Age-related differences in appetitive trace conditioning and novel object recognition procedures.

•Longitudinal study of middle age in the rat with matched younger control cohort.•Appetitive trace conditioning and novel object recognition tests of working memory.•Transient between-groups working memory impairments aged 12 compared with 2 months.•Object exploration reduced with age but working memory recovered.•Object exploration and ITI nosepoking showed some correlation with 5-HIAA/5-HT.