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Novel Object Recognition and Object Location Behavioral Testing in Mice on a Budget
Published on: November 20, 2018
Determinants of novel object and location recognition during development
S A Jablonski1, W B Schreiber, S R Westbrook
1Psychology Department, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
Behavioural Brain Research
|August 13, 2013
Summary
Young rats can recognize novel objects and locations by postnatal day 21. NMDA receptor function is crucial for object location memory, but neonatal alcohol exposure does not impair performance in these tasks.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Animal Behavior
Background:
- Novel Object Recognition (OR) and Object Location (OL) tasks assess memory in rats.
- Previous studies on spatial memory ontogeny in rats have yielded conflicting results.
- Hippocampal lesions impair OL but not OR, suggesting a role for spatial memory in OL.
Purpose of the Study:
- Characterize OR and OL tasks in developing rats (postnatal days 21, 26, 31).
- Investigate the role of NMDA receptor systems in OR and OL performance.
- Examine the impact of neonatal alcohol exposure on OR and OL tasks.
Main Methods:
- Behavioral testing of rats aged PD21, PD26, and PD31 in OR and OL paradigms.
- Pharmacological manipulation of NMDA receptor systems during memory acquisition.
- Assessment of OR and OL performance in rats exposed to alcohol neonatally.
Main Results:
- Rats at PD21 demonstrate proficiency in both OR and OL tasks, with higher novelty preference in OR.
- NMDA receptor activity is essential for OL memory acquisition but not OR in juvenile rats.
- Neonatal alcohol exposure did not significantly affect performance in either the OR or OL tasks.
Conclusions:
- Developing rats acquire incidental spatial learning abilities by postnatal day 21.
- NMDA receptor-dependent mechanisms are critical for the development of object location memory.
- Neonatal alcohol exposure, under these conditions, does not appear to disrupt early spatial and object recognition memory development.
Keywords:
BACCPFEFASDsFetal alcohol spectrum disorderGDHippocampusNMDA ReceptorNMDA-receptorNMDArOLOROiPOntogenyPDSISpatial cognitionblood alcohol concentrationcontext preexposure facilitation effectfetal alcohol spectrum disordersgestational dayobject location taskobject recognition taskobject-in-place taskpostnatal daysham intubated
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