Spatial Learning and Noradrenaline Content in the Brain and Periphery of Young and Aged Rats

The present experiment studied whether a dysfunction of the noradrenergic neurons is related to spatial learning impairment by investigating the levels of noradrenaline in the brain and periphery as well as the acquisition of water maze task in saline-pretreated young rats, in noradrenergic neurotoxin (DSP-4)-pretreated young rats and in saline-pretreated aged rats. Aged rats, which had an increased escape latency onto the hidden platform, revealed a decreased noradrenaline content in the heart, but not in the hippocampus, striatum, or hypothalamus, whereas DSP-4-pretreated rats had decreased noradrenaline content in the brain; the acquisition of water maze task was not impaired. These results suggest that the peripheral noradrenergic system can show age-related changes different from those in the central noradrenergic system, and they failed to provide support for the hypothesis that decreased activity of the central noradrenergic nerves is related to impairment in the acquisition of the water maze task.