Progressive Age-Related Cognitive Decline in Tau Mice

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Van der Jeugd, Ann^a | Vermaercke, Ben^{a; 1} | Derisbourg, Maxime^{b; c; 1} | Lo, Adrian C.^{a; 1} | Hamdane, Malika^{b; c} | Blum, David^{b; c; d} | Buée, Luc^{b; c; d} | D'Hooge, Rudi^{a; *}

Affiliations: [a] Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium | [b] Universite Lille-Nord de France, UDSL, Lille Cedex, France | [c] Inserm U837, Jean-Pierre Aubert Research Centre, IMPRT, Lille, France | [d] CMRR, CHRU-Lille, Lille, France

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Rudi D'Hooge, DSc, PhD, Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Tiensestraat 102, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail: Rudi.DHooge@psy.kuleuven.be.

Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: Age-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases are a growing challenge for society. Accumulation of tau pathology has been proposed to partially contribute to these impairments. This study provides a behavioral characterization during aging of transgenic mice bearing tau mutations. THY-Tau22 mice were evaluated at ages wherein tau neuropathology in this transgenic mouse model is low (3-4 months), moderate (6-7 months), or extensive (>9 months). Spatial memory was found to be impaired only after 9 months of age in THY-Tau22 mice, whereas non-spatial memory was affected as early as 6 months, appearing to offer an opportunity for assessing potential therapeutic agents in attenuating or preventing tauopathies through modulation of tau kinetics.

Keywords: aging, learning, memory, tauopathy, transgenic model

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-130110

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 777-788, 2013