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Fig. 8 | Translational Neurodegeneration

Fig. 8

From: Parvalbumin neuroplasticity compensates for somatostatin impairment, maintaining cognitive function in Alzheimer’s disease

Fig. 8

Age affects spatial memory, executive function and cognitive flexibility in TgF344-AD and NTg rats. Barnes maze was conducted in NTg and TgF344-AD rats at 9 (n = 13 and 17), 12 (n = 12 and 14) and 15 (n = 14 and 17) months of age (see Fig. 7). a, b The latencies to escape in the probe trial and in the final reversal trial day were assessed to determine the effect of aging on spatial memory and executive function. a NTg rats did not show significant impairment in spatial memory with age; however, spatial memory dysfunction increased linearly with age in Tg rats. b NTg rats exhibited no significant age effect on executive function, despite slight increases in escape latency between 9 and 12 months of age. The Tg rats exhibited significantly increased executive function deficits with age, most prominently between 12 and 15 months. c–e Distribution of search strategies utilized in the reversal days demonstrates genotype and age effects on cognitive flexibility. c The 9-month-old NTg rats refined their search strategies to a greater degree than Tg rats. d At 12 months of age, NTg and Tg rats utilized a comparable distribution of search strategies, with an aging effect in the 9- vs 12-month comparison in NTg rats. e The 15-month-old NTg rats performed similarly to 12-month-old NTg rats, whereas the 15-month-old Tg rats had robust impairments and were cognitively inflexible, utilizing a majority of random search strategies in reversal trials. f A summary schematic demonstrating progressive Aβ and tau accumulation, somatostatin dysfunction and spatial memory deficits, as well as maintenance of executive function associated with a resilient hippocampal parvalbumin network, before robust loss at the endpoint. Data represent mean ± SEM (a and b; blue and green error bars) and ± 95% confidence intervals (a and b; blue and green shaded area) of trendline (a and b; black dashed); linear regression. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 for slopes significantly non-zero

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