Low-stress route learning using the Lashley III maze in mice.
Low-stress route learning using the Lashley III maze in mice.
复制标题
DOI：
10.3791/1786
复制
发表时间：
2010-05-22
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Andrews, Anne
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bressler, Amanda;Blizard, David;Andrews, Anne
许多设计用于评估啮齿动物（特别是小鼠）学习和记忆的行为测试依赖于视觉线索、食物和/或水剥夺或其他厌恶刺激来激发任务获取。随着动物年龄的增长，感觉方式恶化。例如，许多品系的小鼠会出现听力缺陷或白内障。在任务获取过程中引导小鼠所需的感觉系统的变化在解释衰老动物的学习变化方面存在潜在的混淆。此外，当比较对压力具有不同敏感性的小鼠时，使用厌恶刺激来激励动物学习任务可能会混淆。为了最大限度地减少这些类型的混淆效应，我们已经实现了一个修改版本的拉什利III迷宫。该迷宫依赖于路线学习，小鼠通过在低压力条件下重复暴露（例如黑暗阶段、无食物/水剥夺）来学习在迷宫中导航，直到它们在两次连续试验中以0或1个错误导航从开始位置到伪家笼的路径。我们将其归类为低压力行为测试，因为它不依赖于令人厌恶的刺激来鼓励探索迷宫和学习任务。该装置由一个模块化的起始盒，一个四臂迷宫体，和一个目标盒。在目标框的末端是一个伪饲养笼，其包含与动物饲养笼中发现的垫料相似的垫料，并且在迷宫测试期间对每只动物是特定的。之前已经证明，这种伪家笼提供了足够的奖励来激励小鼠学习导航迷宫。在这里，我们提出了可视化的拉什利III迷宫程序的背景下，评估年龄相关的差异，在小鼠的学习和记忆沿着与学习行为的比较，在两个不同的背景品系的小鼠。我们希望其他有兴趣评估衰老或应激脆弱性对小鼠的影响的研究人员会认为这种迷宫是一种有吸引力的替代行为测试，涉及更有压力的学习任务和/或视觉线索。
Many behavior tests designed to assess learning and memory in rodents, particularly mice, rely on visual cues, food and/or water deprivation, or other aversive stimuli to motivate task acquisition. As animals age, sensory modalities deteriorate. For example, many strains of mice develop hearing deficits or cataracts. Changes in the sensory systems required to guide mice during task acquisition present potential confounds in interpreting learning changes in aging animals. Moreover, the use of aversive stimuli to motivate animals to learn tasks is potentially confounding when comparing mice with differential sensitivities to stress. To minimize these types of confounding effects, we have implemented a modified version of the Lashley III maze. This maze relies on route learning, whereby mice learn to navigate a maze via repeated exposure under low stress conditions, e.g. dark phase, no food/water deprivation, until they navigate a path from the start location to a pseudo-home cage with 0 or 1 error(s) on two consecutive trials. We classify this as a low-stress behavior test because it does not rely on aversive stimuli to encourage exploration of the maze and learning of the task. The apparatus consists of a modular start box, a 4-arm maze body, and a goal box. At the end of the goal box is a pseudo-home cage that contains bedding similar to that found in the animal's home cage and is specific to each animal for the duration of maze testing. It has been demonstrated previously that this pseudo-home cage provides sufficient reward to motivate mice to learn to navigate the maze. Here, we present the visualization of the Lashley III maze procedure in the context of evaluating age-related differences in learning and memory in mice along with a comparison of learning behavior in two different background strains of mice. We hope that other investigators interested in evaluating the effects of aging or stress vulnerability in mice will consider this maze an attractive alternative to behavioral tests that involve more stressful learning tasks and/or visual cues.