An association between granule cell density in the dentate gyrus and two-way avoidance conditioning in the house mouse.

Mice with genetically associated variations in the number and density of granule cells in the dentate gyrus were tested for open-field activity, spatial maze learning, and two-way avoidance conditioning. The number of granule cells was not associated with any behavior measured. Only avoidance conditioning was related to granule cell density, which had a negative correlation with performance on the shuttle box task. This result was replicated in two genetically different stocks of mice. Density of the more caudal portion of the dentate was associated with early stages of avoidance learning, whereas the more rostral portion was associated with later stages. The results are discussed in relation to theories of functional dissociation within the hippocampus.