Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:18:47 BST CiteULike: aec187s Sousa http://www.citeulike.org/user/aec187/author/Sousa CiteULike.org en-gb Copyright © 2004-2008 citeulike.org http://www.citeulike.org/user/aec187/article/2678415 <i>Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Vol. 88, No. 3. (October 2007), pp. 381-385.</i><br /><br />Transthyretin (TTR) is a plasma and cerebrospinal fluid carrier for thyroxine and retinol, described also to sequester the amyloid beta peptide. TTR levels have been described as decreased in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's disease. In order to investigate the role of TTR in learning and memory, we studied young adult and old TTR-null 129/Sv mice for cognitive performance. In the absence of TTR, 5-month-old mice display spatial reference memory impairment when compared to age-matched wild-type mice. Interestingly, while aging in wild-type mice is associated with a worsening reference memory performance, TTR-null mice show no further impairment with increasing age. As a result, no significant differences were found in this spatial reference task in old mice. Our data show that the absence of TTR seems to accelerate the poorer cognitive performance normally associated with aging. Transthyretin influences spatial reference memory João Sousa Fernanda Marques Eduardo Dias-Ferreira João Cerqueira Nuno Sousa Joana Palha doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2007.07.006 Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Vol. 88, No. 3. (October 2007), pp. 381-385. 2008-04-16T15:58:51-00:00 2007 Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 88 3 381 385 alzheimers animal learning memory spatial