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Wijnen K, Genzel L, van der Meij J. Rodent maze studies: from following simple rules to complex map learning. Brain Struct Funct 2024; 229:823-841. [PMID: 38488865 PMCID: PMC11004052 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-024-02771-x] [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: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
More than 100 years since the first maze designed for rodent research, researchers now have the choice of a variety of mazes that come in many different shapes and sizes. Still old designs get modified and new designs are introduced to fit new research questions. Yet, which maze is the most optimal to use or which training paradigm should be applied, remains up for debate. In this review, we not only provide a historical overview of maze designs and usages in rodent learning and memory research, but also discuss the possible navigational strategies the animals can use to solve each maze. Furthermore, we summarize the different phases of learning that take place when a maze is used as the experimental task. At last, we delve into how training and maze design can affect what the rodents are actually learning in a spatial task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kjell Wijnen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Postbus 9010, 6500 GL, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Lisa Genzel
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Postbus 9010, 6500 GL, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Jacqueline van der Meij
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Postbus 9010, 6500 GL, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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2
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Tse D, Privitera L, Norton AC, Gobbo F, Spooner P, Takeuchi T, Martin SJ, Morris RGM. Cell-type-specific optogenetic stimulation of the locus coeruleus induces slow-onset potentiation and enhances everyday memory in rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2307275120. [PMID: 37931094 PMCID: PMC10655220 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2307275120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Memory formation is typically divided into phases associated with encoding, storage, consolidation, and retrieval. The neural determinants of these phases are thought to differ. This study first investigated the impact of the experience of novelty in rats incurred at a different time, before or after, the precise moment of memory encoding. Memory retention was enhanced. Optogenetic activation of the locus coeruleus mimicked this enhancement induced by novelty, both when given before and after the moment of encoding. Optogenetic activation of the locus coeruleus also induced a slow-onset potentiation of field potentials in area CA1 of the hippocampus evoked by CA3 stimulation. Despite the locus coeruleus being considered a primarily noradrenergic area, both effects of such stimulation were blocked by the dopamine D1/D5 receptor antagonist SCH 23390. These findings substantiate and enrich the evidence implicating the locus coeruleus in cellular aspects of memory consolidation in hippocampus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorothy Tse
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, EdinburghEH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, Edge Hill University, OmskirkL39 4QP, United Kingdom
| | - Lucia Privitera
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, EdinburghEH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
- School of Systems Medicine, University of Dundee, DundeeDD1 4HN, United Kingdom
- Barts and the London School of Medicine, Institute of Health Sciences Education, Queen Mary University of London Malta Campus, VictoriaVCT 2570, Malta
| | - Anna C. Norton
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, EdinburghEH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
| | - Francesco Gobbo
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, EdinburghEH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
| | - Patrick Spooner
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, EdinburghEH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
| | - Tomonori Takeuchi
- Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience, Nordic-European Molecular Biology Laboratory Partnership for Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus8000, Denmark
- Center for Proteins in Memory, Danish National Research Foundation, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus8000, Denmark
| | - Stephen J. Martin
- School of Systems Medicine, University of Dundee, DundeeDD1 4HN, United Kingdom
| | - Richard G. M. Morris
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, EdinburghEH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
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3
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Resmim CM, Borba JV, Pretzel CW, Santos LW, Rubin MA, Rosemberg DB. Assessing the exploratory profile of two zebrafish populations: influence of anxiety-like phenotypes and independent trials on homebase-related parameters and exploration. Behav Processes 2023:104912. [PMID: 37406867 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/01/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Anxiety is a protective behavior when animals face aversive conditions. The open field test (OFT) is used to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of exploration, in which both homebase formation and recognition of environmental cues may reflect habituation to unfamiliar conditions. Because emotional- and affective-like states influence exploration patterns and mnemonic aspects, we aimed to verify whether the exploratory behaviors of two zebrafish populations showing distinct baselines of anxiety differ in two OFT sessions. Firstly, we assessed the baseline anxiety-like responses of short fin (SF) and leopard (LEO) populations using the novel tank test (NTT) and light-dark test (LDT) in 6-min trials. Fish were later tested in two consecutive days in the OFT, in which the spatial occupancy and exploratory profile were analyzed for 30min. In general, LEO showed pronounced diving behavior and scototaxis in the NTT and LDT, respectively, in which an "anxiety index" corroborated their exacerbated anxiety-like behavior. In the OFT, the SF population spent less time to establish the homebase in the 1st trial, while only LEO showed a markedly reduction in the latency to homebase formation in the 2nd trial. Both locomotion and homebase-related activities were decreased in the 2nd trial, in which animals also revealed increased occupancy in the center area of the apparatus. Moreover, we verified a significant percentage of homebase conservation for both populations, while only SF showed reduced the number of trips and increased the average length of trips. Principal component analyses revealed that distinct factors accounted for total variances between trials for each population tested. While homebase exploration was reduced in the 2nd trial for SF, an increased occupancy in the center area and hypolocomotion were the main factors that contribute to the effects observed in LEO during re-exposure to the OFT. In conclusion, our novel data support the homebase conservation in zebrafish subjected to independent OFT sessions, as well as corroborate a population-dependent effect on specific behavioral parameters related to exploration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cássio M Resmim
- Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychobiology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil; Graduate Program in Biological Sciences: Toxicological Biochemistry, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil.
| | - João V Borba
- Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychobiology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil; Graduate Program in Biological Sciences: Toxicological Biochemistry, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil
| | - Camilla W Pretzel
- Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychobiology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil
| | - Laura W Santos
- Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychobiology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil
| | - Maribel A Rubin
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil
| | - Denis B Rosemberg
- Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychobiology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil; The International Zebrafish Neuroscience Research Consortium (ZNRC), 309 Palmer Court, Slidell, LA 70458, USA.
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4
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Sleep deprivation and hippocampal ripple disruption after one-session learning eliminate memory expression the next day. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2123424119. [PMID: 36279444 PMCID: PMC9636927 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2123424119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Hippocampal ripples are proposed to be the key element in sleep to enable memory consolidation. Here we show that ripple disruption as well sleep deprivation after one-session learning eliminate long-term memory expression and therefore are necessary for successful consolidation. Memory reactivation during non–rapid-eye-movement ripples is thought to communicate new information to a systems-wide network and thus can be a key player mediating the positive effect of sleep on memory consolidation. Causal experiments disrupting ripples have only been performed in multiday training paradigms, which decrease but do not eliminate memory performance, and no comparison with sleep deprivation has been made. To enable such investigations, we developed a one-session learning paradigm in a Plusmaze and show that disruption of either sleep with gentle handling or hippocampal ripples with electrical stimulation impaired long-term memory. Furthermore, we detected hippocampal ripples and parietal high-frequency oscillations after different behaviors, and a bimodal frequency distribution in the cortical events was observed. Faster cortical high-frequency oscillations increased after normal learning, a change not seen in the hippocampal ripple-disruption condition, consistent with these having a role in memory consolidation.
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Prodan A, Davies H, Eneqvist H, Mastroberardino G, Wijayathunga H, Wardlaw K, Morris RGM. Memory recall: New behavioral protocols for examining distinct forms of context specific recall in animals. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2022; 195:107685. [PMID: 36174888 PMCID: PMC7614818 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2022.107685] [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: 07/06/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
This study outlines two novel protocols for examining context specific recall in animals prior to embarking on neurobiological studies. The approach is distinct from and contrasts with studies investigating associative familiarity that depend upon procedural variations of the widely used novel object recognition task. It uses an event arena in which animals are trained across numerous sessions to search for, find and dig up reward from sandwells during sample and choice trials - a prominent spatial event for a rodent. The arena could be laid out as either of two highly distinct contexts with which the animals became fully familiar throughout training. In one protocol, the location of the correct sandwell in each context remained stable across days, whereas in the other, the correct digging location varied in a counterbalanced manner across each successive session. Thus, context-specific recall of the spatial location of successful digging during choice trials was either from a stable long-term memory or could reflect context specific spatial recency of the location where reward had been available that session. Both protocols revealed effective memory recall in choice and probe tests which, at the point of test, were procedurally identical in both cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Prodan
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK
| | - H Davies
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK
| | - H Eneqvist
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK
| | - G Mastroberardino
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK
| | - H Wijayathunga
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK
| | - K Wardlaw
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK
| | - R G M Morris
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK.
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Influence of acute and unpredictable chronic stress on spatio-temporal dynamics of exploratory activity in zebrafish with emphasis on homebase-related behaviors. Behav Brain Res 2022; 435:114034. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.114034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 07/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Samanta A, van Rongen LS, Rossato JI, Jacobse J, Schoenfeld R, Genzel L. Sleep Leads to Brain-Wide Neural Changes Independent of Allocentric and Egocentric Spatial Training in Humans and Rats. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:4970-4985. [PMID: 34037203 PMCID: PMC8491695 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Revised: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Sleep is important for memory consolidation and systems consolidation in particular, which is thought to occur during sleep. While there has been a significant amount of research regarding the effect of sleep on behavior and certain mechanisms during sleep, evidence that sleep leads to consolidation across the system has been lacking until now. We investigated the role of sleep in the consolidation of spatial memory in both rats and humans using a watermaze task involving allocentric- and egocentric-based training. Analysis of immediate early gene expression in rodents, combined with functional magnetic resonance imaging in humans, elucidated similar behavioral and neural effects in both species. Sleep had a beneficial effect on behavior in rats and a marginally significant effect in humans. Interestingly, sleep led to changes across multiple brain regions at the time of retrieval in both species and in both training conditions. In rats, sleep led to increased gene expression in the hippocampus, striatum, and prefrontal cortex. In the humans, sleep led to an activity increase in brain regions belonging to the executive control network and a decrease in activity in regions belonging to the default mode network. Thus, we provide cross-species evidence for system-level memory consolidation occurring during sleep.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anumita Samanta
- Neuroinformatics, Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6500GL, Netherlands
| | - Laurens S van Rongen
- Neuroinformatics, Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6500GL, Netherlands
| | - Janine I Rossato
- Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, The University of Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Justin Jacobse
- Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, The University of Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Robby Schoenfeld
- Institute of Psychology, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, 06099 Halle, Germany
| | - Lisa Genzel
- Neuroinformatics, Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6500GL, Netherlands.,Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, The University of Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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Glas A, Hübener M, Bonhoeffer T, Goltstein PM. Spaced training enhances memory and prefrontal ensemble stability in mice. Curr Biol 2021; 31:4052-4061.e6. [PMID: 34324833 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.085] [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: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
It is commonly acknowledged that memory is substantially improved when learning is distributed over time, an effect called the "spacing effect". So far it has not been studied how spaced learning affects the neuronal ensembles presumably underlying memory. In the present study, we investigate whether trial spacing increases the stability or size of neuronal ensembles. Mice were trained in the "everyday memory" task, an appetitive, naturalistic, delayed matching-to-place task. Spacing trials by 60 min produced more robust memories than training with shorter or longer intervals. c-Fos labeling and chemogenetic inactivation established the involvement of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) in successful memory storage. In vivo calcium imaging of excitatory dmPFC neurons revealed that longer trial spacing increased the similarity of the population activity pattern on subsequent encoding trials and upon retrieval. Conversely, trial spacing did not affect the size of the total neuronal ensemble or the size of subpopulations dedicated to specific task-related behaviors and events. Thus, spaced learning promotes reactivation of prefrontal neuronal ensembles processing episodic-like memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annet Glas
- Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Martinsried, Germany; Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Großhaderner Straße 2, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Mark Hübener
- Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Tobias Bonhoeffer
- Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Pieter M Goltstein
- Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.
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