AIM Previous pharmacological studies demonstrated that LW could ameliorate the decline of the learning and memory in senescence accelerated mouse/prone 8 (SAMP8), but the mechanism has not been well established.LW-containing serum (LWCS) was used in this study to elucidate the possible mechanisms.METHODS 6-month-old SAMP8 was used in this study to investigate the effect of LWCS on the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP).Primary cultured hippocampal neurons were used in this study to investigate the effects of LWCS on [Ca2 +] i, ICa and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-evoked currents.[Ca2 +] i was imaged using Fluo-3 and whole-cell patch recordings were applied to study the ICa and NMDA-evoked currents.RESULTS We find that LWCS facilitates the induction of LTP in hippocampal slices of 6-month-old SAMPS.In primary cultured hippocampal neurons, LWCS increases intracellular [Ca2 +] i, the ICa is suppressed by LWCS, and NMDA-evoked currents are promoted.CONCLUSION These results indicate that LW improves the synaptic plasticity by inhibiting voltage-dependent calciumchannels and promoting the function of NMDA receptors.This improvement might be one of the mechanisms contributing to cognitive improvement effect of LW.