Effects of exercise on spatial memory deficits induced by nucleus basalis magnocellularis lesions

Introduction: Previous studies have shown that exercise enhances cognitive and functional capacities in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we investigated the effect of long-term (60 days) and short- term (10 days) exercise on the spatial memory deficits in an animal model of AD. Methods: Fifty male rats were divided into 5 groups 1) intact, 2) sham, 3) sham-Alzheimer 4) Alzheimer-short term exercise and 5) Alzheimer-long term exercise. For spatial task evaluation, all groups were tested 5 days in a repeated-acquisition Morris water maze (MWM) tank task, and then tested in a probe trial, in which no escape platform was present, 1 week and 1 month later. Alzheimer’s disease was induced by bilateral lesioning of nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) in rats and they were checked by MWM task. Alzheimer-short term exercise and Alzheimerlong term exercise groups were trained in treadmill and then were tested for 1 session in MWM tank task. Results: Analysis of data showed that the time spent in the goal zone of the MWM tank during the 60 sec probe trial were significantly different in sham and Alzheimer groups (p<0.001). There was a significant difference in memory before and after short term exercise (p<0.001) and long term exercise (p<0.001) in Alzheimer groups. Conclusion: These data suggest that short-term and long-term treadmill running exercise improved spatial memory deficits in an animal model of AD. Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, spatial memory, exercise, Nucleus Basalis Magnocellularis.