Evidence for cognitive aging in mice using the CognitionWall protocol

In the April issue of GeroScience researchers from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) published a study describing the cognitive performance of aging mice using the CognitionWall protocol in the PhenoTyper. Using this automated test developed by Sylics, the authors found that both initial discrimination and reversal learning are significantly decreased with age in C57 animals at 6, 21, and 27 months of age (see the figure below and this link). Besides cognitive function, this paper also describes the spontaneous activity measurements of the aged animals over a 90 hour period. As the authors state in the article, “These tests alleviate many of the on-going concerns with behavioral testing and simultaneously provide new endpoints that are relevant to measure in human subjects that are associated with physical performance, disability, and cognitive decline.”