Bonsignore Luca T, Chiarotti Flavia, Alleva Enrico, Cirulli Francesca
Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Rome, Italy.
Anim Cogn. 2008 Jul;11(3):557-62. doi: 10.1007/s10071-008-0143-6. Epub 2008 Feb 12.
In this study we tested the hypothesis that fear might facilitate learning when experienced contextually to the task. To this purpose, learning and memory performance of CD-1 mice in a Morris Water Maze (MWM) was assessed in the presence of a live predator (rat). Results indicate that a live predator induced specific predatory-avoidance responses, such as diving behavior and thigmotaxis. The rat-exposed group showed the most adaptive strategy, balancing anti-predator behavior and escape responses, while the rat pre-exposed group showed impairment in the initial phases of the acquisition. The probe trial revealed distinct swimming patterns but equal memory abilities in the different groups. Overall, this procedure represents a novel and easy test to assess the effects of stressful stimuli, contextually to spatial learning and memory performance, in mice.
在本研究中，我们检验了这样一个假设：当恐惧与任务在情境中同时出现时，它可能会促进学习。为此，在有活体捕食者（大鼠）存在的情况下，评估了CD-1小鼠在莫里斯水迷宫（MWM）中的学习和记忆表现。结果表明，活体捕食者引发了特定的捕食回避反应，如潜水行为和趋触性。接触大鼠的组表现出最具适应性的策略，平衡了反捕食行为和逃避反应，而预先接触大鼠的组在习得的初始阶段表现出损伤。探针试验揭示了不同组之间独特的游泳模式，但记忆能力相当。总体而言，该程序是一种新颖且简便的测试方法，用于评估应激刺激对小鼠空间学习和记忆表现的影响。
