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Schaeffer EA, Oltmanns JRO, Blackwell AA, Lake R, Hastings P, Whishaw IQ, Wallace DG. Application of scaling to mouse spontaneous movement: Path curvature varies with speed and linear distance features isochrony. Behav Brain Res 2024; 469:115062. [PMID: 38768689 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2024] [Revised: 05/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
To conserve sequential behavior in relation to the topographic challenges of space, it is proposed that humans and nonhuman animals can organize behavior using different scaling principles. To deal with increases in linear distance, isochrony suggest that there is a corresponding increase in speed, whereas to deal with changes in curvature, speed is adjusted according to a power function. The present study investigates whether these principles provide a framework for describing the organization of mouse behavior in a variety of standard experimental tasks. The structure of movement was examined in ambulation during open field exploration; manipulation in a string-pulling task, in which a string is advanced hand over hand to retrieve food; and rung-walking, in which the limbs successively step from rung to rung on a horizontal ladder. Both principles were found to be conserved in the organization of mouse behavior across scales of movement. These principles provide novel measures of the temporal and geometric features of movement in the mouse and insights into how the temporal and geometric features of movement are conserved within different species.
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Affiliation(s)
- E A Schaeffer
- Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA.
| | | | - A A Blackwell
- Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vagas NV, USA
| | - R Lake
- Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA
| | - P Hastings
- School of Computing, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - I Q Whishaw
- Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
| | - D G Wallace
- Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA
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Mar KD, So C, Hou Y, Kim JC. Age dependent path integration deficit in 5xFAD mice. Behav Brain Res 2024; 463:114919. [PMID: 38408521 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2023] [Revised: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a severe neurodegenerative disorder and the most common form of dementia in elderly individuals, characterized by memory deficits, cognitive decline, and neuropathology. The identification of preclinical markers for AD remains elusive. We employed an ultrasound-evoked spatial memory assay to investigate path integration (PI) in wild type C57BL/6 J and 5xFAD mice. We observed significant recruitment of the mammillary bodies (MB) and subiculum (Sub) - core regions of the Papez circuit during PI, as indicated by increased expression of the immediate early gene c-Fos in C57BL/6 J mice. In 5xFAD mice, amyloid-beta (Aβ) vulnerability in the MB and Sub was evident at 3-months of age, preceding widespread pathology at 5-months of age. In parallel, we detected significant behavioral deficits in PI in the 5XFAD mice at 5- but not 3-months of age. Sex based analysis revealed a more profound deficit in males compared to females at 5-months of age. Our data suggest PI may be as an early indicator of AD, potentially associated with dysfunction within the Papez circuit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kendall D Mar
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Sidney Smith Hall, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada.
| | - Chanbee So
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G5, Canada.
| | - Yixin Hou
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G5, Canada.
| | - Jun Chul Kim
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Sidney Smith Hall, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada; Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G5, Canada.
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Garcia M, Gupta S, Wikenheiser AM. Sex differences in patch-leaving foraging decisions in rats. OXFORD OPEN NEUROSCIENCE 2023; 2:kvad011. [PMID: 38596244 PMCID: PMC11003400 DOI: 10.1093/oons/kvad011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
The ubiquity, importance, and sophistication of foraging behavior makes it an ideal platform for studying naturalistic decision making in animals. We developed a spatial patch-foraging task for rats, in which subjects chose how long to remain in one foraging patch as the rate of food earnings steadily decreased. The cost of seeking out a new location was varied across sessions. The behavioral task was designed to mimic the structure of natural foraging problems, where distinct spatial locations are associated with different reward statistics, and decisions require navigation and movement through space. Male and female Long-Evans rats generally followed the predictions of theoretical models of foraging, albeit with a consistent tendency to persist with patches for too long compared to behavioral strategies that maximize food intake rate. The tendency to choose overly-long patch residence times was stronger in male rats. We also observed sex differences in locomotion as rats performed the task, but these differences in movement only partially accounted for the differences in patch residence durations observed between male and female rats. Together, these results suggest a nuanced relationship between movement, sex, and foraging decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marissa Garcia
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Sukriti Gupta
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Andrew M Wikenheiser
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
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Garcia M, Gupta S, Wikenheiser AM. Sex differences in patch-leaving foraging decisions in rats. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.19.529135. [PMID: 36824852 PMCID: PMC9949151 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.19.529135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/21/2023]
Abstract
The ubiquity, importance, and sophistication of foraging behavior makes it an ideal platform for studying naturalistic decision making in animals. We developed a spatial patch-foraging task for rats, in which subjects chose how long to remain in one foraging patch as the rate of food earnings steadily decreased. The cost of seeking out a new location was varied across sessions. The behavioral task was designed to mimic the structure of natural foraging problems, where distinct spatial locations are associated with different reward statistics, and decisions require navigation and movement through space. Male and female Long-Evans rats generally followed the predictions of theoretical models of foraging, albeit with a consistent tendency to persist with patches for too long compared to behavioral strategies that maximize food intake rate. The tendency to choose overly-long patch residence times was stronger in male rats. We also observed sex differences in locomotion as rats performed the task, but these differences in movement only partially accounted for the differences in patch residence durations observed between male and female rats. Together, these results suggest a nuanced relationship between movement, sex, and foraging decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marissa Garcia
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095
- Current address: Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093
| | - Sukriti Gupta
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Andrew M. Wikenheiser
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095
- Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095
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Spatial Disorientation Under Dark Conditions Across Development in an Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model. Neuroscience 2023; 511:53-69. [PMID: 36587866 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with hippocampal neuropathology and cognitive impairments, including wandering behavior or becoming lost in a familiar environment. Wandering behavior is severe and manifests early in life for people with specific genetic mutations. Genetic mouse models of AD have been developed to characterize the onset and progression of behavioral deficits that represent human behaviors, such as wandering, to test the efficacy of therapeutics. It is not clear if current assessments of mouse models capture the onset of AD or a snapshot of its progression. Sequential analysis of open field behavior provides a robust, quick test to dissociate navigation cues that contribute to spatial disorientation, a feature of wandering. Despite potential utility in evaluating this feature of AD, little work has been reported using animal models of dementia in this task. Thus, we examined the use of different sources of information to maintain spatial orientation at two prodromal ages in female transgenic CRND8 AD (n = 17) and Control mice (n = 16). These mice exhibit amyloid plaques, a hallmark neuropathological feature of AD, that are associated with cognitive dysfunction at ∼three months of age. Spatial disorientation was observed at two months and more severely at four months under dark conditions, but performance was spared when visual environmental cues were available. This study provides documentation of impaired self-movement cue processing in AD mice, establishing the dark open field as a behavioral tool to characterize spatial disorientation associated with AD. These findings may accelerate future assessments of novel therapeutic interventions for neurological disorders.
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Cue polarization and representation in mouse home base behaviors. Anim Cogn 2022; 26:861-883. [PMID: 36494587 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01729-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Revised: 11/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The nature of the representation guiding spatial navigation has been investigated extensively; however, most of this work has used behavioral tasks that involved learning the location of food reward or an escape platform. In contrast, relatively few studies have focused on the spatial representation of a home base, a ubiquitous feature of open-field behavior, and its ability to be encoded relative to environmental cues. The current set of experiments investigated acquisition and retention of the location of home base establishment. In general, proximal cues anchored the position of the home base during acquisition sessions across all four experiments. Although mice established a home base during retention sessions, previous experience did not influence its position during retention sessions. These observations demonstrate that stimulus control of home base position depends on access to proximal cues. Further work is needed to determine the extent that home base establishment may provide a framework to encode goal-directed spatial behaviors.
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Midzyanovskaya I, Strelkov V. Measuring locomotor strategies of freely moving previsual rat pups. Behav Processes 2022; 203:104780. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2022] [Revised: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Osterlund Oltmanns JR, Schaeffer EA, Blackwell AA, Lake RI, Einhaus RM, Kartje GL, Wallace DG. Age-related changes in the organization of spontaneously occurring behaviors. Behav Processes 2022; 201:104713. [PMID: 35901935 PMCID: PMC10436331 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Age-related changes in spatial and temporal processing have been documented across a range of species. Rodent studies typically investigate differences in performance between adult and senescent animals; however, progressive loss of neurons in the hippocampus and cortex has been observed to occur as early as after adolescence. Therefore, the current study evaluated the effects of age in three- and ten-month-old female rats on the organization of movement in open field and food protection behaviors, two tasks that have previously dissociated hippocampal and cortical pathology. Age-related differences were observed in general measures of locomotion, spatial orientation, and attentional processing. The results of the current study are consistent with age-related changes in the processing of spatial information and motivation that occur earlier in life than previously anticipated. These observations establish a foundation for future studies evaluating interventions that influence these age-related differences in performance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - E A Schaeffer
- Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA
| | - A A Blackwell
- Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA
| | - R I Lake
- Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA
| | - R M Einhaus
- Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA
| | - G L Kartje
- Research Service, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Hines, IL, USA; Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Loyola University Chicago Health, Sciences Division, Maywood, IL, USA
| | - D G Wallace
- Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA.
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Osterlund Oltmanns JR, Schaeffer EA, Goncalves Garcia M, Donaldson TN, Acosta G, Sanchez LM, Davies S, Savage DD, Wallace DG, Clark BJ. Sexually dimorphic organization of open field behavior following moderate prenatal alcohol exposure. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2022; 46:861-875. [PMID: 35315075 PMCID: PMC9117438 DOI: 10.1111/acer.14813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can produce deficits in a wide range of cognitive functions but is especially detrimental to behaviors requiring accurate spatial information processing. In open field environments, spatial behavior is organized such that animals establish "home bases" marked by long stops focused around one location. Progressions away from the home base are circuitous and slow, while progressions directed toward the home base are non-circuitous and fast. The impact of PAE on the organization of open field behavior has not been experimentally investigated. METHODS In the present study, adult female and male rats with moderate PAE or saccharin exposure locomoted a circular high walled open field for 30 minutes under lighted conditions. RESULTS The findings indicate that PAE and sex influence the organization of open field behavior. Consistent with previous literature, PAE rats exhibited greater locomotion in the open field. Novel findings from the current study indicate that PAE and sex also impact open field measures specific to spatial orientation. While all rats established a home base on the periphery of the open field, PAE rats, particularly males, exhibited significantly less clustered home base stopping with smaller changes in heading between stops. PAE also impaired progression measures specific to distance estimation, while sex alone impacted progression measures specific to direction estimation. CONCLUSIONS These findings support the conclusion that adult male rats have an increased susceptibility to the effects of PAE on the organization of open field behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ericka A Schaeffer
- Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois, USA
| | | | - Tia N Donaldson
- Department of Psychology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Gabriela Acosta
- Department of Psychology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Lilliana M Sanchez
- Department of Psychology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Suzy Davies
- Department of Neurosciences, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Daniel D Savage
- Department of Psychology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.,Department of Neurosciences, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Douglas G Wallace
- Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois, USA
| | - Benjamin J Clark
- Department of Psychology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.,Department of Neurosciences, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
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