2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) Aim 1: Determine the effects of TESB supplementation on Behavioral aging using paradigms sensitive to: motor (probes sensitive to balance, strength, coordination) and cognitive (short- and long-term memories) behaviors. Aim 2: Determine the effects of TESB on signaling and correlate these changes with the behavioral parameters determined in Specific Aim 1. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) The effects of TESB dietary supplementation (2% TESB extract in the diet for 8 weeks) will be examined. After 8 weeks of supplementation into 19 month old rats, performance will be examined in the rats using age-sensitive motor (inclined) and cognitive behaviors (Morris water maze performance). We will then determine the effects of TESB supplementation on neuronal signaling and correlate these with alterations in behavioral parameters determined in SA1. We will utilize several techniques (e.g., Western blot analyses and immunocytochemistry) to assess the changes in several markers of phosphorylation that are important in cell communication and neurogenesis (e.g., calcium-dependent protein kinase C, PKC; extracellular signal regulated kinases, ERK). 3.Progress Report This report serves to document research conducted under a Cooperative Trust Agreement between ARS and Sunnyridge Farms. In this effort the effects of blackberry dietary supplementation (2% blackberry extract in the diet for 8 weeks) were examined. The results indicated that the blackberry animals showed significantly greater performance compared to the control group on two motor tasks which rely on balance and coordination: a) the rotorod, where the blackberry-supplemented animals were able to remain on the rotorod an average of about 13 seconds, or 30% longer, than control rats, and b) the small plank, where the blackberry-supplemented animals were able to remain on the plank an average of about 6 seconds, or 35%, longer than control rats. In the case of the Morris water maze, it appeared that the blackberry-supplemented rats had a 50% improvement in latency to find the platform between trial 1 and trial 2 of the tests, in the latter days of testing (days 3 and 4), compared to the control rats. This means that their working, or short-term, memory performance was significantly greater than the control rats. We are in the process of writing a paper on these findings. Additional details of this research can be found in the report for the parent CRIS 1950-51000-063-00D Nutritional Modulation of Brain Aging and Cognitive Decline.