scholarly journals Apparatus design and behavioural testing protocol for the evaluation of spatial working memory in mice through the spontaneous alternation T-maze

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaele d’Isa ◽  
Giancarlo Comi ◽  
Letizia Leocani
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spontaneous Alternation ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Optimal Test ◽  
Time Saving ◽  
Cognitive Evaluation ◽  
Maze Test ◽  
Natural Tendency ◽  
Left And Right

AbstractSpatial working memory can be assessed in mice through the spontaneous alternation T-maze test. The T-maze is a T-shaped apparatus featuring a stem (start arm) and two lateral goal arms (left and right arms). The procedure is based on the natural tendency of rodents to prefer exploring a novel arm over a familiar one, which induces them to alternate the choice of the goal arm across repeated trials. During the task, in order to successfully alternate choices across trials, an animal has to remember which arm had been visited in the previous trial, which makes spontaneous alternation T-maze an optimal test for spatial working memory. As this test relies on a spontaneous behaviour and does not require rewards, punishments or pre-training, it represents a particularly useful tool for cognitive evaluation, both time-saving and animal-friendly. We describe here in detail the apparatus and the protocol, providing representative results on wild-type healthy mice.

scholarly journals Visuo-spatial working memory deficit in patients with frontal lobe lesion. Investigation using a maze test.

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 272-279
Author(s):  
Naoko Togashi ◽  
Akiko Miyazaki ◽  
Chiyoko Nagai ◽  
Makoto Iwata
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Deficit ◽  
Maze Test ◽  
Frontal Lobe Lesion

scholarly journals Transection of the ventral hippocampal commissure impairs spatial reference but not contextual or spatial working memory

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-37
Author(s):  
Jake T. Jordan ◽  
Yi Tong ◽  
Carolyn L. Pytte
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Substrate Stability ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right

Plasticity is a neural phenomenon in which experience induces long-lasting changes to neuronal circuits and is at the center of most neurobiological theories of learning and memory. However, too much plasticity is maladaptive and must be balanced with substrate stability. Area CA3 of the hippocampus provides such a balance via hemispheric lateralization, with the left hemisphere dominant in providing plasticity and the right specialized for stability. Left and right CA3 project bilaterally to CA1; however, it is not known whether this downstream merging of lateralized plasticity and stability is functional. We hypothesized that interhemispheric convergence of input from these pathways is essential for integrating spatial memory stored in the left CA3 with navigational working memory facilitated by the right CA3. To test this, we severed interhemispheric connections between the left and right hippocampi in mice and assessed learning and memory. Despite damage to this major hippocampal fiber tract, hippocampus-dependent navigational working memory and short- and long-term memory were both spared. However, tasks that required the integration of information retrieved from memory with ongoing navigational working memory and navigation were impaired. We propose that one function of interhemispheric communication in the mouse hippocampus is to integrate lateralized processing of plastic and stable circuits to facilitate memory-guided spatial navigation.

Nitrous Oxide-induced Impairment of Spatial Working Memory Requires Activation of GABAergic Pathways

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-78
Author(s):  
Dimitris E. Emmanouil ◽  
Evan D. Klein ◽  
Katherine Chen ◽  
Abigail L. Brewer ◽  
Yangmiao Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spontaneous Alternation ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Opioid Antagonist ◽  
Appreciable Effect ◽  
Alternation Behavior ◽  
Spontaneous Alternation Behavior ◽  
Nih Swiss ◽  
Dose Dependent ◽  
Gabaa Antagonist

Background: Previous research from our laboratory implicated opioid and benzodiazepine- GABA mechanisms in other effects of N2O (antinociception and anxiolysis), so a decision was made to study these as potential mechanisms of N2O-induced dysfunction of spatial working memory. Objective: to explore potential mechanisms of N2O in reducing spatial working memory in mice. Methods: we monitored spontaneous alternation behavior (SAB) in male NIH Swiss mice exposed to N2O during a T-maze spontaneous alternation task (T-SAT). Results: mice that were exposed to 70% N2O (in O2) exhibited severely and significantly reduced spontaneous alternation behavior in the T-SAT. Mice in this environment alternated their route only 33% of the time, in comparison to the control (room air) rate of alternation at approximately 70%. Mice pretreated with the benzodiazepine antagonist, flumazenil exhibited a dose-dependent restoration of spatial working memory under 70% N2O in the T-SAT. Alternatively, pretreatment with neither the GABAA antagonist gabazine nor the opioid antagonist naloxone had any appreciable effect on the N2O-reduced SAB. Conclusion: this study verified that 70% N2O can reduce spatial working memory in mice, which appears to involve benzodiazepine mechanisms in the brain.

scholarly journals Transection of the ventral hippocampal commissure impairs spatial reference but not contextual or spatial working memory

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake T. Jordan ◽  
Yi Tong ◽  
Carolyn L. Pytte
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Substrate Stability ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right ◽  
Area Ca3

AbstractPlasticity is a neural phenomenon in which experience induces long-lasting changes to neuronal circuits and is at the center of most neurobiological theories of learning and memory. However, too much plasticity is maladaptive and must be balanced with substrate stability. Area CA3 of the hippocampus is lateralized with the left hemisphere dominant in plasticity and the right specialized for stability. Left and right CA3 project bilaterally to CA1; however, it is not known whether this downstream merging of lateralized plasticity and stability is functional. We hypothesized that interhemispheric integration of input from these pathways is essential for integrating spatial memory stored in the left CA3 with spatial working memory facilitated by the right CA3. To test this, we severed interhemispheric connections between the left and right hippocampi in mice and assessed learning and memory. Despite damage to this major hippocampal fiber tract, hippocampus-dependent spatial working memory and short- and long-term memory were both spared. However, tasks that required the integration of information retrieved from memory with ongoing spatial working memory and navigation were impaired. We propose that one function of interhemispheric communication in the mouse hippocampus is to integrate lateralized processing of plastic and stable circuits to facilitate memory-guided spatial navigation.

scholarly journals THE OFFSPRING OF MOTHERS HARBORING APP/PS1 MUTATIONS PRESENTS EARLY CHANGES IN BRAIN METABOLISM AND MEMORY

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Ferreira ◽  
Andreia Rocha ◽  
Vanessa Ramos ◽  
Bruna Bellaver ◽  
Carolina Soares ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Glucose Metabolism ◽  
Spontaneous Alternation ◽  
Brain Metabolism ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Rodent Models ◽  
Brain Glucose ◽  
Brain Glucose Metabolism ◽  
Maze Test ◽  
Y Maze ◽  
History Of

Background: Previous studies suggested that individuals with a maternal history of Alzheimer’s Disease(AD) are at higher risk of developing AD than individuals with a paternal history of AD. One could suggest that intra-uterine interactions might be responsible for elevating this risk. In this context, AD rodent models are highly suited for improving our understanding of this matter since animals reach adulthood in a few months. Objective: Here, we aimed at investigating changes in memory-related processes and brain metabolism on the offspring born to transgenic mothers harboring human APP/PS1 mutations. Methods: Rats born to F344-AD(Tg-AD) and WT mothers were evaluated in two different time-points: ~5.5, and ~9.5 months. Y-maze test was used to evaluate spatial working memory and micro-PET [18F]FDG was used to assess brain glucose metabolism. Results: Y-maze test demonstrated that rats born to transgenic mothers presented memory disturbances, indexed by spontaneous alternation, at ~5.5 months and ~9.5 months (figure 1A), while rats born to WT mothers and Tg-AD fathers exhibited a decline in spontaneous alternation only at ~9.5 months. rats born to AD-Tg mothers present brain glucose hypermetabolism at ~9,5 months. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that rats born to AD-Tg mothers harboring APP/PS1 mutations present cognitive decline and brain glucose metabolism abnormalities earlier than those born to WT mothers. Further studies are needed to understand the biological basis behind this phenomenon.

Spontaneous alternation: A potential gateway to spatial working memory in Drosophila

2017 ◽  
Vol 142 ◽  
pp. 230-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara A. Lewis ◽  
David C. Negelspach ◽  
Sevag Kaladchibachi ◽  
Stephen L. Cowen ◽  
Fabian Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spontaneous Alternation ◽  
Spatial Working Memory

Working Memory and Number Sense as Predictors of Mathematical (Dis-)Ability

2015 ◽  
Vol 223 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn H. Kroesbergen ◽  
Marloes van Dijk
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Number Sense ◽  
Mathematical Learning ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Mathematical Learning Disabilities ◽  
Visual Spatial Working Memory ◽  
And Mathematics

Recent research has pointed to two possible causes of mathematical (dis-)ability: working memory and number sense, although only few studies have compared the relations between working memory and mathematics and between number sense and mathematics. In this study, both constructs were studied in relation to mathematics in general, and to mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) in particular. The sample consisted of 154 children aged between 6 and 10 years, including 26 children with MLD. Children performing low on either number sense or visual-spatial working memory scored lower on math tests than children without such a weakness. Children with a double weakness scored the lowest. These results confirm the important role of both visual-spatial working memory and number sense in mathematical development.

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