Age-related decline in DHEAS is not related to cognitive impairment in aged monkeys

To determine whether endogenous DHEAS level is related to cognitive performance in the rhesus monkey, we tested 9 young and 14 old monkeys on the acquisition and the 120s delay condition of the delayed nonmatching to sample and on the spatial delayed recognition span test. A single summary measure of cognitive ability, the cognitive performance index (CPI), was derived from these three tests. As expected, the mean level of DHEAS as well as the CPI declined with age. DHEAS level, however, was not significantly correlated with CPI, after controling for the relationship of age to these two variables. Further, impaired and unimpaired aged monkeys did not differ in DHEAS level. findings suggest that DHEAS is not independently associated with age-related cognitive decline in the rhesus monkey. (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.