Hippocampal neuron and synaptophysin-positive bouton number in aging C57BL/6 mice

Neurobiol Aging. 1998 Nov-Dec;19(6):599-606. doi: 10.1016/s0197-4580(98)00098-0.

Abstract

A loss of hippocampal neurons and synapses had been considered a hallmark of normal aging and, furthermore, to be a substrate of age-related learning and memory deficits. Recent stereological studies in humans have shown that only a relatively minor neuron loss occurs with aging and that this loss is restricted to specific brain regions, including hippocampal subregions. Here, we investigate these age-related changes in C57BL/6J mice, one of the most commonly used laboratory mouse strains. Twenty-five mice (groups at 2, 14, and 28-31 months of age) were assessed for Morris water-maze performance, and modern stereological techniques were used to estimate total neuron and synaptophysin-positive bouton number in hippocampal subregions at the light microscopic level. Results revealed that performance in the water maze was largely maintained with aging. No age-related decline was observed in number of dentate gyrus granule cells or CA1 pyramidal cells. In addition, no age-related change in number of synaptophysin-positive boutons was observed in the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus or CA1 region of hippocampus. We observed a significant correlation between dentate gyrus synaptophysin-positive bouton number and water-maze performance. These results demonstrate that C57BL/6J mice do not exhibit major age-related deficits in spatial learning or hippocampal structure, providing a baseline for further study of mouse brain aging.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aging / physiology*
  • Animals
  • Cognition / physiology*
  • Hippocampus / cytology*
  • Hippocampus / physiology
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Neurons / cytology*
  • Neurons / physiology
  • Synapses / physiology*
  • Synaptophysin / metabolism
  • Task Performance and Analysis

Substances

  • Synaptophysin