The goal of this research project is to use the functional imaging technique, PET, to determine if a reduction in the functional activity of cholinergic neurons is associated with age-related deterioration in cognitive function. The study will compare PET-derived indices of cholinergic function in elderly monkeys who have memory and learning deficits with similar results in unimpaired young and elderly monkeys.
The specific aims of the project include: (1) to identify patterns of individual variations in the severity of cognitive deficits observed in aged rhesus monkeys; (2) to measure baseline cholinergic activity using PET derived quantitation of F-18 FBT concentrations in the striatum of functionally impaired and unimpaired monkeys; (3) to measure the functional responsivity of the cholinergic system in response to D-2 blockade in functionally impaired and unimpaired monkeys; and (4) to measure the differences in dopamine D-2 receptor binding potential in these same populations of monkeys with F-18 labeled FCP. The PET derived indices of cholinergic function will be correlated with levels of functional impairment in the young and elderly monkeys.
| Tinkler, Gregory Paul; Voytko, Mary Lou (2005) Estrogen modulates cognitive and cholinergic processes in surgically menopausal monkeys. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 29:423-31 |
| Voytko, M L; Tinkler, G P (2004) Cognitive function and its neural mechanisms in nonhuman primate models of aging, Alzheimer disease, and menopause. Front Biosci 9:1899-914 |
| Voytko, M L; Mach, R H; Gage, H D et al. (2001) Cholinergic activity of aged rhesus monkeys revealed by positron emission tomography. Synapse 39:95-100 |
| Gage, H D; Voytko, M L; Ehrenkaufer, R L et al. (2000) Reproducibility of repeated measures of cholinergic terminal density using. J Nucl Med 41:2069-76 |
| Voytko, M L (1999) Impairments in acquisition and reversals of two-choice discriminations by aged rhesus monkeys. Neurobiol Aging 20:617-27 |
| Voytko, M L (1998) Nonhuman primates as models for aging and Alzheimer's disease. Lab Anim Sci 48:611-7 |
