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Apoaequorin Differentially Modulates Fear Conditioning In Adult And Aged Rats, Vanessa Ehlers

Theses and Dissertations

Normal aging is associated with a number of changes in behavioral and cellular function, and is often linked to increased susceptibility to cognitive impairment. The hippocampus has been widely implicated in learning and memory, and many forms of learning that are hippocampus-dependent (e.g. trace fear conditioning) are impaired in aged animals. A proposed contributor to aging-related cognitive impairment is aging-related calcium (Ca2+) dysregulation. This dysregulation is thought to result from changes in specific Ca2+-regulatory mechanisms, including abnormal Ca2+ ion channel activity or expression, as well as reduced Ca2+-binding protein (CaBP) expression, which is associated with cognitive and synaptic impairment. Previous …