# COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN THE AGED PRIMATE

> **NIH NIH R01** · SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES · 1992 · $176,377

## Abstract

Studies in rats and humans indicate that cognitive decline is not an
inevitable consequence of aging.  Variability in the cognitive effects of
aging provides a useful basis for identifying neurobiological alterations
in the aged brain that are associated with senescent functional
impairment.  Research proposed in this application will provide the first
large-scale, comprehensive survey of individual differences in memory
function in the aged nonhuman primate.  The major objective of these
studies is to evaluate the proposal that only a subpopulation of aged
monkeys exhibit a pattern of memory impairment that resembles the effects
of medial temporal lobe damage.  Taking advantage of a unique resource of
animals and facilities available at the California Regional Primate
Research Center, memory function will be assessed in 55 aged rhesus
monkeys ranging in age from 19 to 30+ years old.  Twenty young subjects
(4-6 years of age) will be tested as controls.  Assessment procedures
will include 3 tasks that have been widely used to examine the cognitive
effects of experimental brain lesions in young monkeys: 1) a delayed
response test of spatiotemporal memory, 2) a delayed nonmatching to
sample recognition memory task, and 3) a rapidly acquired 2-choice object
discrimination procedure.  Cognitive function will also be assessed using
a series of newly developed spatial learning and memory tasks analogous
to procedures that are extremely sensitive to individual variability in
rodent models of aging.  These investigations will evaluate the
possibility that spatial information processing is disproportionately
impaired as a consequence of aging, and will determine whether spatial
memory dysfunction occurs in only a subpopulation of aged monkeys.
Training will be conducted in a transparent plexiglas open field maze, 9
feet in diameter, with 8 reward locations distributed around the
perimeter of the apparatus.  A computerized spatial tracking system will
monitor performance on an trials and provide measures of distance
traversed within the maze, time spent in specified regions of the
apparatus, average speed of movement during training sessions, and the
sequence of visits to individual reward locations.  Testing in the open
field maze will consist of procedures designed to examine: 1) exploratory
activity and habituation, 2) the acquisition and retention of spatial
working and reference memory, and 3) nonspatial learning and memory.  At
the conclusion of behavioral testing, 5 young and 20 aged monkeys will be
sacrificed for an ongoing program of studies aimed at identifying neural
alterations in the aged brain that are associated with senescent memory
impairment.  Taken together, the proposed experiments will yield an
extensive survey of individual differences in memory function in a
nonhuman primate model of normal aging.  These studies will ultimately
contribute to the development of therapeutic interventions designed to
ameliorate age-related cognitive dysf...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3122514
- **Project number:** 1R01AG010606-01
- **Recipient organization:** SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES
- **SAM.gov UEI:** NNJ6BMBTFGN5
- **Principal Investigator:** PETER R RAPP
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1992
- **Award amount:** $176,377
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 1992-09-20 → 1993-09-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3122514

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3122514, COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN THE AGED PRIMATE (1R01AG010606-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3122514. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*