Age was linked more strongly than sex to learning and memory in rats
A cross-sectional study of 373 male and female rats found larger age-related differences across spatial learning, flexibility and working memory than sex-related differences.
Limit: Cognitive change within individual rats was not tracked
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Researchers compared 373 male and female Fischer 344 rats aged 4–8, 12–16 or 22–26 months in a cross-sectional study. Each rat was tested at one age. All received eight days of training to find a hidden platform in a water maze. Separate subsets also faced a relocated platform or a working-memory test with a two-hour delay.
Older rats performed worse than young adults in learning locations, adapting to a changed location and remembering locations. Age accounted for the largest share of performance differences across tasks. Sex-related differences were smaller and limited to certain aspects of performance. Visible-platform tests did not suggest major movement or sensory problems that could account for the age-related differences.
Why it matters
Spatial learning and memory change with age. This study addressed how much biological sex contributes to differences in these abilities during healthy aging.
Caveats
The cross-sectional design compared different rats rather than tracking cognitive change within the same animals. The findings concern Fischer 344 rats tested in a water maze, not people.
The paper
University of South Carolina
Behavioral Neuroscience, Jun 15, 2026, Open access
