Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 24, 2025

Trace Fear Conditioning in Mice

Trace Fear Conditioning in Mice

Published on: March 20, 2014

Trace Fear Conditioning: Procedure for Assessing Complex Hippocampal Function in Mice.

Vijendra Sharma¹, Noah Cohen¹, Rapita Sood¹

¹Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

|August 16, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Use of AI agents to assess preoperative frailty in cancer patients.

npj digital surgery·2026

Same author

The Jury Remains Out: The Pulmonary Metastasectomy in Colorectal Cancer (PulMiCC) Study Highlights the Need for Stringent Trials Investigating the Efficacy of Surgical Intervention.

Annals of surgical oncology·2026

Same author

Quinone reductase 2 <i>reads</i> H3 serotonylation to support neuronal maturation.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Suppression of neuronal eEF2K alleviates cognitive deficits and apathy-like behavior in APP/PS1 AD model mice.

Research square·2026

Same author

Humoral IgG1 responses to tumor antigens underpin clinical outcomes in immune checkpoint blockade.

Nature medicine·2026

Same author

Overactive Neuronal eEF2K/eEF2 signaling is associated with cognitive impairment and apathy-like behavior.

Molecular psychiatry·2025

This study introduces a trace fear conditioning protocol to assess hippocampal function in mice. The method precisely detects hippocampal-dependent learning and memory after genetic or pharmacological interventions.

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Behavioral Neuroscience
Memory Research

Background:

The hippocampus plays a critical role in learning and memory.
Trace fear conditioning is a valuable paradigm for studying hippocampal function.
Existing methods may require refinement for precise assessment of hippocampal-dependent memory.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and validate a trace fear conditioning protocol for measuring hippocampal function in mice.
To assess hippocampal-dependent learning and memory using a defined trace interval.
To provide a reliable method for evaluating the effects of genetic and pharmacological manipulations on hippocampal function.

Main Methods:

Mice underwent trace fear conditioning with five pairings of a neutral tone (conditioned stimulus) and an aversive shock (unconditioned stimulus).

Keywords:

Contextual memory Hippocampus function Learning and memory deficits Memory enhancement Trace fear conditioning (TFC)

More Related Videos

Contextual and Cued Fear Conditioning Test Using a Video Analyzing System in Mice

Contextual and Cued Fear Conditioning Test Using a Video Analyzing System in Mice

Published on: March 1, 2014

Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Kindling Mouse Model

Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Kindling Mouse Model

Published on: June 12, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Oct 24, 2025

Trace Fear Conditioning in Mice

Trace Fear Conditioning in Mice

Published on: March 20, 2014

Contextual and Cued Fear Conditioning Test Using a Video Analyzing System in Mice

Contextual and Cued Fear Conditioning Test Using a Video Analyzing System in Mice

Published on: March 1, 2014

Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Kindling Mouse Model

Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Kindling Mouse Model

Published on: June 12, 2018

A 20-second trace interval was implemented between the tone and the shock.

Freezing behavior was measured 24 hours and 48 hours post-conditioning in distinct contexts to assess contextual and cued memory, respectively.

Main Results:

The protocol successfully induced fear conditioning in mice.
Freezing behavior differed between contexts, indicating memory formation.
The method is sensitive to hippocampal function, as evidenced by its potential for detecting effects of interventions.

Conclusions:

The developed trace fear conditioning protocol is effective for evaluating hippocampal-dependent learning and memory in mice.
This method offers a precise tool for investigating the neural mechanisms of memory formation and the impact of various manipulations on the hippocampus.
The protocol's sensitivity makes it suitable for preclinical research in neuroscience and pharmacology.