Laboratory of Cognitive Pharmacology, Gedeon Richter Plc., Gyömrői út 19-21, Budapest, 1103, Hungary.
Neurochem Res. 2017 Dec;42(12):3597-3602. doi: 10.1007/s11064-017-2408-4. Epub 2017 Oct 11.
Automated homecage monitoring systems are now widely recognized and used tools in cognitive neuroscience. However, few of these studies cover pharmacological interventions. Scopolamine, an anticholinergic memory disrupting agent is frequently used to study learning behavior. We studied the impact of scopolamine treatment in a relevant dose-range on activity, drinking behavior and reversal learning of C57BL/DJ mice in a homecage-like, social environment, using the IntelliCage. Naïve mice were first habituated to the IntelliCage, where they learned to nosepoke in any of the four corners in order to gain access to the water reward. Visits, nosepokes, lick numbers and durations were recorded. Mice were then trained to distinguish between a rewarded correct corner and punished, incorrect corners. Later, in the reversal learning phase, the assigned correct corner was rotated clockwise every 24 h. Upon s.c. administration of scopolamine general activity represented by visit and nosepoke numbers increased, but their durations were shorter. Surprisingly, general activity and lick behavior were drastically altered. Scopolamine also significantly reduced the ability to perform a reversal learning task. We not only found significant decline in reversal learning due to scopolamine treatment, but studied the method specific underlying behaviors: the general activity and lick behavior as well.
自动化笼内监测系统现在已被广泛认可并应用于认知神经科学领域。然而，这些研究中很少涉及药理学干预。东莨菪碱是一种抗胆碱能记忆破坏剂，常用于研究学习行为。我们使用 IntelliCage 在类似于家庭环境的社交环境中，研究了相关剂量范围内的东莨菪碱处理对 C57BL/DJ 小鼠活动、饮水行为和反转学习的影响。首先，将未处理的小鼠适应 IntelliCage，让它们学会在四个角落中的任何一个角落进行鼻触，以获得水奖励。记录访问次数、鼻触次数、舔次数和舔时间。然后，将小鼠训练成区分有奖励的正确角落和有惩罚的错误角落。在反转学习阶段，每天将指定的正确角落顺时针旋转 24 小时。皮下注射东莨菪碱后，总活动（以访问和鼻触次数表示）增加，但持续时间更短。令人惊讶的是，一般活动和舔行为也发生了剧烈的变化。东莨菪碱还显著降低了执行反转学习任务的能力。我们不仅发现由于东莨菪碱处理导致反转学习能力显著下降，还研究了该方法特定的潜在行为：一般活动和舔行为。
