Age-related changes in behavior in C57BL/6J mice from young adulthood to middle age

Abstract

The large-scale analysis of behavioral data from our battery of behavioral tests indicated age-related changes in a wide range of behaviors from young adulthood to middle age in C57BL/6J mice, though these results might have been influenced by possible confounding factors such as the time of day at testing and prior test experience. Our results also indicate that relatively narrow age differences can produce significant behavioral differences during adulthood in mice. These findings provide an insight into our understanding of the neurobiological processes underlying brain function and behavior that are subject to age-related changes in early to middle life. The findings also indicate that age is one of the critical factors to be carefully considered when designing behavioral tests and interpreting behavioral differences that might be induced by experimental manipulations.