Journal: Translational Psychiatry

Article Title: Cognitive behavioral markers of neurodevelopmental trajectories in rodents

doi: 10.1038/s41398-021-01662-7

Figure Lengend Snippet: In humans, early adolescence is ∼10–12 years of age, mid-late adolescence ∼14–16 years of age, and early adulthood ∼20–25 years of age. Aligning this, the behavior of mice at two adolescent ages (early 4.5 W, mid 6 W) and adulthood (12 W) was measured using drug-induced locomotor hyperactivity, prepulse inhibition, and a two-object simple paired associate learning (sPAL) touchscreen task which involved pretraining to acquire operant conditioning, sPAL training, and sPAL memory retention testing following a rest period.

Article Snippet: Pretraining and two-object sPAL training was conducted using mouse touchscreen operant chambers (Campden Instruments Ltd, UK).

Techniques: Inhibition

Journal: Translational Psychiatry

Article Title: Cognitive behavioral markers of neurodevelopmental trajectories in rodents

doi: 10.1038/s41398-021-01662-7

Figure Lengend Snippet: A Touchscreen pretraining for instrumental conditioning. Mice were allocated a maximum of 8 days for pretraining and progressed through Stages 1 and 2 within comparable numbers of sessions to criterion. Female mice at all three ages, but particularly early-adolescence (3.5 W), required more training on Stage 3 compared to age-matched male mice. Data are average number of sessions at each stage (see also Supplemental Table ). 4.5 W: n = 13 male, n = 11 female; 6 W: n = 13 male, n = 12 female; 12 W: n = 13 male, n = 12 female. B and C Visuospatial learning and memory in B female and C male mice on the two-object sPAL task, illustrating response accuracy (% correct) across 19 sessions. Data represent mean ± SEM. Gray dotted line indicates performance at the chance (50% accuracy). D and E Mixed-effects logistic regression analysis; Point estimates are shown with 95% CI (see Supplemental Table for complete statistics). Regression weights of key biological (age, sex) and task (e.g. session) variables (denoted in filled circles), and their interaction effects (denoted in italics text, open circles) on correct responding were estimated and expressed as odds ratios. An odds ratio >1 indicates an increased likelihood of correct responding, and <1 indicates a decreased likelihood of correct responding. For regression analyses, 12 W adult mice were used as the reference age thus the effect of age (e.g. 6, 4.5 W) reflects the performance of 6 or 4.5 W mice relative to adult mice. Similarly, female mice were used as the reference sex, thus the effect of sex (e.g. male) reflects the performance of male mice relative to female mice (4.5 W: n = 13 male, n = 11 female; 6 W: n = 13 male, n = 12 female; 12 W: n = 13 male, n = 12 female). D There were no significant differences due to sex, nor any sex × age interactions on sPAL response accuracy. Relative to 12 W adult mice, both 6 and 4.5 W adolescent mice showed a tendency for decreased accuracy, but only 4.5 W mice were significantly different. At both 6 and 4.5 W adolescent ages, male mice tended to show better accuracy than female mice ( 6 W × Sex (male) , 4.5 W × Sex (male) interaction effects), but this was not statistically significant. ** P < 0.01. E The effect of session was used as a proxy for the rate of task acquisition to examine sPAL learning trajectories. Mice at all three ages showed changes in their learning rate across sessions, indicating acquisition of sPAL (Session (12 W), Session (6 W), Session 4.5 W)). However, relative to the 12 W adult learning trajectory, both adolescent ages showed slower rates of improvements in response accuracy ( Session × 6 W , Session × 4.5 W interaction effects). ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001. F–G Cumulative number of trials (pseudorandom first-presentation trials and correction trials) completed across sessions by F female and G male mice. Data represent mean ± SEM. Male and female data visualized separated only for clarity. Two-way ANOVA on total trials completed showed no differences due to sex ( F (1, 67) = 0.18, P = 0.670), or any sex × age interaction ( F (2, 67) = 1.78, P = 0.177), but a significant main effect of age ( F (2, 67) = 3.97, P = 0.024), with Bonferroni’s multiple comparisons indicating 4.5 W mice completed significantly more trials relative to 12 W animals (P = 0.020).

Article Snippet: Pretraining and two-object sPAL training was conducted using mouse touchscreen operant chambers (Campden Instruments Ltd, UK).

Techniques:

Journal: Translational Psychiatry

Article Title: Cognitive behavioral markers of neurodevelopmental trajectories in rodents

doi: 10.1038/s41398-021-01662-7

Figure Lengend Snippet: To measure the motivation of mice to perform the two-object sPAL, we measured latencies to initiate the commencement of a trial (trial initiation latency) ( A , D , G ), approach the touchscreen (stimulus-approach latency) ( B , E , H ), and collect rewards after a correct response (reward collection latency) ( C , F , I ) in male and female mice across the three developmental age groups. A – F Data represent mean ± SEM. G–I Median regression; Point estimates are shown with 95% CI (4.5 W: n = 13 male, n = 11 female; 6 W: n = 13 male, n = 12 female; 12 W: n = 13 male, n = 12 female, see Supplemental Table for complete statistics). Regression weights of key variables and their interaction effects on latencies were estimated and expressed as odds ratios. An odds ratio >0 indicates an increased latency difference to perform that action, and <0 indicating a decreased latency difference. For regression analyses, 12 W adult mice were used as the reference age, thus effect of age (e.g. 6, 4.5 W) reflects the performance of 6 or 4.5 W mice relative to adult mice. Similarly, female mice were used as the reference sex, thus the effect of sex (e.g. male) reflects the performance of male mice relative to female mice. Relative to 12 W adult mice, both 6 and 4.5 W mice took significantly longer to G initiate trials and H approach the stimulus on the touchscreen, while only 4.5 W mice took longer to collect rewards ( I ). Interaction effects indicated that at 6 W, both male and female mice displayed similar latencies to initiate trials, approach the stimulus and collect rewards ( 6 W × Sex (male )). However, at 4.5 W, male mice tended to be faster than females at all three responses ( 4.5 W × Sex (male )) ( G , H , I ) with stimulus-approach latency being significantly different ( H ). These data indicate the tendency for early-adolescent mice in comparison to mid-adolescent and adults to have longer reaction times to perform these actions appears to be more pronounced in early adolescent female mice over early adolescent male mice. * P < 0.05, *** P < 0.001. J–L Linear regression between the average % accuracy pooled from mice between the steepest learning (sessions 5–15), and the average values of initiation latency, stimulus-approach latency and reward collection latency showed a significant negative correlation between the response accuracy and all three latencies. See Supplemental Table for complete statistics. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01 (4.5 W: n = 13 male, n = 11 female; 6 W: n = 13 male, n = 12 female; 12 W: n = 13 male, n = 12 female).

Article Snippet: Pretraining and two-object sPAL training was conducted using mouse touchscreen operant chambers (Campden Instruments Ltd, UK).

Techniques: Comparison

Journal: eNeuro

Article Title: The Granular Retrosplenial Cortex Is Necessary in Male Rats for Object-Location Associative Learning and Memory, But Not Spatial Working Memory or Visual Discrimination and Reversal, in the Touchscreen Operant Chamber

doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0120-24.2024

Figure Lengend Snippet: Summary of touchscreen pretraining

Article Snippet: All behavioral experiments were carried out in 12 rat touchscreen operant boxes (Campden Instruments; ; ; ).

Techniques: