Subjects
To establish a transgenic colony at Arizona State University, a male rat carrying the APP/PSEN1dE9 transgenes and 4 female WT rats on a Fischer 344 NHSD background were obtained from the University of Southern California. These rats were used to breed subsequent generations of experimental rats within our laboratory, of which 30 WT sexually inexperienced female rats and 30 Tg sexually inexperienced female rats were used for the current study. For each genotype, rats were aged to 6, 9, and 12 months at the onset of behavioral testing, making for the following experimental groups: 6-month Tg rats (n = 10), 6-month WT rats (n = 10), 9-month Tg rats (n = 11), 9-month WT rats (n = 10), 12-month Tg rats (n = 9), and 12-month WT rats (n = 10). One subject from the 6-month Tg group was excluded from all analyses due to abnormal behavioral results and protein…
