Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 17, 2026
Novel Object Recognition and Object Location Behavioral Testing in Mice on a Budget
Published on: November 20, 2018
Touchscreen tasks in mice to demonstrate differences between hippocampal and striatal functions
David F Delotterie1, Chantal Mathis2, Jean-Christophe Cassel2
1Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Adaptatives, UMR 7364, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Faculté de Psychologie, Neuropôle Strasbourg, GDR CNRS 2905, 12 rue Goethe, F-67000 Strasbourg, France; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co KG, Dept. of CNS Diseases Research, Birkendorfer Strasse 65, D-88397 Biberach an der Riss, Germany.
Touchscreen tasks reveal that the dorsal striatum is crucial for learning in mice, while the hippocampus is vital for memory retrieval. This contrasts with humans, highlighting species-specific cognitive processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Animal Behavior
Background:
- Mammalian cognitive processes rely on distinct hippocampal and striatal regions, often studied using species-specific tasks.
- Translational research benefits from automated touchscreen methods for cross-species cognitive testing.
- Neural substrates underlying touchscreen tasks in humans and rodents remain incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether hippocampal and dorsal striatal lesions differentially affect performance in touchscreen and T-maze tasks in mice.
- To determine the role of the hippocampus in memory retrieval for touchscreen tasks after initial learning.
Main Methods:
- Mice underwent fiber-sparing lesions of the hippocampus or dorsal striatum before or after training.
- Behavioral assessments included two touchscreen tasks (dPAL, VMCL) and a T-maze alternation task.
- Lesion effects on task acquisition and memory retrieval were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Dorsal striatal lesions impaired performance across all tested tasks.
- Pre-training hippocampal lesions disrupted T-maze performance but spared touchscreen task acquisition.
- Post-training hippocampal lesions significantly impaired memory recall in the dPAL task.
Conclusions:
- Touchscreen assays are effective for studying brain structure functions in mice using lesion approaches.
- In mice, dorsal striatum integrity is essential for acquiring the dPAL task, unlike in humans where the hippocampus is critical.
- The hippocampus plays a role in memory retrieval rather than initial acquisition of the dPAL task in mice.
