Old Rats Remembered More After Interval Runs Than Steady Ones
Graded Preliminary — an experiment with 32 male rats in groups of eight over six weeks; results from animals cannot be applied directly to people.
Animal study. Findings may not carry over to people, which is why the grade is capped at Preliminary.
- Design
- Animal study
- Participants
- 32
- Duration
- 6 weeks
- Funding
- The authors report no external funding.
In old rats, interval running improved memory in a water pool test more than running at a steady pace.
Old rats that ran in intervals for six weeks remembered a hidden target better than rats that ran at a steady pace. In the final memory test in a water pool, they stayed longer in the right area. While learning the route, both running groups were faster than old rats that did not train.
Researchers split 24 old and 8 young male rats at random into four groups. One group of old rats ran steadily on a treadmill for 30 minutes, three times a week. A second group switched between five minutes slow and one minute twice as fast. The other rats did not train. After interval running, the hippocampus, a brain area key to memory, held more BDNF. This is a growth factor for nerve cells. A substance that calms inflammation was also higher there.
Steady running instead raised a protective enzyme against cell stress in the hippocampus. In one anxiety test, interval rats hugged the walls less, while a second test showed no clear difference. Each group held only eight male animals. The authors stress that the results transfer to humans only to a limited degree.
Disclaimer: Research summaries are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health routine.
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