Background: Despite controversy, the memory enhancing effect of glucose has been suggested in different learning methods. It seems that the age of animal is important in this practice. The present study evaluated the effects of glucose on spatial learning of young and aged rats.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, rats in the case group received 500 mg/kg glucose 10 minutes before daily training. Subjects in the sham group received the same amount of saline. Animals were introduced to a Y-maze apparatus for the active avoidance task. Data were analyzed using one way analysis of variance and student t-test.

Results: The results showed that glucose significantly improved the learning process in both young and aged rats (P< 0.05 and P< 0.01 respectively). However, the statistical comparison of the young and aged rats showed that the memory improvement following glucose administration was better in aged rather than in the young group (p<0.01).

Conclusion: Pretraining glucose administration improved learning in young and aged rats. Glucose may alter the neuronal metabolism, activity or neurotransmitter synthesis.