Effects of Voluntary Exercise on Prefrontal-Dependent Set-Shifting in Adolescent Rats
Conference Year
January 2019
Abstract
Physical exercise has been shown to have positive impacts on executive functioning (working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility) in humans of all ages. Rodent studies provide insight as to how exercise may impact the extent of the cognitive benefits for adults versus adolescent rodents. In the proposed experiment, we directly compare exercising vs. non-exercising adolescent and young adult rats in cognitive flexibility. We hypothesize that adolescent rats with access to a home cage running wheel will perform best in the maze-based cognitive flexibility task. We will also examine whether or not these hypothesized benefits remain after exercise stops. If our hypothesis is correct, we can make connections between adolescent rats and humans to promote improved long-term cognitive flexibility for children that consistently exercise at an earlier age compared to early adulthood.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
John Green
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
College of Arts and Sciences
Program/Major
Neuroscience
Primary Research Category
Biological Sciences
Effects of Voluntary Exercise on Prefrontal-Dependent Set-Shifting in Adolescent Rats
Physical exercise has been shown to have positive impacts on executive functioning (working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility) in humans of all ages. Rodent studies provide insight as to how exercise may impact the extent of the cognitive benefits for adults versus adolescent rodents. In the proposed experiment, we directly compare exercising vs. non-exercising adolescent and young adult rats in cognitive flexibility. We hypothesize that adolescent rats with access to a home cage running wheel will perform best in the maze-based cognitive flexibility task. We will also examine whether or not these hypothesized benefits remain after exercise stops. If our hypothesis is correct, we can make connections between adolescent rats and humans to promote improved long-term cognitive flexibility for children that consistently exercise at an earlier age compared to early adulthood.