Phosphoinositide metabolism, phospholipase C immunoreactivity, and protein kinase C translocation were measured in brain slices of 6- and 24-month-old F-344 rats. Basal phosphoinositide labeling and accumulation of [3H]inositol phosphates were reduced in the 24-month-old rats. The cholinergic agonist, carbachol, induced lower net accumulations of inositol phosphates in striatal, hippocampal, and cortical slices of the aged rats. The dose-response curve for carbachol showed a significantly lower maximal response in the striatum of senescent rats, whereas the time course of [3H]inositol incorporation into inositol metabolites and the accumulation of free [3H]inositol in tissues from young and old animals were not different. Quantitative analyses showed marked reductions in endogenous brain levels of the phosphoinositides and in phospholipase C-beta 1 immunoreactivity, but no marked reductions in endogenous brain levels of the phosphoinositides and in phospholipase C-beta 1 immunoreactivity, but no changes in phospholipase C-gamma levels in aged animals. Moreover, basal protein kinase C activity and carbachol-mediated translocation of the enzyme were significantly reduced in the cerebral cortex of the senescent animals. These findings imply that aging is associated with alterations in the brain content, metabolism, and activity of phosphoinositide-derived second messengers in the F-344 rat brain.