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Updated: Dec 6, 2025
A Within-Subject Experimental Design using an Object Location Task in Rats
Published on: May 6, 2021
Rats recognize spatial and temporal attributes in a new object recognition memory task with multiple trials
Ana Paula de Castro Araujo1, Jalles Dantas de Lucena2, Davi Carvalho Drieskens3
1Memory and Cognition Studies Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil.
Background:
Episodic-like memory tasks based on the spontaneous exploration of objects are commonly applied in one-trial protocols. However, multiple-trial designs are known to reduce animal numbers and data variance, providing faster accumulation of data.
New Method:
In this study, we devised a new object recognition memory task for rats that carry out multiple trials per session. We developed three types of continual trial tasks: a longer protocol, a shorter protocol, and a protocol in which the experimental session was divided into two days.
Results:
In our design, rats expressed temporal and spatial memory, but not what-where-when content integration. We found that shorter protocols were more efficient to evaluate memory capabilities.
Comparison With Existing Methods:
To the best of our knowledge, it is the first object recognition task with multiple trials that simultaneously assess the temporal and spatial aspects of episodic-like memory.
Conclusions:
We suggest that our task is suitable for the simultaneous measurements of brain functions related to spatial and temporal attributes in rats.
