Recognition memory in rats--I. Concepts and classification

New behavioral protocols to extend our knowledge of rodent object recognition memory

Animals often show an innate preference for novelty. This preference facilitates spontaneous exploration tasks of novelty discrimination (recognition memory). In response to limitations with standard spontaneous object recognition procedures for rodents, a new task ("bow-tie maze") was devised. This task combines features of delayed nonmatching-to-sample with spontaneous exploration. The present study explored aspects of object recognition in the bow-tie maze not amenable to standard procedures. Two rat strains (Lister Hooded, Dark Agouti) displayed very reliable object recognition in both the light and dark, with the Lister Hooded strain showing superior performance (Experiment 1). These findings reveal the potential contribution of tactile and odor cues in object recognition. As the bow-tie maze task permits multiple trials within a session, it was possible to derive forgetting curves both within-session and between-sessions (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, rats with hippocampal or fornix lesions performed at normal levels on the basic version of the recognition task, contrasting with the marked deficits previously seen after perirhinal cortex lesions. Next, the training protocol was adapted (Experiment 3), and this modified version was used successfully with mice (Experiment 4). The overall findings demonstrate the efficacy of this new behavioral task and advance our understanding of object recognition.

Lesions of the rat perirhinal cortex spare the acquisition of a complex configural visual discrimination yet impair object recognition

Rats with perirhinal cortex lesions were sequentially trained in a rectangular water tank on a series of 3 visual discriminations, each between mirror-imaged stimuli. When these same discriminations were tested concurrently, the rats were forced to use a configural strategy to solve the problems effectively. There was no evidence that lesions of the perirhinal cortex disrupted the ability to learn the concurrent configural discrimination task, which required the rats to learn the precise combination of stimulus identity with stimulus placement (“structural” learning). The same rats with perirhinal cortex lesions were also unimpaired on a test of spatial working memory (reinforced T maze alternation), although they were markedly impaired on a new test of spontaneous object recognition. For the recognition test, rats received multiple trials within a single session in which on every trial, they were allowed to explore 2 objects, 1 familiar, the other novel. On the basis of their differential exploration times, rats with perirhinal cortex lesions showed very poor discrimination of the novel objects, thereby confirming the effectiveness of the surgery. The discovery that bilateral lesions of the perirhinal cortex can leave configural (structural) learning seemingly unaffected points to a need to refine those models of perirhinal cortex function that emphasize its role in representing conjunctions of stimulus features.

The nitric oxide-releasing derivative of ferulic acid NCX 2057 antagonized delay-dependent and scopolamine-induced performance deficits in a recognition memory task in the rat

Nitric oxide (NO) is considered as an intracellular messenger in the brain. Its involvement in learning and memory processes has been proposed. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of the NO-releasing derivative of ferulic acid NCX 2057 on rats' recognition memory. For this purpose the object recognition task was selected. Post-training treatment with NCX 2057 (10 mg/kg, i.p.) and with the reference compound, the NO donor molsidomine (4 mg/kg, i.p.), antagonized extinction of recognition memory in the normal rat. Conversely, animals treated with the parent compound ferulic acid (1.9, 6.2 and 18.7 mg/kg, i.p.) failed to do so. In addition, NCX 2057 (3 and 10 mg/kg, i.p) reversed the scopolamine (0.2 mg/kg, s.c.)-induced performance deficits in this recognition memory task. These results indicate that this novel NO donor may modulate different aspects of recognition memory and suggest that an interaction between the nitrergic and cholinergic system is relevant to cognition.

Effects of neonatal and peripubertal ethanol treatment on various aspects of adult rat behavior and brain anatomy

Exposure to ethanol during critical stages of brain development and maturation has adverse effects on behavioral and cognitive functions. So far, most animal models focused on the effects of either pre- or early postnatal ethanol treatment on behavior. We here used a multiple crossover design to investigate the effects of neonatal (postnatal day 7) ethanol treatment (2.5 g/kg b.i.d., dissolved in saline), subchronic peripubertal (postnatal days 40-65) ethanol treatment (1.0 g/kg, dissolved in saline) and the combination of both on the performance of adult Wistar rats in a variety of behavioral tasks. We also assessed anatomical changes in limbic and cortical brain areas. No effects of either single or combined neonatal and pubertal ethanol treatment was found on prepulse inhibition of startle (PPI, a measure of sensorimotor gating), or on the acoustic startle response in the absence of prepulses. Peripubertal ethanol treatment reduced the explorative behavior in the open field. The breakpoint in a progressive ratio operant response task was increased in those rats that had received both neonatal and pubertal ethanol treatment, while the preference for palatable food used as reinforcer in this task was not affected. No treatment effects were found on object recognition memory. No treatment effects on anxiety-related behavior in the elevated plus maze were found, however, the anxiolytic effect of the prototypical benzodiazepine diazepam was enhanced in rats that had received peripubertal ethanol treatment. Additive effects of neonatal and pubertal ethanol treatments were found on behaviors related to spontaneous locomotor activity. Combined neonatal and pubertal ethanol treatment lead to a reduction of myelin sheaths in the prefrontal cortex, and the neonatal ethanol treatment lead to a reduced number of parvalbumine-immunoreactive cells in the dorsal hippocampus. These findings suggest that neonatal ethanol exposure increases the risk of some but not all adverse behavioral and brain anatomical effects of pubertal ethanol consumption.

Spatial memory: Theoretical basis and comparative review on experimental methods in rodents

The assessment of learning and memory in animal models has been widely employed in scientific research for a long time. Among these models, those representing diseases with primary processes of affected memory - such as amnesia, dementia, brain aging, etc. - studies dealing with the toxic effects of specific drugs, and other exploring neurodevelopment, trauma, epilepsy and neuropsychiatric disorders, are often called on to employ these tools. There is a diversity of experimental methods assessing animal learning and memory skills. Overall, mazes are the devices mostly used today to test memory in rodents; there are several types of them, but their real usefulness, advantages and applications remain to be fully established and depend on the particular variant selected by the experimenter. The aims of the present article are first, to briefly review the accumulated knowledge in regard to spatial memory tasks; second, to bring the reader information on the different types of rodent mazes available to test spatial memory; and third, to elucidate the usefulness and limitations of each of these devices.

Alcohol-induced retrograde memory impairment in rats: prevention by caffeine

RATIONALE

Ethanol and caffeine are two of the most widely consumed drugs in the world, often used in the same setting. Animal models may help to understand the conditions under which incidental memories formed just before ethanol intoxication might be lost or become difficult to retrieve.

OBJECTIVES

Ethanol-induced retrograde amnesia was investigated using a new odor-recognition test.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Rats thoroughly explored a wood bead taken from the cage of another rat, and habituated to this novel odor (N1) over three trials. Immediately following habituation, rats received saline, 25 mg/kg pentylenetetrazol (a seizure-producing agent known to cause retrograde amnesia) to validate the test, 1.0 g/kg ethanol, or 3.0 g/kg ethanol. The next day, they were presented again with N1 and also a bead from a new rat's cage (N2).

RESULTS

Rats receiving saline or the lower dose of ethanol showed overnight memory for N1, indicated by preferential exploration of N2 over N1. Rats receiving pentylenetetrazol or the higher dose of ethanol appeared not to remember N1, in that they showed equal exploration of N1 and N2. Caffeine (5 mg/kg), delivered either 1 h after the higher dose of ethanol or 20 min prior to habituation to N1, negated ethanol-induced impairment of memory for N1. A combination of a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor and an adenosine A(2A) antagonist, mimicking two major mechanisms of action of caffeine, likewise prevented the memory impairment, though either drug alone had no such effect. Binge alcohol can induce retrograde, caffeine-reversible disruption of social odor memory storage or recall.

Effects of sub-anesthetic doses of ketamine on rats' spatial and non-spatial recognition memory

There are experimental evidences indicating that the non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist ketamine impairs cognition and produces a series of schizophrenia-like symptoms in rodents (hyperactivity, stereotypies and ataxia). The present study was designed to investigate the effects of ketamine on rats' non-spatial and spatial recognition memory. For this purpose the object recognition and the object location task were selected. Pre- or post-training systemic administration of ketamine (0.3, 1 and 3 mg/kg; i.p.) in a dose-dependent manner disrupted animals' performance in both these recognition memory paradigms, suggesting that this compound affected pre- and post-training memory components. The current results indicate that the non-competitive NMDA antagonist ketamine may modulate either spatial or non-spatial recognition memory.

Memantine and recognition memory: Possible facilitation of its behavioral effects by the nitric oxide (NO) donor molsidomine

The effects of the non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist memantine on recognition memory were investigated in the rat by using the object recognition task. In addition, a possible interaction between memantine and the nitric oxide (NO) donor molsidomine in antagonizing extinction of recognition memory was also evaluated utilizing the same behavioral procedure. In a first dose-response study, post-training administration of memantine (10 and 20, but not 3 mg/kg) antagonized recognition memory deficits in the rat, suggesting that memantine modulates storage and/or retrieval of information. In a subsequent study, combination of sub-threshold doses of memantine (3 mg/kg) and the NO donor molsidomine (1 mg/kg) counteracted delay-dependent impairments in the same task. Neither memantine (3 mg/kg) nor molsidomine (1 mg/kg) alone reduced object recognition performance deficits. The present findings indicate a) that memantine is involved in recognition memory and b) support a functional interaction between memantine and molsidomine on recognition memory mechanisms.

Adrenergic enhancement of consolidation of object recognition memory

Extensive evidence indicates that epinephrine (EPI) modulates memory consolidation for emotionally arousing tasks in animals and human subjects. However, previous studies have not examined the effects of EPI on consolidation of recognition memory. Here we report that systemic administration of EPI enhances consolidation of memory for a novel object recognition (NOR) task under different training conditions. Control male rats given a systemic injection of saline (0.9% NaCl) immediately after NOR training showed significant memory retention when tested at 1.5 or 24, but not 96h after training. In contrast, rats given a post-training injection of EPI showed significant retention of NOR at all delays. In a second experiment using a different training condition, rats treated with EPI, but not SAL-treated animals, showed significant NOR retention at both 1.5 and 24-h delays. We next showed that the EPI-induced enhancement of retention tested at 96h after training was prevented by pretraining systemic administration of the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol. The findings suggest that, as previously observed in experiments using aversively motivated tasks, epinephrine modulates consolidation of recognition memory and that the effects require activation of beta-adrenoceptors.

Diabetic type II Goto-Kakizaki rats show progressively decreasing exploratory activity and learning impairments in fixed and progressive ratios of a lever-press task

Learning and memory impairments associated with diabetes have been reproduced in rodent models of diabetes type I, but few studies have been performed in spontaneously type II diabetic rodents. The study of type II diabetic rats such as the Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat is of advantage when characterizing the development of cognitive impairments specifically caused by the progression of the disease and not by its treatment. We thus hypothesized that GK rats might display learning impairments when compared to non-diabetic Wistar rats. In the present study, we employed a lever-press task, a behavioural paradigm which allows the study of response-reinforcement learning, discrimination of a rewarding lever (using a two-choice positional discrimination task), and the ability to increase operant behaviour when requirements for reward increase (using a progressive ratio [PR]). In parallel, locomotor activity was compared between strains to assess exploratory activity and behavioural habituation to a novel environment. Diabetic GK rats made significantly less lever-presses with increasing fixed ratios and, throughout the sessions, a trend for increased selection errors was observed in these animals. In addition, a significant reduction in the maximum number of lever-presses made by GK rats was observed during the PR sessions. Locomotor activity of GK rats was higher on the first day of exploration but significantly decreased with familiarization to the environment. The present results suggest that the diabetic-like symptomatology in GK rats led to a reduction of exploratory activity and of lever-pressing during fixed and progressive ratio schedules, likely caused by learning impairments.

Selective blockade of dopamine D(3) versus D(2) receptors enhances frontocortical cholinergic transmission and social memory in rats: a parallel neurochemical and behavioural analysis

Though dopaminergic mechanisms modulate cholinergic transmission and cognitive function, the significance of specific receptor subtypes remains uncertain. Here, we examined the roles of dopamine D(3) versus D(2) receptors. By analogy with tacrine (0.16-2.5 mg/kg, s.c.), the selective D(3) receptor antagonists, S33084 (0.01-0.63) and SB277,011 (0.63-40.0), elicited dose-dependent, pronounced and sustained elevations in dialysis levels of acetylcholine (ACh) in the frontal cortex, but not the hippocampus, of freely-moving rats. The actions of these antagonists were stereospecifically mimicked by (+)S14297 (1.25), whereas its inactive distomer, (-)S17777, was ineffective. The preferential D(2) receptor antagonist, L741,626 (10.0), failed to modify levels of ACh. S33084 (0.01-0.63) and SB277,011 (0.16-2.5) also mimicked tacrine (0.04-0.63) by dose-dependently attenuating the deleterious influence of scopolamine (1.25) upon social memory (recognition by an adult rat of a juvenile conspecific). Further, (+)S14297 (1.25) versus (-)S17777 stereospecifically blocked the action of scopolamine. Using an intersession interval of 120 min (spontaneous loss of recognition), S33084 (0.04-0.63), SB277,011 (0.16-10.0) and (+)S14297 (0.63-10.0) likewise mimicked tacrine (0.16-2.5) in enhancing social memory. In contrast, L741,626 (0.16-10.0) displayed amnesic properties. In conclusion, selective blockade of D(3) receptors facilitates frontocortical cholinergic transmission and improves social memory in rats. These data support the pertinence of D(3) receptors as a target for treatment of disorders in which cognitive function is compromised.

Temporary inactivation reveals an essential role of the dorsal hippocampus in consolidation of object recognition memory

The role of the hippocampus in novel object recognition (NOR) memory remains controversial. Here we report the finding that the dorsal hippocampus is essential for consolidation of NOR memory up to 3h after training. Temporary inactivation of the dorsal hippocampus with a bilateral intrahippocampal infusion of muscimol immediately or 3h, but not 6h post-training impaired 24-h NOR retention in male rats. These results strongly indicate that the dorsal hippocampus is required for early and delayed NOR consolidation.

Impairments in recognition memory for object and for location after transient brain ischemia in monkeys

Using an object recognition or location memory test employing either small or large sets of training stimuli, we examined the effects of selective damage to the hippocampus after ischemia in Japanese monkeys. Ischemic (ISC) monkeys were significantly impaired in learning a delayed matching-to-sample (DMS) task (10 sec) when the sample and test objects were drawn from a set of 45 possible stimuli, but not in learning a DMS when a set of 300 possible stimuli was used ISC monkeys were also impaired in a delayed matching-to-location (DML) task that employed a 3-well tray but not in one that employed a 10-well tray. After criterion learning was attained, ISC monkeys were impaired significantly only in the 300-stimuli version and at the longest delay tested (10 min). These results suggest that the hippocampus might be involved in processing comparisons and forming relationships between current and recent stimuli, but not in the remembering of familiar objects, and in long-term maintenance (more than 10 min) of stimulus memory.

A hitchhiker's guide to behavioral analysis in laboratory rodents

Genes and environment are both essential and interdependent determinants of behavioral responses. Behavioral genetics focuses on the role of genes on behavior. In this article, we aim to provide a succinct, but comprehensive, overview of the different means through which behavioral analysis may be performed in rodents. We give general recommendations for planning and performing behavioral experiments in rats and mice, followed by brief descriptions of experimental paradigms most commonly used for the analysis of reflexes, sensory function, motor function and exploratory, social, emotional and cognitive behavior. We end with a discussion of some of the shortcomings of current concepts of genetic determinism and argue that the genetic basis of behavior should be analyzed in the context of environmental factors.

Distinct kinds of novelty processing differentially increase extracellular dopamine in different brain regions

Behaviourally relevant novel stimuli are known to activate the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic (DAergic) system. In this study we tested the reactivity of this system in response to distinct kinds of novelty processing. Using the in vivo microdialysis technique, we measured extracellular amounts of dopamine (DA) in different DAergic terminal regions during a social learning task in rats. In the first session (40 min) rats were exposed to two never previously encountered juveniles (i.e. unconditional novelty). Afterwards, the animals were divided into three groups: Control group was not exposed to any other stimulus; Discrimination group was exposed to one familiar and one new juvenile (i.e. novel stimulus discrimination); and Recognition group was re-exposed to the two familiar juveniles (i.e. familiarity recognition). In both the medial prefrontal cortex and the nucleus accumbens shell DA increased in response to the first presentation of the juveniles, showing that both structures are involved in processing unconditional social novelty. During the novel stimulus discrimination, we found no change in the prefrontal cortex, although DA increased in the accumbal shell in comparison with the group exposed to two familiar juveniles, showing that the shell is also involved in processing novel social stimulus discrimination. None of the stimuli presented affected DA in the accumbal core. This study provided the original evidence that DA in the various terminal regions is differentially coupled to distinct aspects of novelty processing.

Post-training intracranial self-stimulation facilitates a hippocampus-dependent task

Previous research has shown that post-training intracranial self-stimulation facilitates implicit or procedural memory. To know whether it can also facilitate explicit memory, post-training intracranial self-stimulation was given to Wistar rats immediately after every daily session of a delayed spatial alternation task that seems to depend on the integrity of the hippocampal memory system. We tested the effects of intracranial self-stimulation in three consecutive learning phases which tried to make the task progressively more difficult: 10 s delay (D10 phase), 30 s delay (D30 phase), and inverting the starting position of the animals to make their response more dependent on allocentric cues (INV phase). Every phase finished when each rat achieved a fixed learning criterion. Intracranial self-stimulation facilitated the flexible expression of the learned response (INV phase). That is, when the starting position was randomly inverted, only the rats that received intracranial self-stimulation maintained the performance level acquired in the previous training phases. Changing the starting position reduced the correct performance of the non-treated subjects, which need more training sessions to achieve the learning criterion and made less correct responses than treated rats. These findings show that post-training intracranial self-stimulation can facilitate hippocampus-dependent memories.

Neural correlates of social odor recognition and the representation of individual distinctive social odors within entorhinal cortex and ventral subiculum

Recognition of individual conspecifics is important for social behavior and requires the formation of memories for individually distinctive social signals. Individual recognition is often mediated by olfactory cues in mammals, especially nocturnal rodents such as golden hamsters. In hamsters, this form of recognition requires main olfactory system input to the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEnt). Here, we tested whether neurons in LEnt and the nearby ventral subiculum (VS) would show cellular correlates of this natural form of recognition memory. Two hundred ninety single neurons were recorded from both superficial (SE) and deep layers of LEnt (DE) and VS while male hamsters investigated volatile odorants from female vaginal secretions. Many neurons encoded differences between female's odors with many discriminating between odors from different individual females but not between different odor samples from the same female. Other neurons discriminated between odor samples from one female and generalized across collections from other females. LEnt and VS neurons showed enhanced or suppressed cellular activity during investigation of previously presented odors and in response to novel odors. A majority of SE neurons decreased firing to odor repetition and increased activity to novel odors. In contrast, DE neurons often showed suppressed activity in response to novel odors. Thus, neurons in LEnt and VS of male hamsters encode information that is critical for the identification and recognition of individual females by odor cues. This study reveals cellular mechanisms in LEnt and VS that may mediate a natural form of recognition memory in hamsters. These neuronal responses were similar to those observed in rats and monkeys during performance in standard recognition memory tasks. Consequently, the present data extend our understanding of the cellular basis for recognition memory and suggest that individual recognition requires similar neural mechanisms as those employed in laboratory tests of recognition memory.

Animal cognition: defining the issues

The assessment of cognitive functions in rodents represents a critical experimental variable in many research fields, ranging from the basic cognitive neurosciences to psychopharmacology and neurotoxicology. The increasing use of animal behavioral tests as 'assays' for the assessment of effects on learning and memory has resulted in a considerable heterogeneity of data, particularly in the field of behavioral and psycho pharmacology. The limited predictive validity of changes in behavioral performance observed in standard animal tests of learning and memory indicates that a renewed effort to scrutinize the validity of these tests is warranted. In humans, levels of processing (effortful vs. automatic) and categories of information (procedural vs. episodic/declarative) are important variables of cognitive operations. The design of tasks that assess the recall of 'episodic' or 'declarative' information appears to represent a particular challenge for research using laboratory rodents. For example, the hypothesis that changes in inspection time for a previously encountered place or object are based on the recall of declarative/episodic information requires substantiation. In order to generalize findings on the effects of neuronal or pharmacological manipulations on learning and memory, obtained from one species and one task, to other species and other tasks, the mediating role of important sets of variables which influence learning and memory (e.g. attentional, affective) needs to be determined. Similar to the view that a neuronal manipulation (e.g. a lesion) represents a theory of the condition modeled (e.g. a degenerative disorder), an animal behavioral task represents a theory of the behavioral/cognitive process of interest. Therefore, the test of hypotheses regarding the validity of procedures used to assess cognitive functions in animals is an inherent part of the research process.

Effects of repeated administration of Uncaria hooks on the acquisition and central neuronal activities in ethanol-treated mice

The effects of the repeated administration of Uncaria hooks were examined on the impaired memory acquisition and the level of neurotransmitters in the cortex, hippocampus and striatum in ethanol-treated mice, in comparison with those with L-deprenyl and N-methyl-D-glucamine as positive controls. Ethanol-induced amnesia was significantly ameliorated by repeated administration of methanol extract and alkaloid fraction of Uncaria hooks, similar to in the positive controls. Treatment with methanol extract and alkaloid fraction of Uncaria hooks significantly reduced the ethanol-induced increase of dopamine in the hippocampus. The 5-hydroxytryptamine and glutamic acid neuronal activities were significantly changed by Uncaria hooks, but not by L-deprenyl, in all examined brain tissues of ethanol-treated mice. On the other hand, the GABAergic and cholinergic neuronal activities did not show any significant changes by Uncaria hooks in any of the examined brain tissues of the ethanol-treated animals. The results suggest that the extracts of Uncaria hooks exert a beneficial effect on ethanol-induced memory impairment, and that the central 5-hydroxytryptaminergic and glutaminergic neuronal systems play an important role in the memory acquisition of Uncaria hooks.

Sexually dimorphic effects of prenatal stress on cognition, hormonal responses, and central neurotransmitters

Exposure to stress during gestation results in physiological and behavioral alterations that persist into adulthood. This study examined the effects of prenatal stress on the postnatal expression of sexually differentiated cognitive, hormonal, and neurochemical profiles in male and female rats. Pregnant dams were subjected to restraint stress three times daily for 45 min during d 14-21 of pregnancy. The offspring of control and prenatally stressed dams were tested for anxiety-related and cognitive behaviors, stress and gonadal steroid hormone levels, as well as monoamines and metabolite levels in selected brain regions. Postnatal testosterone levels (measured at 1 and 5 d) did not differ between controls and prenatally stressed animals. In adulthood, the serum corticosterone response to stress was attenuated in prenatally stressed females, eliminating the sex difference normally observed in this parameter. Prenatally stressed females exhibited higher anxiety levels, evidenced by longer open field entry latencies. Prenatal stress had no effect on object recognition memory, but eliminated the advantage normally seen in the male performance of a spatial memory task. Neurochemical profiles of prenatally stressed females were altered toward the masculine phenotype in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. Thus, prenatal stress altered subsequent cognitive, endocrine, and neurochemical responses in a sex-specific manner. These data reinforce the view that prenatal stress affects multiple aspects of brain development, interfering with the expression of normal behavioral, neuroendocrine, and neurochemical sex differences. These data have implications for the effects of prenatal stress on the development of sexually dimorphic endocrine and neurological disorders.

Category-specific visual agnosia: lesion to semantic memory versus extra-lesional variables in a case study and a connectionist model

There is a current debate on the causes of category-specific agnosia. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of lesional and extra-lesional variables on object recognition. Extra-lesional variables, such as visual complexity or familiarity, are factors that influence recognition. Using a connectionist model based on study, we provide evidence that extra-lesional variables can yield dissociations in the recognition rate of different categories. Furthermore, it is shown that lesional and extra-lesional variables can interact (p < .01) when both are simultaneously modeled. Category-specific agnosia might thus result from complex interactions.

The 5-HT 1A receptor antagonist WAY 100635 improves rats performance in different models of amnesia evaluated by the object recognition task

The effects of the 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonist WAY 100635 on recognition memory were investigated in two different amnestic models in the rat by using the object recognition task. WAY 100635 at 1 mg/kg, but not at 0.3 mg/kg, counteracted scopolamine-induced performance deficits in the acquisition version of this behavioral paradigm. At the same dose, WAY 100635 antagonized extinction of recognition memory in the normal rat, suggesting that it affected acquisition, storage and retrieval of information. These results support and extend prior findings that interactions between the serotonergic and cholinergic systems are relevant to cognition and indicate that WAY 100635 modulates different aspects of recognition memory.

Effects of intra-accumbens focal administrations of glutamate antagonists on object recognition memory in mice

Generally recognition memory is distinguished into spatial and object memories that have been suggested to relay at a cortical level on different neural substrates. Recent studies point to a possible involvement of the nucleus accumbens (Nac) in spatial memory, demonstrating that blockade of glutamate antagonists within this structure impairs acquisition and consolidation of spatial information, while not many data are available on the potential role of this structure in object recognition. Thus in this study we wanted to investigate the effects of intra-accumbens focal administrations of NMDA antagonist, AP-5 (0.05, 0.1, 0.15 or 0.2 microg per side), and AMPA antagonist, DNQX (0.0005 or 0.001 microg per side), in object recognition memory. The spontaneous preference displayed by mice for novel objects was taken as an index for measuring object recognition. Pre-training focal administrations of both antagonists impaired the ability of mice to selectively explore the novel object in test session. However, the AMPA antagonist induced also a decrease in exploration and locomotion. In order to assess whether glutamate receptors located within the Nac were also involved in subsequent steps of object information processing, we performed additional experiments injecting AP-5 and DNQX immediately after training and testing the animals 24-h later. In this case, AP-5 but not the AMPA antagonist impaired exploration of the novel object. These results demonstrate that the Nac is involved in object recognition, and confirm that the different glutamate receptors mediate different component of information processing within the accumbens.

The influence of preexperimental experience on social discrimination in rats (Rattus norvegicus)

The authors used laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus) of known relatedness and contrasting familiarity to assess the potential effect of preexperimental social experience on subsequent social recognition. The authors used the habituation-discrimination technique, which assumes that multiple exposures to a social stimulus (e.g., soiled bedding) ensure a subject discriminates between the habituation stimulus and a novel stimulus when both are introduced simultaneously. The authors observed a strong discrimination if the subjects had different amounts of preexperimental experience with the donors of the 2 stimuli but a weak discrimination if the subjects had either equal amounts of preexperimental experience or no experience with the stimuli. Preexperimental social experience does, therefore, appear to influence decision making in subsequent social discriminations. Implications for recognition and memory research are discussed.

Short toxic methamphetamine schedule impairs object recognition task in male rats

Performance on object recognition and object placement memory tasks was evaluated after a short-dosing model of methamphetamine (MA) regime and monoamines and metabolites were measured post-testing. Adult male rats received three injections of 10 mg/kg at 2-h intervals. In striatum DA and 5-HT were depleted by 65% and 79%, respectively, no significant changes were found in pre-frontal cortex, hippocampus, ventral tegmental area (VTA) or substantia nigra. The experimental group also showed less exploratory activity in the open field and the sample trials of both object recognition and object placement tasks. MA groups also showed decreased performance in the object recognition trial (1-h and 2-h inter-trial delays). Less exploration of the objects in the sample trial by the MA group might indicate deficits in general exploratory drive and/or to initiate actions. Nevertheless, in the spatial version of the recognition test (object placement task) the experimental group performed as well as the control group in two of the three delays (2 h and 4 h) even with significantly lower total exploration times in the sample trial. Our results demonstrate that a short toxic schedule induced profound changes in neurochemistry (comparable to classic acute toxic models of MA: four injections of 10 mg/kg) but selective declines in behavioral tasks.

Dissociation in retrograde memory for object discriminations and object recognition in rats with perirhinal cortex damage

This experiment examined the effects of perirhinal cortex (PeRh) lesions on rats' retrograde memory for object-discriminations and retrograde object recognition. Rats learned one discrimination problem or five concurrent discrimination problems 4 weeks before surgery, and a new problem or five new problems during the week preceding surgery. Each rat was also familiarized with a sample object in an open field, 5, 3, or 1 week before surgery. PeRh-lesioned rats displayed normal retention of the object discrimination problems, but on a test of novelty preference they showed evidence of impaired recognition of the sample objects. A similar dissociation was observed on anterograde tests of object-discrimination learning and object recognition. The findings suggest the perirhinal cortex plays an essential role in rats' ability to discriminate the familiarity of objects previously encountered either before or after surgery, but this ability may not be essential for accurate performance of a simple object-discrimination task.

Cholinergic blockade impairs performance in operant DNMTP in two inbred strains of mice

Cholinergic blockade has been shown to impair performance in delayed nonmatching to position (DNMTP) paradigms in rats. In this study, a murine operant DNMTP task was used to assess the effects of cholinergic antagonism in two strains of mice (DBA/2 and C57BL/6) differing in spatial learning abilities. DNMTP was scheduled in operant chambers with retractable levers, where mice were trained until high levels of accuracy. Subsequently, proactive interference effects were assessed by manipulation of the intertrial interval (ITI), and animals were tested in this task under scopolamine (0.1-1.0 mg/kg) and mecamylamine (0.5-2.0 mg/kg) treatment. Data were analyzed according to the methods of signal detection theory. ITI manipulation decreased accuracy when the time between trials was reduced to 5 s. Cholinergic blockade failed to induce a pure mnemonic impairment but distinguishable effects of both receptor antagonists could be detected: scopolamine disrupted accuracy in a dose-dependent but delay-independent manner, whereas mecamylamine failed to impair accuracy, but decreased responsivity delay- and dose-dependently. Strains mainly differed in responsivity, with DBA/2 showing higher latencies to respond to the levers. These results are comparable to those obtained in rats. Thus, operant DNMTP can be applied to assess working memory in mice.

Water maze versus radial maze: differential performance of rats in a spatial delayed match-to-position task and response to scopolamine

Studies rarely assess treatment effects across tasks; the present experiments addressed this issue. In Experiments 1 and 2, rats (n=12) were trained and then tested with variable delays on a spatial match-to-position task sequentially in the water and radial mazes (in counterbalanced order). Experiment 1 compared the effect of 0-, 60- and 1440-min delays on performance in both mazes. Rats required fewer (P<0.05) mean (+/-S.E.M.) sessions to reach criterion performance in the water (11.0+/-1.0) versus radial maze (19.3+/-2.2). In test sessions, performance was impaired delay-dependently when scores were averaged across the two tasks (P<0.05) but no significant effect of task or task x delay interaction was found. In the second experiment, the same rats were retrained and tested with 0-, 1-, 3- and 5-min delays in both mazes and testing followed the administration of scopolamine (0, 0.1, 0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg). The mean (+/-S.E.M.) number of acquisition sessions was similar in the radial (6.33+/-0.34) and water maze (6.08+/-0.46). On the sample portion of trials, performance was impaired at the 0.8 mg/kg dose of scopolamine (P<0.02) in the radial maze only. On the recognition portion of trials in the radial maze, the 0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg doses of scopolamine impaired performance whereas in the water maze task the 0.8 mg/kg dose impaired performance. The pattern of results may reflect different natural tendencies of rats to alternate (win-shift) versus not alternate (win-stay) in dry land versus swim tasks.

The hippocampal formation--orbitomedial prefrontal cortex circuit in the attentional control of active memory

The long held view that the hippocampal formation is not only essential, but also solely responsible for declarative memory in humans (and by analogy non-human primates) has come into question. Based on extensive reciprocal connection patterns between the hippocampal formation and the orbitoventromedial prefrontal cortex in primates and rats, a central role for the hippocampal formation in the attentional control of behavior is emerging. In this paper, evidence is reviewed showing that the hippocampal-orbitomedial prefrontal cortex circuit may be involved in attentional monitoring of the internal sensorium. This attentional monitoring system, in a sense, is the working memory of viscero-emotional processing. The hippocampal formation can thus be viewed as a discrepancy detector with respect to the relative activational status of cognitive/emotional set in the orbitomedial prefrontal cortex. Discrepancies between the current representation of the internal milieu and the "just-prior" representation held "on-line" in orbitomedial prefrontal cortex associative working memory, are signaled from the hippocampus to the prefrontal cortex prospective attentional systems to activate, process, and reconcile internal (past) with external (present) environments, and finally to effectively alter active working emotional "sets" to exert cognitive-emotional control of behavior.

Perspectives on object-recognition memory following hippocampal damage: lessons from studies in rats

One of the routine memory abilities impaired in amnesic patients with temporal-lobe damage is object-recognition memory--the ability to discriminate the familiarity of previously encountered objects. Reproducing this impairment has played a central role in animal models of amnesia during the past two decades, and until recent years most of the emphasis was on describing how hippocampal damage could impair object recognition. Today most investigators are looking outside the hippocampus to explain the impairment. This paper reviews studies of object-recognition memory in rats with hippocampal damage produced by ablation, fornix transection, or forebrain ischemia. Some new perspectives on previous findings reinforce the conclusion that damage to the hippocampus has little if any impact on the ability to recognize objects, while damage in some areas outside the hippocampus is far more effective. The few circumstances in which hippocampal damage can impair performance on object-recognition tasks are situations where ancillary abilities are likely to play a significant role in supporting task performance. Some of the factors that contributed to the origins and persistence of the hippocampalcentric view of object-recognition are considered, including lesion confounds, failure to distinguish between impaired task performance and impairment of a memory ability, and disproportionate attention to a few lesion studies in monkeys, even though the hypothesis was tested far more times in rats, under a greater variety of conditions, and rejected on nearly every occasion.

Using signal detection methods for analysis of operant performance in mice

Several factors account for murine cognitive abilities, and manipulation of genes which would act at the effector molecules involved in stimulus processing, reward-related properties and/or motor output can easily confound behavioural data obtained from mouse mutants responding on cognitive tasks. Therefore, tests may be needed which allow a better dissociation between true cognitive processes (accuracy) and other factors that may alter performance (motor or motivational bias). Part of this can be achieved by using methods which enable parametric variation of task difficulty. Part of it can also be achieved by using data analysis that allows a distinction between accuracy and bias, such as the mathematical methods of signal detection theory (SDT). SDT formally addresses the possibility that a given gene product or lack thereof affects performance by affecting motivation rather than cognition. It proposes that performance in a task depends on two factors, that is the sensitivity (or accuracy) of the neural systems mediating a cognitive process and the subject's motivational state, the latter of which can be represented as bias. SDT analysis can be easily applied to murine data. This overview will discuss the advances and limitations of the various SDT measures and illustrate the value of this type of analysis for understanding cognitive performance of mice.

Neural systems underlying episodic memory: insights from animal research

Two strategies used to uncover neural systems for episodic-like memory in animals are discussed: (i) an attribute of episodic memory (what? when? where?) is examined in order to reveal the neuronal interactions supporting that component of memory; and (ii) the connections of a structure thought to be central to episodic memory in humans are studied at a level of detail not feasible in humans. By focusing on spatial memory (where?) and the hippocampus, it has proved possible to bring the strategies together. A review of lesion, disconnection and immediate early-gene studies in animals reveals the importance of interactions between the hippocampus and specific nuclei in the diencephalon (most notably the anterior thalamic nuclei) for spatial memory. Other parts of this extended hippocampal system include the mammillary bodies and the posterior cingulate (retrosplenial) cortex. Furthermore, by combining lesion and immediate early-gene studies it is possible to show how the loss of one component structure or tract can influence the remaining regions in this group of structures. The validity of this convergent approach is supported by new findings showing that the same set of regions is implicated in anterograde amnesia in humans.

Effects of molsidomine on scopolamine-induced amnesia and hypermotility in the rat

Nitric oxide (NO) is hypothesized to be a novel intracellular messenger in the central nervous system. Recently, NO involvement in learning and memory processes has been proposed. Compounds that inhibit nitric oxide synthase, the key synthesizing enzyme, may block cognition, while NO donors may facilitate it. The aim of this study was to assess in the rat the effects of the NO donor molsidomine (2 and 4 mg/kg, i.p.) on memory deficits caused by scopolamine. For this purpose, the object recognition task and the step-through passive avoidance procedure were chosen. In addition, the effects of molsidomine in antagonizing the scopolamine-induced hypermotility were also examined. Scopolamine at 0.2 mg/kg (object recognition) and 0.75 mg/kg (passive avoidance) disrupted acquisition in both the tasks and induced locomotor hyperactivity at the dose of 0.2 mg/kg. Molsidomine at either dose reversed the scopolamine-induced deficits in the object recognition paradigm but did not counteract the hypermotility and the deficits occurred in the passive avoidance test. These results suggest that to some extent, the NO donor molsidomine is involved in memory processing.

Effects of cholinergic manipulation on operant delayed non-matching to position performance in two inbred strains of mice

With the increasing demand on phenotyping of mouse mutants there is a clear need to develop novel paradigms for testing mice. Mice are able to learn a non-matching to position rule to high accuracy in a variety of maze paradigms, but an operant version of this task is desirable. In the present study, mice of the C57BL/6 and DBA/2 strains were trained and tested on an operant delayed non-matching to position (DNMTP) paradigm. Data were analysed according to the methods of signal detection theory (SDT), which allows conclusions as to whether strain differences in DNMTP performance are more related to changes in accuracy or in motivational factors. Mice can learn to respond on an operant DNMTP paradigm with high accuracy, and accurate performance depends on the duration of the delay-period, i.e. forgetting curves can be generated. Comparison between the two strains of mice revealed that DBA/2 mice learned faster than C57BL/6 mice to associate the lever press with food during initial shaping, but no further strain differences were observed in accurate responding during later stages of the experiment. However, differences in biased responding and, in particular, responsivity were observed between the two strains. Muscarinic blockade with scopolamine (0.1--1.0 mg/kg) failed to affect accuracy in the two strains, but altered responsivity. This task should be of great value for a more in-depth analysis of cognitive function in mutant mice as it allows a better dissociation between mnemonic and non-mnemonic factors. In particular, such paradigm may be of interest for testing conditional mutants, which allow time-sensitive induction or inhibition of gene expression, i.e. where animals can be trained while non-impaired to stable baseline and then tested once the gene is activated or inhibited.

Pregnenolone sulfate increases hippocampal acetylcholine release and spatial recognition

The pregnenolone sulfate is a neurosteroid with promnesic properties. Recently, a correlation between endogenous levels of pregnenolone sulfate in the hippocampus and performance in a spatial memory task has been reported in aged rats. Cholinergic transmission is known to modulate memory processes and to be altered with age. In the present experiment we investigated the effect of increasing doses of pregnenolone sulfate on hippocampal acetylcholine release. Our results show that intracerebroventricular administrations of this neurosteroid induced a dose-dependent increase in acetylcholine release. Administration of 12 and 48 nmol of pregnenolone sulfate induced a short lasting (20 min) enhancement of acetylcholine output with a maximum around 120% over baseline and the administration of 96 and 192 nmol doses induced a long-lasting (80 min) increase that peaked around 300% over baseline. In a second experiment we have observed that the 12 nmol dose enhanced spatial memory performance, whereas the 192 nmol dose was inefficient. These results are consistent with previous work suggesting that, a modest increase in acetylcholine release facilitates memory processes, while elevation beyond an optimal level is ineffective. Nevertheless, neurosteroids may be of value for reinforcing depressed cholinergic transmission in certain age-related memory disorders.

Extending the spontaneous preference test of recognition: evidence of object-location and object-context recognition

The natural preference for novel objects which is displayed by rats has been used as a behavioural index to test object recognition. In this series of experiments the standard spontaneous recognition task was extended to look at other types of recognition memory; memory for place (recognition that an object is in a location where previously there had been no object), memory for object in place (recognition that a specific object has changed position with another object) and memory for context (recognition that a familiar object is in a context different to that in which it was previously encountered). We also included a standard test of object recognition in which successful discrimination relied primarily on visual cues. In addition, we looked at how the differential exploration of objects varied within the 3 min of the test phase. The results showed that rats were sensitive to the changes made in all of the test conditions and that the level of discrimination varied within the 3 min test phase. In the standard condition and the context condition, the first 2 min were found to be the most sensitive period. In the two conditions involving a position change, discrimination was only evident in the first minute.

Recognition memory in rats--II. Neuroanatomical substrates

A discussion of the neuroanatomical systems thought to be of importance for the mediation of recognition memory in the rat warrants consideration of different, but not necessarily exclusive concepts. An important concept is the hypothesis that a dichotomy in the neural systems mediating spatial and non-spatial (item) memory exists in the rat. We have adopted a model of recognition memory suggesting that information about previously encountered items is stored in a dynamic pattern of neural activity and not in a localized representation. These patterns are features of distributed neuronal networks and different networks may process different forms of recognition memory. Two parallel-distributed neuronal networks are proposed in the rat. Network 1 is essential for the processing of non-spatial/item recognition memory processes and incorporates the cortical association areas such as TE1, TE2 and TE3, the rhinal cortices, the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus and prefrontal cortical areas. Network 2 comprises the hippocampus, mamillary bodies, anterior thalamic nuclei and medial prefrontal areas, especially the prelimbic cortex, and is suggested to be pivotal for the processing of spatial recognition memory.

Recognition memory in rats--III. Neurochemical substrates

In the first part of three overviews on recognition memory in the rat, we discussed the tasks employed to study recognition memory. In the second part, we discussed the neuroanatomical systems thought to be of importance for the mediation of recognition memory in the rat. In particular, we delineated two parallel-distributed neuronal networks, one that is essential for the processing of non-spatial/item recognition memory processes and incorporates the cortical association areas such as TE1, TE2 and TE3, the rhinal cortices, the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus and prefrontal cortical areas (Network 1), the other comprising of the hippocampus, mamillary bodies, anterior thalamic nuclei and medial prefrontal areas (Network 2), suggested to be pivotal for the processing of spatial recognition memory. The next step will progress to the level of the neurotransmitters thought to be involved. Current data suggest that the majority of drugs have non-specific, i.e. delay-independent effects in tasks measuring recognition memory. This may be due to attentional, motivational or motoric changes. Alternatively, delay-independent effects may result from altered acquisition/encoding rather than from altered retention. Furthermore, the neurotransmitter systems affected by these drugs could be important as modulators rather than as mediators of recognition memory per se. It could, of course, also be the case that systemic treatment induces non-specific effects which overshadow any specific, delay-dependent, effect. This possibility receives support from lesion experiments (for example, of the septohippocampal cholinergic system) or studies employing local intracerebral infusion techniques. However, it is evident that those delay-dependent effects are relatively subtle and more readily seen in delayed response paradigms, which tax spatial recognition memory. One interpretation of these results could be that some neurotransmitter systems are more involved in spatial than in item recognition memory processes. However, performance in delayed response tasks can be aided by mediating strategies. Drugs or lesions can alter those strategies, which could equally explain some of the (delay-dependent) drug effects on delayed responding. Thus, it is evident that neither of the neurotransmitter systems reviewed (glutamate, GABA, acetylcholine, serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline) can be viewed as being directly and exclusively concerned with storage/retention. Rather, our model of recognition memory suggests that information about previously encountered items is differentially processed by distinct neural networks and is not mediated by a single neurotransmitter type.