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Bdnf In The Dentate Gyrus Is Required For Consolidation Of "Pattern-Separated" Memories., Pedro Bekinschtein, Brianne A Kent, Charlotte A Oomen, Gregory D Clemenson, Fred H Gage, Lisa M Saksida, Timothy J Bussey Nov 2013

Bdnf In The Dentate Gyrus Is Required For Consolidation Of "Pattern-Separated" Memories., Pedro Bekinschtein, Brianne A Kent, Charlotte A Oomen, Gregory D Clemenson, Fred H Gage, Lisa M Saksida, Timothy J Bussey

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Successful memory involves not only remembering information over time, but also keeping memories distinct and less confusable. The computational process for making representations for similar input patterns more distinct from each other has been referred to as "pattern separation." In this work, we developed a set of behavioral conditions that allowed us to manipulate the load for pattern separation at different stages of memory. Thus, we provide experimental evidence that a brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-dependent pattern separation process occurs during the encoding/storage/consolidation, but not the retrieval stage of memory processing. We also found that a spontaneous increase in BDNF in …


The Touchscreen Operant Platform For Assessing Executive Function In Rats And Mice., Adam C Mar, Alexa E Horner, Simon R O Nilsson, Johan Alsiö, Brianne A Kent, Chi Hun Kim, Andrew Holmes, Lisa M Saksida, Timothy J Bussey Oct 2013

The Touchscreen Operant Platform For Assessing Executive Function In Rats And Mice., Adam C Mar, Alexa E Horner, Simon R O Nilsson, Johan Alsiö, Brianne A Kent, Chi Hun Kim, Andrew Holmes, Lisa M Saksida, Timothy J Bussey

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

This protocol details a subset of assays developed within the touchscreen platform to measure various aspects of executive function in rodents. Three main procedures are included: extinction, measuring the rate and extent of curtailing a response that was previously, but is no longer, associated with reward; reversal learning, measuring the rate and extent of switching a response toward a visual stimulus that was previously not, but has become, associated with reward (and away from a visual stimulus that was previously, but is no longer, rewarded); and the 5-choice serial reaction time (5-CSRT) task, gauging the ability to selectively detect and …


The Touchscreen Operant Platform For Testing Working Memory And Pattern Separation In Rats And Mice., Charlotte A Oomen, Martha Hvoslef-Eide, Christopher J Heath, Adam C Mar, Alexa E Horner, Timothy J Bussey, Lisa M Saksida Oct 2013

The Touchscreen Operant Platform For Testing Working Memory And Pattern Separation In Rats And Mice., Charlotte A Oomen, Martha Hvoslef-Eide, Christopher J Heath, Adam C Mar, Alexa E Horner, Timothy J Bussey, Lisa M Saksida

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The automated touchscreen operant chamber for rats and mice allows for the assessment of multiple cognitive domains within the same testing environment. This protocol presents the location discrimination (LD) task and the trial-unique delayed nonmatching-to-location (TUNL) task, which both assess memory for location. During these tasks, animals are trained to a predefined criterion during ∼20-40 daily sessions. In LD sessions, touching the same location on the screen is rewarded on consecutive trials, followed by a reversal of location-reward contingencies. TUNL, a working memory task, requires animals to 'nonmatch' to a sample location after a delay. In both the LD and …


The Touchscreen Operant Platform For Testing Learning And Memory In Rats And Mice., Alexa E Horner, Christopher J Heath, Martha Hvoslef-Eide, Brianne A Kent, Chi Hun Kim, Simon R O Nilsson, Johan Alsiö, Charlotte A Oomen, Andrew Holmes, Lisa M Saksida, Timothy J Bussey Oct 2013

The Touchscreen Operant Platform For Testing Learning And Memory In Rats And Mice., Alexa E Horner, Christopher J Heath, Martha Hvoslef-Eide, Brianne A Kent, Chi Hun Kim, Simon R O Nilsson, Johan Alsiö, Charlotte A Oomen, Andrew Holmes, Lisa M Saksida, Timothy J Bussey

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

An increasingly popular method of assessing cognitive functions in rodents is the automated touchscreen platform, on which a number of different cognitive tests can be run in a manner very similar to touchscreen methods currently used to test human subjects. This methodology is low stress (using appetitive rather than aversive reinforcement), has high translational potential and lends itself to a high degree of standardization and throughput. Applications include the study of cognition in rodent models of psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, Huntington's disease, frontotemporal dementia), as well as the characterization of the role of select brain regions, …


Assessing The Generality Of A Bout Analysis In The Description Of Operant Behavior, J. Adam Bennett Aug 2013

Assessing The Generality Of A Bout Analysis In The Description Of Operant Behavior, J. Adam Bennett

Dissertations

Operant psychologists typically use response rate as a primary measure of behavior. Although response rate has proven a useful dependent measure resulting in the identification of many important behavioral regularities, many researchers have argued that the measure has significant limitations. Primarily, response rate treats all responses in the measured response class as functionally equivalent and distributed uniformly across time. This conceptualization of behavior is useful as long as all responses are affected similarly by different experimental manipulations. Research has shown, however, that certain manipulations differentially affect responses with relatively short or long interresponse times. This has led to a new …


Information Seeking In Rats On The Radial Maze, Chelsea R. Kirk Jul 2013

Information Seeking In Rats On The Radial Maze, Chelsea R. Kirk

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Metacognition is awareness of what one does and does not know. Students given a choice between studying material they have learned well and material they have learned poorly prefer to study the less mastered material (Metcalfe, 2009). Recent studies suggest that primates also know about the state of their own knowledge and will seek unknown information to complete a task (Call & Carpenter, 2001; Hampton et al., 2004). Two experimental paradigms can be used to test for the presence of metacognition within a species: uncertainty tasks and information seeking tasks. Uncertainty tasks ask animals to judge their confidence in the …


Rats Acquire Stronger Preference For Flavors Consumed Towards The End Of A High-Fat Meal, Kevin P. Myers Feb 2013

Rats Acquire Stronger Preference For Flavors Consumed Towards The End Of A High-Fat Meal, Kevin P. Myers

Faculty Journal Articles

Rats learn to prefer flavors associated with postingestive effects of nutrients. The physiological signals underlying this postingestive reward are unknown. We have previously shown that rats readily learn to prefer a flavor that was consumed early in a multi-flavored meal when glucose is infused intragastrically (IG), suggesting rapid postingestive reward onset. The present experiments investigate the timing of postingestive fat reward, by providing distinctive flavors in the first and second halves of meals accompanied by IG fat infusion. Learning stronger preference for the earlier or later flavor would indicate when the rewarding postingestive effects are sensed. Rats consumed sweetened, calorically-dilute …


Rats Acquire Stronger Preference For Flavors Consumed Towards The End Of A High-Fat Meal, Kevin P. Myers Jan 2013

Rats Acquire Stronger Preference For Flavors Consumed Towards The End Of A High-Fat Meal, Kevin P. Myers

Faculty Journal Articles

Rats learn to prefer flavors associated with postingestive effects of nutrients. The physiological signals underlying this postingestive reward are unknown. We have previously shown that rats readily learn to prefer a flavor that was consumed early in a multi-flavored meal when glucose is infused intragastrically (IG), suggesting rapid postingestive reward onset. The present experiments investigate the timing of postingestive fat reward, by providing distinctive flavors in the first and second halves of meals accompanied by IG fat infusion. Learning stronger preference for the earlier or later flavor would indicate when the rewarding postingestive effects are sensed. Rats consumed sweetened, calorically-dilute …