The Effect of Exercise Preconditioning on Tactile Learning Following Transient Cerebral Ischemia in Male Rats

Transient global cerebral ischemia leads to neuronal damage in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex which results in learning and memory impairment. Exercise preconditioning helps with neuroprotection against cerebral injuries induced by ischemia. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of exercise preconditioning on tactile learning following global cerebral ischemia in rats.

A total of 50 male wistar rats weighing 250-300g were divided into 5 experimental groups. Exercise was performed on a treadmill and animals ran with the speed of 18 m/s for 30 minutes, 5 days per week for 3 weeks. Ischemia was induced by a four-vessel occlusion (vertebral and common carotid arteries) method. Tactile memory was assessed using a novel object recognition task.

Frequency of visits to a familiar object increased in the ischemia group (48 ± 9.4 Hz) compared to the control (22.8 ± 2.7 Hz). Also discrimination index decreased in the ischemia group (39.8 ± 1.6%) compared to the sham (60.2 ± 2.8%). Exercise preconditioning improved this index in the ischemic animals (57.3 ±6.6%).

Transient cerebral ischemia can impair tactile learning and exercise preconditioning can prevent this deficit in the ischemic rats.