Treadmill Exercise Prevents Recognition Memory Impairment in VD rat
model through Enhancement of Hippocampal Structural Synaptic Plasticity
Abstract
In vascular dementia (VD), memory impairment caused by the damage of
synaptic plasticity is the most prominent feature that afflicts patients
and their families. Treadmill exercise has proven beneficial for memory
by enhancing synaptic plasticity in animal models including stroke,
dementia, and mental disorders. The aim of this study was to examine the
effects of treadmill exercise on recognition memory, and structural
synaptic plasticity in VD rat model. Here, our study demonstrated that
VD rat exhibited significantly recognition impairment, while treadmill
exercise improved recognition memory in VD rat. To further investigate
potential mechanisms for the treadmill exercise-induced improvement of
recognition memory, we examined hippocampal structural synaptic
plasticity by means of transmission electron microscopy and golgi
staining in VD rat that had undergone 4 weeks of treadmill exercise. The
results demonstrated that VD rat causes the damage of structural
synaptic plasticity. However, treadmill exercise led to increases in
synapse numbers and the number of dendritic spines in VD rat. Together,
the improvement of VD-associated recognition memory by treadmill
exercises is associated with enhanced structural synaptic plasticity in
VD rat model.