CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Recent research involving human and animals has shown that aerobic exercise of moderate intensityproduces the greatest benefit on brain health and behavior. In this study we investigated the effects oncognitive function and anxiety-related behavior in rats at different ages of aerobic exercise, performedregularly throughout life. We designed an aerobic training program with the treadmill-runningfollowing the basic principles of human training, and assuming that rats have the same physiologicaladaptations. The intensity was gradually adjusted to the fitness level and age, and maintained at 60-70% of maximum oxygen consumption (max.VO2). In middle age (8 months) and old age (18 months),we studied the cognitive response with the Radial Maze (RM), and anxiety-related behaviors with theOpen Field (OF) and the Elevated Plus-Maze (EPM).Aerobically trained (AT) rats had a higher cognitive performance measured in the RM, showing thatexercise had a cumulative and amplifier effect on memory and learning. The analysis of age andexercise revealed that the effects of aerobic exercise were modulated by age. Middle-aged AT rats werethe most successful animals, however the old AT rats met the criteria more often than the middle-agesedentary controls (SC), indicating that exercise could reverse the negative effects of sedentary life,partially restore the cognitive function, and protect against the deleterious effects of aging. The resultsin the OF and EPM, showed a significant decrease in key indicators of anxiety, revealing that ageaffected the most of the analyzed variables, and that exercise had a prominent anxiolytic effect,particularly strong in old age. In conclusion, our results indicated that regular and chronic aerobicexercise has time and dose-dependent, neuroprotective and restorative effects on physiological brainaging, and reduces anxiety-related behaviors.