Physical and cognitive training attenuate memory dysfunction and inflammation in focal cerebral ischemia injury

Background and Aim : The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of physical and cognitive training separately or in combination on memory impairment and inflammatory responses in the ischemia model of rat.Methods : Endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoconstrictor, was used to produce focal ischemia in the hippocampus in male Wistar rats. Physical, cognitive and combination training groups exposed to voluntary running wheel exercise or modified Barnes maze cognitive task or combination of this interventions for 4 weeks, respectively. Next, novel object recognition (NOR) task was used to assess recognition memory. Western blotting was used to evaluate the protein levels of Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor 1 (TNFR1) in the hippocampal tissue.Results : Hippocampal ischemia significantly impaired recognition memory with an increase of inflammatory proteins in the hippocampus tissue. Interventions in combination or separately significantly improved performance of ischemia-received animals in memory task. Furthermore, both physical and cognitive paradigms also reduced inflammatory factors in the hippocampus of ischemia-received rats.Conclusion : These results show that physical and cognitive training separately or in combination had a positive effect on cognitive function passably via reduction of inflammation.

Keywords:

Physical training , Cognitive training , Hippocampal ischemia , Learning and memory , Inflammation