Search research articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 17, 2025

T-maze Forced Alternation and Left-right Discrimination Tasks for Assessing Working and Reference Memory in Mice

T-maze Forced Alternation and Left-right Discrimination Tasks for Assessing Working and Reference Memory in Mice

Published on: February 26, 2012

Memory capacity and prioritization in female mice.

Qinbo Qiao¹, Caroline Mairlot¹, Daniel Bendor²

¹Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience (IBN), University College London (UCL), London, WC1H 0AP, UK.

Scientific Reports

|August 28, 2023

Summary

The brain prioritizes recent, salient memories for storage, akin to medical triage. A new task helps measure this memory capacity and prioritization in mice.

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

Awake replay: off the clock but on the job.

Trends in neurosciences·2025

Same author

An axonal brake on striatal dopamine output by cholinergic interneurons.

Nature neuroscience·2025

Same author

Replaying off the beaten path.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2025

Same author

Evaluating hippocampal replay without a ground truth.

eLife·2024

Same author

Courtship behaviour reveals temporal regularity is a critical social cue in mouse communication.

eLife·2023

Same author

The role of experience in prioritizing hippocampal replay.

Nature communications·2023

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

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science

Background:

The brain's memory capacity is finite, necessitating a selection process for what to remember and forget.
This process is analogous to medical triage, where salient memories are prioritized for consolidation.
Existing rodent models for memory consolidation often do not challenge the animal's full memory capacity.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and validate a novel behavioral task to measure memory capacity and prioritization.
To investigate how the brain selects memories for consolidation when faced with exceeding capacity.

Main Methods:

Introduction of a serial novel object recognition task.
Testing and validation of the task using female mice.
The task is designed to exceed the typical memory capacity of the subjects.

More Related Videos

Novel Object Recognition Test for the Investigation of Learning and Memory in Mice

Novel Object Recognition Test for the Investigation of Learning and Memory in Mice

Published on: August 30, 2017

Analyzing Spatial Learning and Prosocial Behavior in Mice Using the Barnes Maze and Damsel-in-Distress Paradigms

Analyzing Spatial Learning and Prosocial Behavior in Mice Using the Barnes Maze and Damsel-in-Distress Paradigms

Published on: November 17, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 17, 2025

T-maze Forced Alternation and Left-right Discrimination Tasks for Assessing Working and Reference Memory in Mice

T-maze Forced Alternation and Left-right Discrimination Tasks for Assessing Working and Reference Memory in Mice

Published on: February 26, 2012

Novel Object Recognition Test for the Investigation of Learning and Memory in Mice

Novel Object Recognition Test for the Investigation of Learning and Memory in Mice

Published on: August 30, 2017

Analyzing Spatial Learning and Prosocial Behavior in Mice Using the Barnes Maze and Damsel-in-Distress Paradigms

Analyzing Spatial Learning and Prosocial Behavior in Mice Using the Barnes Maze and Damsel-in-Distress Paradigms

Published on: November 17, 2018

Main Results:

The developed task successfully measures memory capacity and prioritization.
The study provides a new tool for investigating memory selection processes in rodents.
Validation was performed using female mice, demonstrating task efficacy.

Conclusions:

The novel serial novel object recognition task is effective for assessing memory capacity and prioritization.
This task enables research into the mechanisms of memory selection and forgetting.
The findings contribute to understanding how the brain manages its finite memory resources.