Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
    • Special Collections
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
    • Editorial Board
    • ECR Advisory Board
    • Journal Staff
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
    • Accessibility
  • SUBSCRIBE

User menu

  • Log out
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Neuroscience
  • Log out
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Neuroscience

Advanced Search

Submit a Manuscript
  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
    • Special Collections
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
    • Editorial Board
    • ECR Advisory Board
    • Journal Staff
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
    • Accessibility
  • SUBSCRIBE
PreviousNext
Articles

Evidence for task-dependent memory dysfunction in the aged monkey

PR Rapp and DG Amaral
Journal of Neuroscience 1 October 1989, 9 (10) 3568-3576; https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.09-10-03568.1989
PR Rapp
Salk Institute, La Jolla, California 92037.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
DG Amaral
Salk Institute, La Jolla, California 92037.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Experimentally naive adult (9–11 years old) and aged (approximately 22– 26 years old) female rhesus monkeys were evaluated on 3 neuropsychological tests of memory function. Aged monkeys were impaired in a delayed response test of visuospatial memory when the retention interval of the task was increased from 0 to 10 sec. These animals performed as well as younger subjects, however, at very short delays (0 and 1 sec), when the memory demands of the task were minimal. The same subjects were then trained in a delayed nonmatching to sample (DNMS) test of visual object recognition memory. Although they required significantly more training than the younger subjects to learn the nonmatching principle of the task, aged animals were only minimally impaired when recognition memory was tested at retention intervals ranging from 10 sec to 22 hr. In contrast to their relatively intact performance on the object recognition task, aged monkeys were dramatically impaired in a second version of DNMS that required subjects to remember the temporal order in which objects were presented. These findings support the view that certain memory functions are differentially susceptible to age-dependent deterioration. Since neuropsychological studies in young subjects demonstrate that different brain regions make relatively specific contributions to learning and memory, the task-dependent deficits observed in the aged monkey are important for determining which neural structures mediate age-dependent cognitive dysfunction. According to this perspective, aged monkeys were impaired on tasks known to be sensitive to prefrontal cortical damage, but the same animals performed well on a DNMS procedure that subjects with medial temporal lobe damage fail. These results suggest that prefrontal cortical dysfunction may mediate prominent aspects of age-dependent cognitive impairment in the monkey.

Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of Neuroscience: 9 (10)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 9, Issue 10
1 Oct 1989
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
Email

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Neuroscience article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Evidence for task-dependent memory dysfunction in the aged monkey
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Neuroscience
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Neuroscience.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
View Full Page PDF
Citation Tools
Evidence for task-dependent memory dysfunction in the aged monkey
PR Rapp, DG Amaral
Journal of Neuroscience 1 October 1989, 9 (10) 3568-3576; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.09-10-03568.1989

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Request Permissions
Share
Evidence for task-dependent memory dysfunction in the aged monkey
PR Rapp, DG Amaral
Journal of Neuroscience 1 October 1989, 9 (10) 3568-3576; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.09-10-03568.1989
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Responses to this article

Respond to this article

Jump to comment:

No eLetters have been published for this article.

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

  • Memory Retrieval Has a Dynamic Influence on the Maintenance Mechanisms That Are Sensitive to ζ-Inhibitory Peptide (ZIP)
  • Neurophysiological Evidence for a Cortical Contribution to the Wakefulness-Related Drive to Breathe Explaining Hypocapnia-Resistant Ventilation in Humans
  • Monomeric Alpha-Synuclein Exerts a Physiological Role on Brain ATP Synthase
Show more Articles
  • Home
  • Alerts
  • Follow SFN on BlueSky
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Facebook
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on Twitter
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on LinkedIn
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Youtube
  • Follow our RSS feeds

Content

  • Early Release
  • Current Issue
  • Issue Archive
  • Collections

Information

  • For Authors
  • For Advertisers
  • For the Media
  • For Subscribers

About

  • About the Journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Privacy Notice
  • Contact
  • Accessibility
(JNeurosci logo)
(SfN logo)

Copyright © 2025 by the Society for Neuroscience.
JNeurosci Online ISSN: 1529-2401

The ideas and opinions expressed in JNeurosci do not necessarily reflect those of SfN or the JNeurosci Editorial Board. Publication of an advertisement or other product mention in JNeurosci should not be construed as an endorsement of the manufacturer’s claims. SfN does not assume any responsibility for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from or related to any use of any material contained in JNeurosci.