PH3 -- The Effect of 24-hour Intermittent Fasting on Spatial Memory Test in Rats
Document Type
Event
Abstract
In 2020, there were 56.1 million people living in the United States that were over the age of 65 and by 2030 that number is predicted to be 73.1 million, according to the United States Census Bureau. Furthermore, by 2034 it is predicted that, for the first time in United States history, there will be more older adults than children. As public health officials prepare for the challenges of taking care of an aging population, one concern is increasing number of adults with memory impairments. About 40% of adults over the age of 65 have age-associated memory impairments today. Caloric restriction represents a low-cost lifestyle change that has been shown to have positive effects on brain health and aging. In one study conducted on older adults, a 30% caloric restriction diet improved performance on memory-related tests compared to an untreated group. An easy mechanism to apply caloric restriction is intermittent fasting (IF), which involves timed feeding to reduce overall caloric intake. In this study, young Fischer (CDF) rats were subjected to alternate 24-hour fasting three days a week for six weeks. Weight change during a 24-hour fast, weekly changes in body weight and food consumption, and a spatial memory performance was measured and compared to a group of rats fed ad libitum. The average weight change during a 24-hour fast was marked by a 12% decrease and after a 24-hour refeeding period, the rats returned to their original weights before the fast. Weekly monitoring of weight and food consumption indicated that there was a significant decrease in body weight and food consumption in the fasted group when compared to the non-treated group when measured weekly (p<0.05). Performance on the Morris Water Maze indicated that fasted rats were able to complete the task faster than non-treated rats indicating better spatial memory ability (p<0.05). These findings demonstrate a promising association between intermittent fasting and improvement of memory. Although these rats would be considered adolescents, the long-term goal of the laboratory is to maintain this rat colony on this IF regimen and continually monitor spatial memory abilities as they age.
Keywords
Physiology
PH3 -- The Effect of 24-hour Intermittent Fasting on Spatial Memory Test in Rats
URC Greatroom
In 2020, there were 56.1 million people living in the United States that were over the age of 65 and by 2030 that number is predicted to be 73.1 million, according to the United States Census Bureau. Furthermore, by 2034 it is predicted that, for the first time in United States history, there will be more older adults than children. As public health officials prepare for the challenges of taking care of an aging population, one concern is increasing number of adults with memory impairments. About 40% of adults over the age of 65 have age-associated memory impairments today. Caloric restriction represents a low-cost lifestyle change that has been shown to have positive effects on brain health and aging. In one study conducted on older adults, a 30% caloric restriction diet improved performance on memory-related tests compared to an untreated group. An easy mechanism to apply caloric restriction is intermittent fasting (IF), which involves timed feeding to reduce overall caloric intake. In this study, young Fischer (CDF) rats were subjected to alternate 24-hour fasting three days a week for six weeks. Weight change during a 24-hour fast, weekly changes in body weight and food consumption, and a spatial memory performance was measured and compared to a group of rats fed ad libitum. The average weight change during a 24-hour fast was marked by a 12% decrease and after a 24-hour refeeding period, the rats returned to their original weights before the fast. Weekly monitoring of weight and food consumption indicated that there was a significant decrease in body weight and food consumption in the fasted group when compared to the non-treated group when measured weekly (p<0.05). Performance on the Morris Water Maze indicated that fasted rats were able to complete the task faster than non-treated rats indicating better spatial memory ability (p<0.05). These findings demonstrate a promising association between intermittent fasting and improvement of memory. Although these rats would be considered adolescents, the long-term goal of the laboratory is to maintain this rat colony on this IF regimen and continually monitor spatial memory abilities as they age.