Old Calorie Restricted Rats Act Younger Than Their Peers
No great surprise here, given that calorie restriction in mammals slows almost all measures of aging investigated to date: "Long-term caloric restriction (CR) has been reported to extend the life spans, delay the onset and decrease the incidence of a broad spectrum of age-associated diseases. However, its effect on rat explorative behaviour is still unclear. In the present study, a number of behavioural measures were continuously monitored in 3-, 12-, 24-25-, 28-29- and 35-44-month-old male Wistar rats that were fed either ad libitum or placed on a caloric restricted diet. A gradual decline in locomotor activity of the ad libitum fed rats has been determined during aging in the open field test. In the CR groups, 3-month-old rats exhibited lower levels of exploratory behavior, compared to rats on the control diet. 24-25-month-old CR rats exhibited higher levels of exploratory behaviour, compared to ad libitum fed animals of the same age. Chronic dietary restriction nullified the age-dependent decline in locomotor activity and explorative behaviour of rats."