Table 2.
Other measures in the water maze tasks of 4-, 13-, and 24-month-old gonadally-intact (intact), gonadectomized (GDX), or GDX and T-replaced (GDX + T; Experiment 1), intact and T-administered (Experiment 2), and intact or intact or intact and 3α-diol-administered (Experiment 3) rats. Measures are: latency, swim speed, and distances traveled during training in the water maze (mean ± SEM averaged over two trials) and swim speed and distances traveled during testing (mean ± SEM averaged over four trials).
| Age | Steroid condition | Water maze training latency (s) | Water maze testing distance | Water maze training distance | Water maze training speed (cm/s) | Water maze testing speed (cm/s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXPERIMENT 1 | ||||||
| 4 Months | Intact | 84.9 ± 9.6 | 1239.3 ± 183.0 | 941.8 ± 140.1* | 16.3 ± 2.3 | 29.4 ± 4.5* |
| GDX | 78.6 ± 10.8 | 1417.7 ± 238.9 | 1029.7 ± 155.0* | 18.0 ± 1.7 | 32.1 ± 9.3* | |
| GDX + T | 83.5 ± 8.0 | 1485.4 ± 231.5 | 961.7 ± 111.3* | 21.1 ± 3.8 | 63.3 ± 12.4* | |
| 13 Months | Intact | 89.1 ± 12.8 | 1756.0 ± 213.1 | 1649.9 ± 278.0# | 21.0 ± 1.6 | 19.8 ± 1.5 |
| GDX | 65.3 ± 11.8 | 1195.8 ± 142.9 | 1154.0 ± 208.3 | 19.8 ± 1.7 | 20.0 ± 2.9 | |
| GDX + T | 98.9 ± 7.2 | 1948.1 ± 184.5 | 1557.6 ± 216.1 | 19.4 ± 1.7 | 17.4 ± 1.1 | |
| 24 Months | Intact | 111.2 ± 8.6 | 1983.1 ± 141.0 | 2000.9 ± 169.1# | 18.3 ± 0.9 | 21.2 ± 0.4 |
| GDX | 96.1 ± 13.5 | 1769.9 ± 215.7 | 1368.0 ± 162.1 | 18.8 ± 0.9 | 15.0 ± 1.3 | |
| GDX + T | 85.0 ± 12.4 | 1201.0 ± 161.2 | 1259.4 ± 112.6 | 16.4 ± 2.9 | 17.7 ± 2.4 | |
| EXPERIMENT 2 | ||||||
| 4 Months | Intact | 87.6 ± 18.9 | 2208.1 ± 505.2 | 698.1 ± 126.9* | 22.0 ± 2.3 | 44.8 ± 31.5 |
| Intact + T | 55.0 ± 24.5 | 1309.2 ± 614.0 | 511.7 ± 83.6* | 19.7 ± 2.8 | 41.5 ± 9.2 | |
| 13 Months | Intact | 103.0 ± 17.0 | 1944.2 ± 123.2 | 1120.0 ± 93.2 | 19.5 ± 2.3 | 23.8 ± 6.3 |
| Intact + T | 105.3 ± 14.7 | 1620.8 ± 319.7 | 1105.0 ± 178.9 | 17.9 ± 7.0 | 76.0 ± 36.7 | |
| 24 Months | Intact | 102.7 ± 17.3 | 1375.0 ± 160.0 | 1679.4 ± 63.1 | 13.9 ± 3.8 | 15.4 ± 2.4 |
| Intact + T | 109.2 ± 10.8 | 1535.8 ± 276.7 | 1543.3 ± 58.4 | 14.3 ± 1.2 | 14.2 ± 0.4 | |
| EXPERIMENT 3 | ||||||
| 4 Months | Intact | 50.9 ± 9.3* | 1155.2 ± 195.8+ | 535.0 ± 88.6* | 20.8 ± 1.6 | 22.3 ± 3.5 |
| Intact + 3α-diol | 76.9 ± 9.4*# | 1505.2 ± 167.5+ | 419.6 ± 59.6* | 23.2 ± 2.0 | 18.6 ± 1.6 | |
| 13 Months | Intact | 90.4 ± 8.9 | 1689.6 ± 191.5 | 1145.2 ± 91.8 | 19.1 ± 0.9 | 19.4 ± 1.3 |
| Intact + 3α-diol | 92.3 ± 10.5 | 1796.0 ± 195.5 | 1038.5 ± 103.1 | 20.1 ± 1.4 | 19.7 ± 0.9 | |
| 24 Months | Intact | 86.5 ± 7.5 | 1455.0 ± 128.5 | 1358.2 ± 134.6 | 33.4 ± 16.2 | 18.5 ± 2.6 |
| Intact + 3α-diol | 98.3 ± 6.3 | 1786.6 ± 201.5 | 1200.5 ± 209.7 | 18.0 ± 1.3 | 26.7 ± 9.3 | |
*Denotes significant difference from 13- and 24-month-old rats (p < 0.05). +Denotes trend for difference from 13 month-old rats (p = 0.5–0.75). #Denotes trend for difference from GDX or intact + vehicle (p = 0.5–0.75).