%0 Generic %A Segal-Gavish, Hadar %A Barzilay, Ran %A Rimoni, Ofri %A Offen, Daniel %D 2017 %T Voluntary exercise improves cognitive deficits in female dominant-negative DISC1 transgenic mouse model of neuropsychiatric disorders %U https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Voluntary_exercise_improves_cognitive_deficits_in_female_dominant-negative_DISC1_transgenic_mouse_model_of_neuropsychiatric_disorders/5091907 %R 10.6084/m9.figshare.5091907.v1 %2 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/8630146 %2 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/8630149 %2 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/8630152 %2 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/8630155 %2 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/8630158 %K DISC1 %K animal model %K exercise %K recognition memory %K neurogenesis %X

Objectives: Physical exercise has gained increasing interest as a treatment modality that improves prognosis in psychiatric patients. The disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) gene is a candidate gene for major mental illness. In this study, we aimed to determine whether voluntary wheel running can improve cognitive deficits of dominant-negative DISC1 transgenic mice (DN-DISC1).

Methods: DN-DISC1 and control mice (10-week-old male and female) were placed for 14 days in a cage with or without access to a running wheel. Two weeks later, mice underwent behavioural tests evaluating cognition and social approach and recognition.

Results: Voluntary exercise improved performance in the novel object recognition test, restored the impairment in spatial memory in the Y maze, and reversed the deficit in social recognition memory in DN-DISC1 females. DN-DISC1 males did not exhibit behavioural deficits at baseline. Tissue analysis revealed that exercise induced a significant increase in hippocampal expression of doublecortin (DCX), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1R) only in DN-DISC1 females.

Conclusions: Voluntary exercise is beneficial in attenuating cognitive deficits observed in a rodent model relevant for neuropsychiatric disorders. The data add a preclinical aspect to the accumulating clinical data supporting the incorporation of physical exercise to patients’ care.

%I Taylor & Francis