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Treadmill running enhances the ability of learning in young rats

Lou Shujie, Liu Jinyan, Yang Ruoyu, Chen Peijie

Exercise Molecular Biology Research Center, Department of Exercise and sports Science, Shanghai University of Sport.Shanghai 200438

Abstract

To investigate the effect of treadmill running on the ability of learning in young rats, male Sprague-Dawley rats (5 weeks of age) were used for the experiment. Animals were randomly divided into the control and running groups (n=15 in each group). The rats in running group were made run on a motor-driven treadmill for 1 week at a speed of 2 m/min for the first 5 min, at a speed of 5 m/min for the next 5 min, then at a speed of 8 m/min for the last 20 min. Then the Morris water maze was used to observe learning and memory ability of rats in both groups. The tests consisted of place navigation and spatial probe test. We found that, in place navigation training, the latency of rats in running group was less than that in control group (P<0.05); and from the third training session on, there was significant difference between the rats in control and running groups in swimming velocity (P<0.01); furthemore, it was observed that the rats in running group had stronger motivation and more exact orientation in searching for platform, which could be indicated by the index of turn angle and angular velocity. In spatial probe test, there was no significant difference between the two groups in swimming velocity, percentage of swimming distance and frequency of crossing platform in D quadrant, where the platform situated (P>0.05). These findings suggest that low speed treadmill running can enhance the ability of learning in young rats.

Key words: Exercise;maze learning;young age;Rats

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Citing This Article：

Lou Shujie, Liu Jinyan, Yang Ruoyu, Chen Peijie. Treadmill running enhances the ability of learning in young rats. Acta Physiol Sin 2006; 58 (4): (in Chinese with English abstract).