Social factors influence solo and rat dyads exploration of an unfamiliar open field

Exploring new and unfamiliar environments is critical for survival, providing information on food, shelter, mates, and sources of danger. The open field paradigm is commonly used to study exploration and anxiety-like behaviors in the lab. Many social animals, like humans and rats, may explore their environments in social groups; however, relatively few studies have investigated the influence of conspecifics on open field activity. Here, we provide a comparison of individual (solo) or pairs of male rats (dyads) exploring and interacting across repeated exposures to an unfamiliar (Day 1) or more familiar (Day 2) open field. Both solo rats and dyads explored a larger area, traveled further, and spent less time near the maze walls on the second maze exposure. Solo rats explored a larger area and spent less time near the maze walls than dyads on both days because dyads spent more time socializing rather than exploring the environment. Furthermore, we compared familiar dyads that were co-housed for seven days versus stranger dyads that met for the first time in the open field. While familiar and stranger dyads did not differ in maze exploration, strangers spent more time interacting nose to nose than nose to anogenital. These results indicate that the degree of familiarity with the environment does not interact with the tendency of dyads to socialize rather than explore the environment.

Sequential order spatial memory in male rats: Characteristics and impact of medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus disruption

Remembering an experience entails linking what happened, where the event transpired, and when it occurred. Most rodent hippocampal studies involve tests of spatial memory, but fewer investigate temporal and sequential order memory. Here we provide a demonstration of rats learning an aversive sequential order task using a radial arm water maze. Male rats learned a fixed sequence of up to seven spatial locations, with each decision session separated by a temporal delay. Rats relied on visuospatial cues and the number of times they had entered the maze for a given day in order to successfully perform the task. Behavioral patterns during asymptotic performance showed similarities to the serial-position effect, especially with regards to faster first choice latency. Rats at asymptotic performance were implanted with bilateral cannula in medial prefrontal cortex, dorsal, and ventral hippocampus. After re-training, we injected muscimol to temporarily disrupt targeted brain regions. While control rats made prospective errors, rats with mPFC muscimol exhibited more retrospective errors. Rats with hippocampal muscimol no longer exhibited a prospective bias and were at chance levels in their error choices. Taken together, our results suggest disruption of mPFC, but not the hippocampus, produced an error choice bias during an aversive sequential order spatial processing task.

Interdependence between dorsal and ventral hippocampus during spatial navigation

INTRODUCTION

The hippocampus is linked to the formation and retrieval of episodic memories and spatial navigation. In rats, it is an elongated structure divided into dorsal (septal) and ventral (temporal) regions paralleling the respective division in the posterior and anterior hippocampus in humans. The dorsal hippocampus has been suggested to be more important for spatial processing and the ventral to processing anxiety-based behaviors. Far less is known regarding the degree to which these different regions interact during information processing. The anatomical connectivity suggests a flow of information between the dorsal and ventral regions; conversely, there are also commissural connections to the contralateral hippocampus. The current study examined the extent to which information from the dorsal hippocampus interacts with processing in the ipsilateral and contralateral ventral hippocampus following the acquisition of a spatial task.

METHODS

Rats were well-trained on a spatial reference version of the water maze, followed by muscimol inactivation of different hippocampal subregions in a within-animal repeated design. Various combinations of bilateral, ipsilateral, and contralateral infusions were used.

RESULTS

Combined dorsal and ventral inactivation produced a severe impairment in spatial performance. Inactivation of only the dorsal or ventral regions resulted in intermediate impairment with performance levels falling between controls and combined inactivation. Performance was impaired during contralateral inactivation and was almost equivalent to bilateral dorsal and ventral hippocampus inactivation, while ipsilateral inactivation resulted in little impairment.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, results indicate that for spatial processing, the hippocampus functions as a single integrated structure along the longitudinal axis.

Novel space alters theta and gamma synchrony across the longitudinal axis of the hippocampus

Hippocampal theta (6–10 Hz) and gamma (25–50 Hz and 65–100 Hz) local field potentials (LFPs) reflect the dynamic synchronization evoked by inputs impinging upon hippocampal neurons. Novel experience is known to engage hippocampal physiology and promote successful encoding. Does novelty synchronize or desynchronize theta and/or gamma frequency inputs across the septotemporal (long) axis of the hippocampus (HPC)? The present study tested the hypothesis that a novel spatial environment would alter theta power and coherence across the long axis. We compared theta and gamma LFP signals at individual (power) and millimeter distant electrode pairs (coherence) within the dentate gyrus (DG) and CA1 region while rats navigated a runway (1) in a familiar environment, (2) with a modified path in the same environment and (3) in a novel space. Locomotion in novel space was related to increases in theta and gamma power at most CA1 and DG sites. The increase in theta and gamma power was concurrent with an increase in theta and gamma coherence across the long axis of CA1; however, there was a significant decrease in theta coherence across the long axis of the DG. These findings illustrate significant shifts in the synchrony of entorhinal, CA3 and/or neuromodulatory afferents conveying novel spatial information to the dendritic fields of CA1 and DG targets across the long axis of the HPC. This shift suggests that the entire theta/gamma-related input to the CA1 network, and likely output, receives and conveys a more coherent message in response to novel sensory experience. Such may contribute to the successful encoding of novel sensory experience.

Conflict between place and response navigation strategies: effects on vicarious trial and error (VTE) behaviors

Navigation can be accomplished through multiple decision-making strategies, using different information-processing computations. A well-studied dichotomy in these decision-making strategies compares hippocampal-dependent "place" and dorsal-lateral striatal-dependent "response" strategies. A place strategy depends on the ability to flexibly respond to environmental cues, while a response strategy depends on the ability to quickly recognize and react to situations with well-learned action-outcome relationships. When rats reach decision points, they sometimes pause and orient toward the potential routes of travel, a process termed vicarious trial and error (VTE). VTE co-occurs with neurophysiological information processing, including sweeps of representation ahead of the animal in the hippocampus and transient representations of reward in the ventral striatum and orbitofrontal cortex. To examine the relationship between VTE and the place/response strategy dichotomy, we analyzed data in which rats were cued to switch between place and response strategies on a plus maze. The configuration of the maze allowed for place and response strategies to work competitively or cooperatively. Animals showed increased VTE on trials entailing competition between navigational systems, linking VTE with deliberative decision-making. Even in a well-learned task, VTE was preferentially exhibited when a spatial selection was required, further linking VTE behavior with decision-making associated with hippocampal processing.

Hippocampal theta, gamma, and theta-gamma coupling: effects of aging, environmental change, and cholinergic activation

Hippocampal theta and gamma oscillations coordinate the timing of multiple inputs to hippocampal neurons and have been linked to information processing and the dynamics of encoding and retrieval. One major influence on hippocampal rhythmicity is from cholinergic afferents. In both humans and rodents, aging is linked to impairments in hippocampus-dependent function along with degradation of cholinergic function. Cholinomimetics can reverse some age-related memory impairments and modulate oscillations in the hippocampus. Therefore, one would expect corresponding changes in these oscillations and possible rescue with the cholinomimetic physostigmine. Hippocampal activity was recorded while animals explored a familiar or a novel maze configuration. Reexposure to a familiar situation resulted in minimal aging effects or changes in theta or gamma oscillations. In contrast, exploration of a novel maze configuration increased theta power; this was greater in adult than old animals, although the deficit was reversed with physostigmine. In contrast to the theta results, the effects of novelty, age, and/or physostigmine on gamma were relatively weak. Unrelated to the behavioral situation were an age-related decrease in the degree of theta-gamma coupling and the fact that physostigmine lowered the frequency of theta in both adult and old animals. The results indicate that age-related changes in gamma and theta modulation of gamma, while reflecting aging changes in hippocampal circuitry, seem less related to aging changes in information processing. In contrast, the data support a role for theta and the cholinergic system in encoding and that hippocampal aging is related to impaired encoding of new information.

Cognitive demands induce selective hippocampal reorganization: Arc expression in a place and response task

Place cells in the hippocampus can maintain multiple representations of a single environment and respond to physical and/or trajectory changes by remapping. Within the hippocampus there are anatomical, electrophysiological, and behavioral dissociations between the dorsal and ventral hippocampus and within dorsal CA1. Arc expression was used to measure the recruitment of ensembles across different hippocampal subregions in rats trained to utilize two different cognitive strategies while traversing an identical trajectory. This behavioral paradigm allowed for the measurement of remapping in the absence of changes in external cues, trajectory traversed (future/past), running speed, motivation, or different stages of learning. Changes in task demands induced remapping in only some hippocampal regions: reorganization of cell ensembles was observed in dorsal CA1 but not in dorsal CA3. Moreover, a gradient was found in the degree of remapping within dorsal CA1 that corresponds to entorhinal connectivity to this region. Remapping was not seen in the ventral hippocampus: neither ventral CA1 nor CA3 exhibited ensemble changes with different cognitive demands. This contrasts with findings of remapping in both the dorsal and ventral dentate gyrus using this task. The results suggest that the dorsal pole of the hippocampus is more sensitive to changes in task demands.

Extensive training and hippocampus or striatum lesions: effect on place and response strategies

The hippocampus has been linked to spatial navigation and the striatum to response learning. The current study focuses on how these brain regions continue to interact when an animal is very familiar with the task and the environment and must continuously switch between navigation strategies. Rats were trained to solve a plus maze using a place or a response strategy on different trials within a testing session. A room cue (illumination) was used to indicate which strategy should be used on a given trial. After extensive training, animals underwent dorsal hippocampus, dorsal lateral striatum or sham lesions. As expected hippocampal lesions predominantly caused impairment on place but not response trials. Striatal lesions increased errors on both place and response trials. Competition between systems was assessed by determining error type. Pre-lesion and sham animals primarily made errors to arms associated with the wrong (alternative) strategy, this was not found after lesions. The data suggest a qualitative change in the relationship between hippocampal and striatal systems as a task is well learned. During acquisition the two systems work in parallel, competing with each other. After task acquisition, the two systems become more integrated and interdependent. The fact that with extensive training (as something becomes a "habit"), behaviors become dependent upon the dorsal lateral striatum has been previously shown. The current findings indicate that dorsal lateral striatum involvement occurs even when the behavior is spatial and continues to require hippocampal processing.

Disambiguating the similar: the dentate gyrus and pattern separation

The human hippocampus supports the formation of episodic memory without confusing new memories with old ones. To accomplish this, the brain must disambiguate memories (i.e., accentuate the differences between experiences). There is convergent evidence linking pattern separation to the dentate gyrus. Damage to the dentate gyrus reduces an organism's ability to differentiate between similar objects. The dentate gyrus has tenfold more principle cells than its cortical input, allowing for a divergence in information flow. Dentate gyrus granule neurons also show a very different pattern of representing the environment than "classic" place cells in CA1 and CA3, or grid cells in the entorhinal cortex. More recently immediate early genes have been used to "timestamp" activity of individual cells throughout the dentate gyrus. These data indicate that the dentate gyrus robustly differentiates similar situations. The degree of differentiation is non-linear, with even small changes in input inducing a near maximal response in the dentate. Furthermore this differentiation occurs throughout the dentate gyrus longitudinal (dorsal-ventral) axis. Conversely, the data point to a divergence in information processing between the dentate gyrus suprapyramidal and infrapyramidal blades possibly related to differences in organization within these regions. The accumulated evidence from different approaches converges to support a role for the dentate gyrus in pattern separation. There are however inconsistencies that may require incorporation of neurogenesis and hippocampal microcircuits into the currents models. They also suggest different roles for the dentate gyrus suprapyramidal and infrapyramidal blades, and the responsiveness of CA3 to dentate input.

Theta and gamma coherence across the septotemporal axis during distinct behavioral states

Theta (4-12 Hz) and gamma (40-100 Hz) field potentials represent the interaction of synchronized synaptic input onto distinct neuronal populations within the hippocampal formation. Theta is quite prominent during exploratory activity, locomotion, and REM sleep. Although it is generally acknowledged that theta is coherent throughout most of the hippocampus, there is significant variability in theta, as well as gamma, coherence across lamina at any particular septotemporal level of the hippocampus. Larger differences in theta coherence are observed across the septotemporal (long) axis. We have reported that during REM sleep there is a decrease in theta coherence across the long axis that varies with the topography of CA3/mossy cell input rather than the topography of the prominent entorhinal input. On the basis of differences in the rat's behavior as well as the activity of neuromodulatory inputs (e.g., noradrenergic and serotonergic), we hypothesized that theta coherence across the long axis would be greater during locomotion than REM sleep and exhibit a pattern more consistent with the topography of entorhinal inputs. We examined theta and gamma coherence indices at different septotemporal and laminar sites during distinct theta states: locomotion during maze running, REM sleep, following acute treatment with a θ-inducing cholinomimetic (physostigmine) and for comparison during slow-wave sleep. The results demonstrate a generally consistent pattern of theta and gamma coherence across the septotemporal axis of the hippocampus that is quite indifferent to sensory input and overt behavior. These results are discussed with regards to the neurobiological mechanisms that generate theta and gamma and the growing body of evidence linking theta and gamma indices to memory and other cognitive functions.

The CB1 inverse agonist AM251, but not the CB1 antagonist AM4113, enhances retention of contextual fear conditioning in rats

The effects of CB1 antagonist/inverse agonists on the acquisition and consolidation of conditioned fear remain uncertain. Recent studies suggest that the CB1 antagonist/inverse agonist AM251 affects acquisition or consolidation of both contextual and discretely cued fear memories. AM251 is frequently referred to as a CB1 antagonist; however in vitro signal transduction assays indicate that this drug also elicits inverse agonist activity at CB1 receptors. The present studies were undertaken to compare the effects of AM251 on conditioned fear with those produced by AM4113, a novel CB1 antagonist with minimal inverse agonist activity. All drugs were administered prior to conditioning. In retention tests conducted two weeks after conditioning, both AM251 (4.0 mg/kg) and AM4113 (6.0 mg/kg)-treated animals exhibited reduced freezing during a conditioned tone cue played within a novel context. In contextual fear retention tests, animals previously treated with 4.0 or 8.0 mg/kg AM251 exhibited enhanced freezing. By contrast, no dose of AM4113 had any significant effect on contextual fear memory, which is consistent with the lower signal transduction activity of AM4113 at CB1 receptors compared to AM251. These results suggest that CB1 neutral antagonists may be less likely than CB1 inverse agonists to facilitate the acquisition or consolidation of contextual fear that may contribute to some clinical disorders.

Potential anxiogenic effects of cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonists/inverse agonists in rats: comparisons between AM4113, AM251, and the benzodiazepine inverse agonist FG-7142

Cannabinoid CB1 inverse agonists suppress food-motivated behaviors, but may also induce psychiatric effects such as depression and anxiety. To evaluate behaviors potentially related to anxiety, the present experiments assessed the CB1 inverse agonist AM251 (2.0-8.0mg/kg), the CB1 antagonist AM4113 (3.0-12.0mg/kg), and the benzodiazepine inverse agonist FG-7142 (10.0-20.0mg/kg), using the open field test and the elevated plus maze. Although all three drugs affected open field behavior, these effects were largely due to actions on locomotion. In the elevated plus maze, FG-7142 and AM251 both produced anxiogenic effects. FG-7142 and AM251 also significantly increased c-Fos activity in the amygdala and nucleus accumbens shell. In contrast, AM4113 failed to affect performance in the plus maze, and did not induce c-Fos immunoreactivity. The weak effects of AM4113 are consistent with biochemical data showing that AM4113 induces little or no intrinsic cellular activity. This research may lead to the development of novel appetite suppressants with reduced anxiogenic effects.

Theta and Gamma Coherence Along the Septotemporal Axis of the Hippocampus

Theta and gamma rhythms synchronize neurons within and across brain structures. Both rhythms are widespread within the hippocampus during exploratory behavior and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. How synchronous are these rhythms throughout the hippocampus? The present study examined theta and gamma coherence along the septotemporal (long) axis of the hippocampus in rats during REM sleep, a behavioral state during which theta signals are unaffected by external sensory input or ongoing behavior. Unilateral entorhinal cortical inputs are thought to play a prominent role in the current generation of theta, whereas current generation of gamma is primarily due to local GABAergic neurons. The septal 50% (4–5 mm) of the dentate gyrus (DG) receives a highly divergent, unilateral projection from any focal point along a lateral band of entorhinal neurons near the rhinal sulcus. We hypothesized that theta coherence in the target zone (septal DG) of this divergent entorhinal input would not vary, while gamma coherence would significantly decline with distance in this zone. However, both theta and gamma coherence decreased significantly along the long axis in the septal 50% of the hippocampus across both DG and CA1 electrode sites. In contrast, theta coherence between homotypic (e.g., DG to DG) sites in the contralateral hemisphere (∼3–5 mm distant) were quite high (∼0.7–0.9), much greater than theta coherence between homotypic sites 3–5 mm distant (∼0.4–0.6) along the long axis. These findings define anatomic variation in both rhythms along the longitudinal axis of the hippocampus, indicate the bilateral CA3/mossy cell projections are the major determinant of theta coherence during REM, and demonstrate that theta coherence varies as a function of anatomical connectivity rather than physical distance. We suggest CA3 and entorhinal inputs interact dynamically to generate theta field potentials and advance the utility of theta and gamma coherence as indicators of hippocampal dynamics.

Differential behavioral state-dependence in the burst properties of CA3 and CA1 neurons

Brief bursts of fast high-frequency action potentials are a signature characteristic of CA3 and CA1 pyramidal neurons. Understanding the factors determining burst and single spiking is potentially significant for sensory representation, synaptic plasticity and epileptogenesis. A variety of models suggest distinct functional roles for burst discharge, and for specific characteristics of the burst in neural coding. However, little in vivo data demonstrate how often and under what conditions CA3 and CA1 actually exhibit burst and single spike discharges. The present study examined burst discharge and single spiking of CA3 and CA1 neurons across distinct behavioral states (awake-immobility and maze-running) in rats. In both CA3 and CA1 spike bursts accounted for less than 20% of all spike events. CA3 neurons exhibited more spikes per burst, greater spike frequency, larger amplitude spikes and more spike amplitude attenuation than CA1 neurons. A major finding of the present study is that the propensity of CA1 neurons to burst was affected by behavioral state, while the propensity of CA3 to burst was not. CA1 neurons exhibited fewer bursts during maze running compared with awake-immobility. In contrast, there were no differences in burst discharge of CA3 neurons. Neurons in both subregions exhibited smaller spike amplitude, fewer spikes per burst, longer inter-spike intervals and greater spike amplitude attenuation within a burst during awake-immobility compared with maze running. These findings demonstrate that the CA1 network is under greater behavioral state-dependent regulation than CA3. The present findings should inform both theoretic and computational models of CA3 and CA1 function.

Intramaze cue utilization in the water maze: effects of sex and estrous cycle in rats

Rats can use a wide spectrum of intra- and extramaze information while navigating through the environment. The current study examined the relative contribution of an intramaze cue with regard to its proximity to the goal. Three experiments were conducted and the impact of intramaze cue removal or rotation on water maze search was examined. In males, the effect of the intramaze cue declined monotonically in relation to the proximity of the cue to the goal. A more complex relationship between cue location and utilization was found in estrous and proestrus females. Estrous females showed a strong effect of the cue only when it was near the goal, ignoring it when it was situated further away. Conversely proestrus females were affected by the cue under all conditions. It is concluded that previous reports of behavioral differences may stem from the fact that proestrus females are affected by and attend to a wider range of stimuli, while estrous females are more affected by salient stimuli.

Stability of hippocampal place cell activity across the rat estrous cycle

Findings from both in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that estrogen exerts pronounced effects on hippocampal morphology and physiology. The degree to which these molecular findings influence hippocampal processing in freely behaving animals is unclear. The present study assessed the effect of the estrous cycle on hippocampal place cells in naturally cycling rats during two behavioral states. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to alternate on a U-shaped runway for food reinforcement. Single-unit recordings of hippocampal CA1 cells were conducted under two conditions: (1) at rest on a holder, and (2) running on the maze. Spatial firing characteristics of the cells were examined at different stages of the estrous cycle (i.e., diestrus, proestrus, and estrus). Specifically, information was collected on (1) mean firing rates; (2) basic place field parameters; and (3) changes in the firing dynamics of these cells (e.g., burst properties). The findings showed a decrease in mean firing rate on the maze during proestrus. However, other basic measures of spatial tuning and burst properties were unchanged. The current study suggests that there is relative stability of hippocampal place cells across the estrous cycle during a well-trained task.

Hippocampal and amygdalar involvement in discriminatory place learning

A conflict task was developed that simultaneously examines place aversion learning and fear-motivated context discrimination. The task superimposed Pavlovian discriminative fear conditioning on an appetitively motivated instrumental response (alternation). Rats were trained to alternate along a high-walled, diamond-shaped runway between two chambers for food. On half of the trials, a tone CS signaled the fact that a fixed section at the apex of the runway was electrified. Both the tone and the shock were turned on at the beginning of, and remained on for the duration of, each tone trial. A new trial was initiated at the time the animal entered the subsequent food chamber. Therefore, during a tone trial, in order to attain additional food reinforcement, the animal had to cross over the electrified region at the runway apex. Behavioral performance of rats with small lesions of the amygdala or dorsal hippocampus (DH) was compared with that of sham-operated controls. All groups displayed significant discriminative responding, hesitating more on tone trials while in areas of the runway adjacent to the shock region. Animals with lesions of the DH were similar to controls with respect to the tone-mediated discrimination, yet were delayed in the initial expression of a location-specific fear response. Conversely, amygdala lesions did not affect place learning; however, these animals were impaired in their suppression of the fear response following repeated unpaired trials.

Sex differences and correlations in a virtual Morris water task, a virtual radial arm maze, and mental rotation☆

Different tasks are often used to assess spatial memory in humans compared to nonhumans. In order to bridge this paradigmatic gap, we used a within-subject design to test 61 undergraduates on three spatial memory tasks. One of these tasks, the Vanderberg 3D mental rotation task, is classically used to assess spatial memory in humans. The other two tests are virtual analogues of two tasks used classically to assess spatial memory in rodents: the Morris water task and an eight-arm radial maze. We find that males perform significantly better than females on the mental rotation task and in finding a hidden platform in the virtual Morris water task. Moreover, during a probe trial, males spend significantly more distance of their swim in the training quadrant, but males and females do not differ in navigating to a visible platform. However, for the virtual eight-arm radial maze, there is no sex difference in working memory errors, reference memory errors, or distance to find the rewards. Surprisingly, an examination of the correlations among the three tasks indicates that only mental rotation ability and Morris water task probe trial performance correlate significantly among the three tasks (i.e. there are no significant correlations with traditional measures the tasks, e.g. time or distance to completion). Hence, the Morris water task and the eight-arm radial maze do not assess spatial memory in the same manner, and even after equating factors such as motivation, stress, and motor demands, there still are procedural demands of the tasks that reinforce differential strategy selection during spatial memory. This suggests that caution should be taken when utilizing these two tasks interchangeable as tests of spatial memory.

The effects of aging and dorsal hippocampal lesions: performance on spatial and nonspatial comparable versions of the water maze

Aged intact and young hippocampal-lesioned rats show similar deficits on the spatial water maze. However, this does not necessitate that the source of these deficits in the aged animals is due to hippocampal damage. These water maze deficits may arise from other aging factors such as changes in thermoregulation, muscle fatigue, swim ability, and response to stress. Consequently, it is imperative to examine the performance of aged rats on a comparable nonhippocampal version of this task. Past attempts to develop a hippocampus-independent version of the water maze were confounded because these tasks were easier (i.e., the rats spent much less time swimming in the water) than the spatial versions of the task. The current study examined performance on a hippocampus-independent task comparable in difficulty to the spatial water one. Middle-aged (16-m) and old (25-m) male F344 rats were given sham or dorsal hippocampus lesions and tested on both a spatial and a nonspatial water maze. The middle-aged rats with hippocampal lesions were impaired on the spatial task but not on the nonspatial task. Conversely, aged animals showed a similar impairment on both types of water maze tasks. Additionally, hippocampal lesions exacerbated the age-related impairment on both tasks. These findings indicate that caution must be used when interpreting the results of water maze tasks for aged animals.

Effects of mild food deprivation on the estrous cycle of rats

It has long been known that severe food deprivation disrupts the estrous cycle. One of the main problems with behavioral tasks that use food for reinforcement is the requirement that the animal be food deprived. This manipulation could be problematic in studies using female animals, since it may interfere with the estrous cycle of the animals. The purpose of the present study was to investigate: (1) the effect of mild food deprivation on four different strains of rats, (2) factors in the food deprivation procedure that could affect the estrous cycle, and (3) the possible effect of enriched diets during food deprivation on the estrous cycle. A comparison of the estrous cycle in four different rat strains revealed differences in the reliability of the estrous cycle even before the onset of food deprivation. Fischer, Long-Evans, and Sprague-Dawley rats all showed reliable cycle patterns. This was not the case for Brown Norway rats. During food deprivation, the cycle of the Fischer rats was disrupted, whereas the Long-Evans and Sprague-Dawley animals continued to cycle. Both the rate of weight loss and the percent of ad libitum body weight were related to cessation of the estrous cycle. However, enriching an animal's diet with sugar or oil additives delayed the disruption of the estrous cycle. Additionally, animals resumed cycling when returned to ad libitum weight levels. The present findings suggest that when animals need to be food deprived, preference should be given to using Long-Evans or Sprague-Dawley rats. If Fischer rats must be used, they should not be deprived below 90-95% of their ad libitum body weight. Strategies for future food deprivation studies are discussed, as well as a comparison of the effects of mild and severe food deprivation.

Sex differences in the dynamics of cue utilization and exploratory behavior

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of sex and estrous cycle on exploratory behavior, as well as the degree to which reliance on environmental cues changes with training. Fischer 344 rats were placed three times in an open field box that contained three objects (two identical bottles and a cylinder). During the initial exposure to the environment all females showed higher activity levels and explored a larger region of the environment compared to males. However, upon subsequent exposure to the same environment, these sex differences disappeared. During the third and final session, the locations of the bottle and the cylinder were switched. The estrous females and to a lesser degree male rats, responded to the relocation of objects with a renewal of exploration and activity; proestrous females did not show this response. The rats were then trained on a four-arm radial maze reference memory task. The correct arm could be located by its relation to extra-room cues, a large distal white panel, or to local inserts on the maze. Once the animals consistently chose the goal arm, a probe session was conducted to determine which cues the animals were using to solve the task. During the probe trial both the white panel and the local inserts were rotated 90 degrees clockwise and counterclockwise respectively and the animals' choice of arm recorded. During the first probe, females tended to rely on all three types of cues in solving the task. With additional training there was a shift towards predominantly using the distal visual information. In contrast, male rats did not show this shift; by the first probe session the males were predominantly using the distal visual information to solve the task. The findings indicate: (1) sex differences in the initial use of environmental cues; (2) the usage of environmental information is dynamic and changes with additional exposures to the environment. The results are related to previous findings on sex differences and estrous cycle effects, with an emphasis on the implications for hippocampal processing.

Age-related deficits in the ability to encode contextual change: a place cell analysis

Aging is known to impair the formation of episodic memory, a process dependent upon the integrity of the hippocampal region. To investigate this issue, hippocampal place cells were recorded from middle-aged and old F-344 male rats while running on a "figure-8" track. The top and bottom arcs of the track were removed, converting it into a plus maze, and the animals were required to conduct a working memory task. Following this change in task, the arcs were replaced and the animals again ran the figure-8 task. Analysis of place fields across the recording session demonstrated that both middle-aged and old rats had reliable representations of the figure-8 task. A comparison of place fields between different behavioral tasks (figure-8 and plus maze) demonstrated a change in the hippocampal representation of the environment in both age groups, despite the fact that the animals remained on the maze throughout the recording session. Notably, place cells in old animals were less affected by the change in task than those in middle-aged animals. The results suggest that hippocampal neurons reflect significant behavioral events within a given environment. Furthermore, the data indicate that age-related episodic memory deficits may result from decreased sensitivity of the hippocampal network to respond to meaningful changes in the environment.

Age-related deficits on the radial maze and in fear conditioning: hippocampal processing and consolidation

Young adult, middle-aged, and old male F-344 rats were assessed for their hippocampal ability. This was accomplished by examining the animals on two different paradigms, each incorporating a simultaneous measure of hippocampal-dependent and -independent processing. The animals were fear conditioned and then tested for retention of the conditioning context and tone. This was followed by an 8-arm radial maze task which combined spatial working and cued reference memory elements. The two paradigms are compared in terms of task demands, potential confounds, and validity for aging studies. The results indicate that the performance of the animals on the two tasks is correlated. Age-related deficits limited to the hippocampal aspects of the above tasks were found, with no deficits found in the analogous but hippocampus-independent aspects of these tasks. The function of the hippocampus in incorporating new memories is time-related. Therefore, the possibility of age-related changes in consolidation was examined. It has previously been shown on the fear conditioning paradigm that the hippocampus is involved in retention of the aversive context for approximately 28 days. In the present study, an attempt was made to test the animals for retention of the conditioning context both early into the period of consolidation (10 days) and after consolidation should have been completed (52 days). The results indicate that, initially, the old animals show comparable retention to young rats. When examined later, young animals showed a stronger retention of the conditioning context than they had previously. The aged rats, however, did not seem to benefit from this additional period of time and in fact showed a decrease in retention of the conditioning context. The data are interpreted in terms of consolidation, alternative explanations of the data are presented, and suggestions are given for future research. Finally, the implications of such age-related changes in hippocampal consolidation on learning and memory are discussed.

Hippocampal dysfunction during aging I: deficits in memory consolidation

Numerous ablation studies indicate a critical role for the hippocampal system in establishing or consolidating certain types of memory. Normal aging manifests by selective neurobiological changes in the hippocampal formation and on performance of tasks that require a functional hippocampus, including retention of contextual fear conditioning. To determine if impairments in the consolidation process contribute to memory dysfunction in aging, middle-aged and aged rats were fear conditioned and subsequently received dorsal hippocampal lesions or sham surgery after a 1, 7, 14, or 28-day interval. During retention tests, middle-aged rats exhibited a temporally graded retrograde amnesia of contextual fear conditioning, whereas aged rats manifested contextual memory impairments at all intervals. We postulate that the lack of consolidation in aged animals relates to previous findings of age-related changes in neuroanatomy and neurophysiological plasticity. The present findings suggest that impaired hippocampal consolidation contributes to age-related learning and memory deficits.

Hippocampal dysfunction during aging II: deficits on the radial-arm maze

Middle-aged and aged rats received dorsal hippocampal lesions before performance was evaluated on the radial-arm maze. The maze task contained simultaneous spatial working memory and visually cued reference memory components. Both middle-aged and aged rats that received lesions committed more errors of both types than sham-operated rats. Moreover, an age-related deficit was found for working and reference memory errors. After 14 sessions of training, a probe session revealed that: (a) middle-aged sham rats relied on spatial cues, (b) middle-aged lesioned rats employed the visual cues at the ends of the maze arms, (c) aged sham rats relied predominately on spatial information, (d) aged lesioned rats could not use spatial information or the visual cues at the ends of the maze arms. The additive effect of lesion and age suggests continued reliance on the hippocampus despite age-related deficits in its functioning. These data are suggestive of reduction in flexible cue utilization during aging, resulting paradoxically in more dependence on the hippocampus for aged rats than younger animals.

Interactions between location and task affect the spatial and directional firing of hippocampal neurons

When rats forage for randomly dispersed food in a high walled cylinder the firing of their hippocampal "place" cells exhibits little dependence on the direction faced by the rat. On radial arm mazes and similar tasks, place cells are strongly directionally selective within their fields. These tasks differ in several respects, including the visual environment, configuration of the traversable space, motor behavior (e.g., linear and angular velocities), and behavioral context (e.g., presence of specific, consistent goal locations within the environment). The contributions of these factors to spatial and directional tuning of hippocampal neurons was systematically examined in rats performing several tasks in either an enriched or a sparse visual environment, and on different apparati. Place fields were more spatially and directionally selective on a radial maze than on an open, circular platform, regardless of the visual environment. On the platform, fields were more directional when the rat searched for food at fixed locations, in a stereotypic and directed manner, than when the food was scattered randomly. Thus, it seems that place fields are more directional when the animal is planning or following a route between points of special significance. This might be related to the spatial focus of the rat's attention (e.g., a particular reference point). Changing the behavioral task was also accompanied by a change in firing location in about one-third of the cells. Thus, hippocampal neuronal activity appears to encode a complex interaction between locations, their significance and the behaviors the rat is called upon to execute.

Spatial information content and reliability of hippocampal CA1 neurons: effects of visual input

The effects of darkness on quantitative spatial firing characteristics of 235 hippocampal CA1 "complex spike" (CS) cells were studied in young and old Fischer-344 rats during food-motivated performance of a randomized, forced-choice task on an eight-arm radial maze. The room lights were turned on or off on alternate blocks of all eight arms. In the dark, a lower proportion of CS cells had "place fields," and the fields were less specific and less reliable than in the light. A small number of cells had place fields unique to the dark condition. Like CS cells, Theta cells showed a reduction in spatially related firing in the dark. The specificity and reliability of the place fields under both light and dark conditions were similar for both age groups. Increasing the salience of the environment, by increasing the light level and the number of visual cues in the light condition, did not affect the specificity or reliability of the place fields. Even though all rats had substantial prior experience with the environment, and were placed on the maze center under normal illumination before the first dark trial, the correlation between the firing pattern in the light and dark increased after the rat first traversed the maze in the light. Thus, even after considerable experience with the environment over days, experiencing the illuminated environment from different locations on a given day was a significant factor affecting subsequent location and reliability of place fields in darkness. While the task was simple and errors rare, rats that made fewer errors (i.e., re-entries into the previously visited arm) also had more reliable place cells, but no such correlation was found with place cell specificity. Thus, the reliability of spatial firing in the hippocampus may be more important for spatial navigation than the size of the place fields per se. Alternatively, both spatial memory and place field reliability may be modulated by a common variable, such as attention.

Synaptic structural plasticity following repetitive activation in the rat hippocampus

The morphological effects of repetitive neuronal activation following systemic kainic acid administration were examined in hippocampal CA1 stratum radiatum synapses. Sporadic activation of CA3 and CA1 neurons began approximately 15-25 min after kainic acid administration, which was followed at 1-2 h by repetitive ictal firing until the completion of the experiments at 4 hr. Synaptic density in the CA1 region increased following stimulation, reaching significance at the earliest time period examined, approximately 5-15 min postactivation. There was an initial increase and then a decline in frown (and then flat)-shaped synaptic subtypes, with an ultimate increase in smile-shaped synapses. This pattern is consistent with either a change in synapses from frown to smile shaped or a selective gain/loss of synaptic subtypes. There was also an increase in the size of smile-shaped synapses, but a decrease in the size of frown synapses. By 4 h there was a decline in most indices of synaptic morphology, suggesting that the stimulation had become cytotoxic. These results indicate that the number and morphology of synapses and synaptic subtypes can be modified with relatively short periods of repeated use and suggest their potential role in activity-dependent phenomenon such as information storage and epilepsy.

Synaptic structural plasticity: role of synaptic shape

Recent research has indicated that synaptic curvature is an important and potentially critical plastic feature of the synapse. Alterations in synaptic shape are related to synaptic function, being found both during maturation and in adulthood following neuronal activation. In this paper we review the evidence supporting synaptic shape as a plastic feature of synaptic structure. We also propose several mechanisms which might underlie these changes in shape. Finally, we suggest the possible functional role of alterations in synaptic curvature, including its potential in altering synaptic transmission efficacy.

Synaptic structural changes during development and aging

Although a great deal is known about the development of synaptic number, comparatively little is known about the effects of development, and particularly aging, on the structure of the synapse. The present study examined synaptic structure in the molecular layer of the motor-sensory neocortex during early development (postnatal days (P) 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, 30), adulthood (P60, 90), and old age (28 months). Tissue was stained with osmium tetroxide (osmium) or ethanol phosphotungstic acid and the following synaptic characteristics were quantified: (1) presynaptic element length, area, thickness, maximal projection height and smoothness, and number and size of vesicles adjacent to the presynaptic element; (2) postsynaptic element length, area, and thickness; and (3) cleft width. There is an early developmental increase in synaptic element length, followed by an increase in thickness into adulthood. During development the height and width of the presynaptic dense projections increase, after which they remain stable. While the number of adjacent synaptic vesicles increases throughout the lifespan, there is a parallel decrease in their size. During the period of rapid synaptogenesis in this brain region there are no decreases in any of the synaptic structural parameters examined, indicating that newly generated synapses are either formed the same size as the existing mature synapses, or are extremely plastic and grow very rapidly. Unlike age-associated changes in synaptic number, no changes were found in synaptic structure during aging.

Neocortical synaptogenesis, aging, and behavior: lifespan development in the motor-sensory system of the rat

Little evidence presently exists on the development and aging of synaptic contacts and their relationship to behavior, particularly in nonvisual brain areas. To investigate this interrelationship, rats at a series of developmental ages [postnatal day 1 (P1) to P90] were initially examined on a battery of motor tasks. The battery, ranging from simple reflexive tests to tests of complex locomotor capacities, consisted of tactile-induced forelimb placing, chin-induced placing, body righting, climbing an inclined plane, traversing a narrow beam, and keeping up with a revolving wheel. Following completion of the behavioral testing, the animals, together with an additional group of aged (28- to 29-month-old) rats, were killed and their motor-sensory cortex was removed, stained with osmium tetroxide or ethanol phosphotungstic acid (EPTA), and examined under electron microscopy for density of synaptic contacts. Simple motor abilities such as tactile-induced placing was present by the end of the first postnatal week, with locomotor performance reaching a mature level by the end of the third postnatal week, and intermediate task abilities maturing within this range. Paralleling the development of complex locomotor skills was a sharp increase in synaptic density in the molecular layer of the motor-sensory cortex, commencing in the second postnatal week and peaking at P30. After P30 there was a sharp decline in synaptic density as well as a decline in performance on some motor tasks, although these two functions seemed to be occurring independently. There was a continued, but less dramatic synaptic loss evident in the aged rats.

Embedded-Figures Test scores among five samples of aged persons

Children's EFT scores for 604 aged persons in five samples—two homes for the aged, dischargees from a rehabilitation hospital, members of dischargees' households, and members of a senior center—were analyzed by age and sex. Older age groups had lower embedded-figures scores than younger; institutionalized persons had lower scores than non-institutionalized; scores of women were as high or higher than those of men.

Perceptual field dependence among aged persons

In a comparison of CEFT scores of large samples of institutionalized and club-going aged men ( ns = 80, 78) and women ( ns = 196, 116), institutionalization and age were associated with low CEFT scores, raising the possibility of some developmental process in which perceptual field independence decreases or regresses.