ABSTRACT

The age-related declines of cognition and memory are well known in humans and other animals; and the N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) receptor, a subtype of Glu receptors, is believed to be involved not only in neuronal transmission, memory and learning processes but also in pathological processes of neuronal loss by excitotoxic injury following ischemia and hypoglycemia and in the early stages of pathophysiology of senile dementia of Alzheimer`s type. Due to this functional significance of the NMDA receptor, a decline might underlie age-related deficits in learning and memory. Indeed in the aged rodent brain declining of NMDA receptors have been reported in the cerebral cortex and hippocampal regions, although there are some conflicting results concerning their levels in the hippocampus. Because of all this, we have also examined the influence of age on NMDA receptor using a quantitative in vitro autoradiographic technique.