Voluntary exercise increases striatal dopamine release and improves motor performance in aging mice

Aging is often accompanied by a decline in mobility across species, which can be improved by aerobic exercise, even in individuals with Parkinson’s disease. We showed previously that 30 days of voluntary wheel-running exercise in young male mice leads to enhanced release of the motor-system transmitter, dopamine (DA), in ex vivo corticostriatal slices. Here we tested whether voluntary exercise also increases DA release in aging (12 months old) mice of both sexes, and whether this is associated with improved motor performance. Mice were allowed unlimited access to a rotating (runners) or a locked (controls) wheel for 30 days. Motor behavior was then assessed, and electrically evoked DA release was quantified in slices from these animals using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. Although daily running distance for females was nearly twice that of males, runners of both sexes showed comparable increases in evoked DA release in dorsolateral striatum and in nucleus accumbens core and shell compared to age- and sex-matched controls. Runners of both sexes showed an increase in locomotion velocity and improved motor coordination. Thus, voluntary exercise boosts striatal DA release and improves motor performance in aging mice, providing new insights into the benefits of exercise in aging humans.