Traffic noise exposure, cognitive decline, and amyloid‐beta pathology in an AD mouse model

Abstract

Concerns are growing that exposure to environmental pollutants, such as traffic noise, might cause cognitive impairments and predispose individuals toward the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia. In this study in a knock‐in mouse model of AD, we investigated how chronic traffic noise exposure (CTNE) impacts cognitive performance and amyloid‐beta (Aβ) pathology. A group of APPNL‐G‐F/NL‐G‐F mice was exposed to CTNE (70 dBA, 8 hr/day for 1 month) and compared with nonexposed counterparts. Following CTNE, an increase in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis responsivity was observed by corticosterone assay of the blood. One month after CTNE, the CTNE group demonstrated impairments in cognitive and motor functions, and indications of anxiety‐like behavior, relative to the control animals. The noise‐exposed group also showed elevated Aβ aggregation, as inferred by a greater number of plaques and larger average plaque size in various regions of the brain, including regions involved in stress regulation. The results support that noise‐associated dysregulation of the neuroendocrine system as a potential risk factor for developing cognitive impairment and Aβ pathology, which should be further investigated in human studies.

Early Tactile Stimulation Influences the Development of Alzheimer Disease in Gestationally Stressed APPNL-G-FAdult OffspringNL-G-F/NL-G-Fmice

“…Impaired learning and memory along with deterioration in motor skills and elevated anxiety are common symptoms of AD in humans. A series of studies in our lab have shown the similar deficits in APP mice (Jafari, et al, 2017(Jafari, et al, , 2018(Jafari, et al, , 2019Mehla et al, 2019;Karem et al, 2021). In addition, the declined cognitive and motor skills are associated with the formation of Aβ plaques and with age as the formation of Aβ plaques increases with age in these APP mice (Jafari et al, 2018;Mehla, et al, 2019).…”

“…There is plenty of evidence from clinical research on humans showing that people living in major cities (Astell-Burt & Feng, 2018) and closer proximity to heavy traffic noise (Chen et al, 2019) have higher chance of being diagnosed with AD/dementia along with other cognitive impairment disorders (Tzivian et al, 2016). Previous research in our lab has demonstrated the adverse effects of auditory stress on the brain and behaviour in second generation of mouse model of AD (Jafari et al, 2017;Mehla et al, 2019;Karem et al, 2021). In this study, we aimed to explore the role of early tactile stimulation (TS) in mitigating the adverse effects of gestational auditory stress, as well as AD-like symptoms in adult APP offspring.…”

Resveratrol prevents hearing loss and a subregion specific- reduction of serotonin reuptake transporter induced by noise exposure in the central auditory system

“…In the critical period of hearing, continuous white noise exposure can change the bidirectional thalamic cortical plasticity of rat auditory cortex (Speechley et al, 2007). Continuous noise exposure may induce the aggregation of Aβ and cognitive impairment in mice (Karem et al, 2021). Moderate noise exposure during the early development of mice increases the density of GABA and somatostatin (SOM) cells in the primary auditory cortex (Au1) and the anterior auditory field (AAF), but decreases the density of perineural network cells in Au1.…”