Sex-specific effects of Cacna1c haploinsufficiency on object recognition, spatial memory, and reversal learning capabilities in rats
| Autor: | Theresa M. Kisko, Markus Wöhr, Débora Dalla Vecchia, Rainer K.W. Schwarting, Moria D. Braun, Roberto Andreatini |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Male
0301 basic medicine Calcium Channels L-Type Genotype Cognitive Neuroscience Spatial Learning Reversal Learning Experimental and Cognitive Psychology Haploinsufficiency Biology Rats Sprague-Dawley 03 medical and health sciences Behavioral Neuroscience 0302 clinical medicine Reward medicine Feature (machine learning) Animals Cognitive skill Bipolar disorder Set (psychology) Spatial Memory Sex Characteristics Behavior Animal Cognitive flexibility Recognition Psychology Cognition medicine.disease Disease Models Animal 030104 developmental biology Schizophrenia Female Neuroscience 030217 neurology & neurosurgery |
| Zdroj: | Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. 155:543-555 |
| ISSN: | 1074-7427 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.nlm.2018.05.012 |
| Popis: | The CACNA1C gene is strongly implicated in the etiology of multiple major neuropsychiatric disorders, such as bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia, with cognitive deficits being a common feature. It is unclear, however, by which mechanisms CACNA1C variants advance the risk of developing neuropsychiatric disorders. This study set out to investigate cognitive functioning in a newly developed genetic Cacna1c rat model. Specifically, spatial and reversal learning, as well as object recognition memory were assessed in heterozygous Cacna1c +/− rats and compared to wildtype Cacna1c +/+ littermate controls in both sexes. Our results show that both Cacna1c +/+ and Cacna1c +/− animals were able to learn the rewarded arm configuration of a radial maze over the course of seven days. Both groups also showed reversal learning patterns indicative of intact abilities. In females, genotype differences were evident in the initial spatial learning phase, with Cacna1c +/− females showing hypo-activity and fewer mixed errors. In males, a difference was found during probe trials for both learning phases, with Cacna1c +/− rats displaying better distinction between previously baited and non-baited arms; and regarding cognitive flexibility in favor of the Cacna1c +/+ animals. All experimental groups proved to be sensitive to reward magnitude and fully able to distinguish between novel and familiar objects in the novel object recognition task. Taken together, these results indicate that Cacna1c haploinsufficiency has a minor, but positive impact on (spatial) memory functions in rats. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|
Full Text from ScienceDirect