Advances in Gerontology · 2018
Stimulation of cognitive abilities in aged macaques by moderate hypobaric hypoxia
By Belyakov AV, Semenov DG
The importance of studying neurological and mental changes in aged non-human primates, in particular rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), is due to their genetic and physiological similarity with humans, which in preclinical studies of age-dependent cognitive decline correction makes them preferable to rodents. In this paper we study the behavior of three older monkeys in solving conditioned-reflex task of image differentiation. The obtained values of several cognitive characteristics were compared with those determined for the same subjects in their youth more than 15 years ago. It is shown that aging of experimental monkeys, solving the cognitive tasks, was accompanied by increase in number of errors, time of decision, events of refusal to work, as well as by weakening of the spatial working memory estimated by a method of «delayed response». The procedure of three repeated 2-hour sessions of moderate hypobaric hypoxia at 360 mmHg significantly improved these characteristics. The cognitive status, corrected by moderate hypoxic stress, significantly approached the cognitive level, which these subjects possessed in youth. This positive effect was maintained for 2 to 6 months.