Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026
Novel Object Recognition Test for the Investigation of Learning and Memory in Mice
Published on: August 30, 2017
The short and long term effects of docetaxel chemotherapy on rodent object recognition and spatial reference memory
Joanna E Fardell1, Janette Vardy, Ian N Johnston
1School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Australia; Cancer Institute, NSW, Australia.
Aims:
Previous animal studies have examined the potential for cytostatic drugs to induce learning and memory deficits in laboratory animals but, to date, there is no pre-clinical evidence that taxanes have the potential to cause cognitive impairment. Therefore our aim was to explore the short- and long-term cognitive effects of different dosing schedules of the taxane docetaxel (DTX) on laboratory rodents.
Main Methods:
Healthy male hooded Wistar rats were treated with DTX (6 mg/kg, 10mg/kg) or physiological saline (control), once a week for 3 weeks (Experiment 1) or once only (10mg/kg; Experiment 2). Cognitive function was assessed using the novel object recognition (NOR) task and spatial water maze (WM) task 1 to 3 weeks after treatment and again 4 months after treatment.
Key Findings:
Shortly after DTX treatment, rats perform poorly on NOR regardless of treatment regimen. Treatment with a single injection of 10mg/kg DTX does not appear to induce sustained deficits in object recognition or peripheral neuropathy.
Significance:
Overall these findings show that treatment with the taxane DTX in the absence of cancer and other anti-cancer treatments causes cognitive impairment in healthy rodents.
