 15;16:1508801. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1508801. eCollection 2024.
Assessing sex as a biological variable is critical to determining the influence of environmental and lifestyle risks and protective factors mediating behavior and neuroplasticity across the lifespan. We investigated sex differences in affective behavior, memory, and hippocampal neurogenesis following short- or long-term exposure to exercise or chronic mild stress in young and aged mice. Male and female mice were assigned control, running, or chronic stress rearing conditions for 1 month (young) or for 15 months (aged), then underwent a behavioral test battery to assess activity, affective behavior, and memory. Stress exposure into late-adulthood increased hyperactivity in both sexes, and enhanced anxiety-like and depressive-like behavior in aged female, but not male, mice. One month of stress or running had no differential effects on behavior in young males and females. Running increased survival of BrdU-labelled hippocampal cells in both young and aged mice, and enhanced spatial memory in aged mice. These findings highlight the importance of considering sex when determining how aging is differently impacted by modifiable lifestyle factors across the lifespan.
将性别作为一个生物学变量进行评估，对于确定环境和生活方式风险以及在整个生命周期中介导行为和神经可塑性的保护因素的影响至关重要。我们研究了年轻和老年小鼠短期或长期运动或慢性轻度应激后，在情感行为、记忆和海马神经发生方面的性别差异。将雄性和雌性小鼠分为对照组、跑步组或慢性应激饲养组，为期1个月（年轻小鼠）或15个月（老年小鼠），然后进行一系列行为测试，以评估活动、情感行为和记忆。成年后期的应激暴露增加了两性的多动，并增强了老年雌性而非雄性小鼠的焦虑样和抑郁样行为。1个月的应激或跑步对年轻雄性和雌性小鼠的行为没有差异影响。跑步增加了年轻和老年小鼠中BrdU标记的海马细胞的存活率，并增强了老年小鼠的空间记忆。这些发现凸显了在确定可改变的生活方式因素如何在整个生命周期中对衰老产生不同影响时考虑性别的重要性。
