Age-related changes of the avian brain measured by FDG-PET Imaging
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Date
2019
Authors
Shabro, Shiva
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Abstract
Functional asymmetries of the brain’s hemispheres play an important role in the completion of cognitive tasks by human and non-human vertebrates. For pigeons, the left
hemisphere is more important for discrimination of local cues, such as discriminating
pieces of grain scattered among grit, whereas the right hemisphere is more important
for processing global cues, such as a predatory bird flying overhead. Brain functionality
declines with age, and the hemispheres age at different rates. We investigated
the age-related differences in metabolic rate of each hemisphere by using PET imaging.
Adult, old and very old pigeons searched for grains scattered among grit using
both eyes, only the right eye or only the left eye. Overall, the activity of both hemispheres
decreased significantly in old and very old subjects compared to the adult
group, which resulted in significantly poorer performance by very old subjects when
the left hemisphere was not available (using only the left eye). However, in spite of
the reduction in the brain activity of the old subjects, they could still perform the
task significantly better than the very old group. Also, Lateralization Index differed
significantly among all there eye conditions only in adult pigeons. In conclusion, coupling
behavioural study with a neuroimaging technique, we showed that the avian brain, similar to the mammalian brain, can compensate for the effects of aging to a
limited extent and until a certain age.
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Keywords
Neuroimaging, PET, Avian brain, Aging