Visual-stimuli Four-arm Maze test to Assess Cognition and Vision in Mice

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Ophthalmology
• Animal Behavior

Background:

• Visual impairments, including loss of contrast sensitivity and color vision, are understudied in Alzheimer's disease (AD).
• Early detection of visual and cognitive deficits is crucial for understanding AD progression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel visual-stimuli four-arm maze (ViS4M) for assessing visual and cognitive functions in mice.
• To evaluate visual and cognitive impairments in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Main Methods:

• Developed and utilized a novel visual-stimuli four-arm maze (ViS4M) with controlled LED lighting and grayscale objects.
• Assessed locomotor and cognitive functions, specifically color and contrast vision, in wild-type (WT) and AD (APP_SWE/PS1_ΔE9) mice.
• Analyzed arm alternation patterns, transition sequences, and exploration pathways to identify behavioral differences.

Main Results:

• Wild-type mice demonstrated spontaneous arm alternation, utilizing both color and brightness cues.
• Alzheimer's disease (AD⁺) mice exhibited significant deficits in arm alternation in both color and contrast tests at an early age.
• Analysis revealed age- and AD-associated impairments in color discrimination and contrast sensitivity, with distinct exploration pathways observed in AD⁺ mice.

Conclusions:

• The ViS4M is a versatile tool for precisely identifying behavioral changes related to cognition, color, and contrast vision in mice.
• Early visual deficits in color and contrast perception are detectable in an AD mouse model, even before significant memory impairment.
• The ViS4M provides a reproducible method for profiling visual and cognitive impairments in neurological disease models.