Spatial recognition test: A novel cognition task for assessing topographical memory in mice

• Published in: Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford) 2017-06, Vol.31 (6), p.653-659
• Main Authors: Havolli, Enes, Hill, Mark DW, Godley, Annie, Goetghebeur, Pascal JD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alzheimer Disease - drug therapy; Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology; Alzheimer's disease; Anatomy; Animal diseases; Animal models; Animals; Aversion learning; Central nervous system; Cognition - drug effects; Cognition - physiology; Cognitive ability; Cognitive tasks; Disease Models, Animal; Donepezil; Etiracetam; Indans - pharmacology; Male; Maze Learning - drug effects; Maze Learning - physiology; Memantine; Memantine - pharmacology; Memory; Memory - drug effects; Memory - physiology; Memory Disorders - drug therapy; Memory Disorders - physiopathology; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Transgenic; Nervous system; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurological diseases; Nootropic Agents - pharmacology; Piperidines - pharmacology; Piracetam - analogs & derivatives; Piracetam - pharmacology; Recognition (Psychology) - physiology; Rodents; Serial learning; Spatial analysis; Spatial memory; Transgenic animals
• ISSN: 0269-8811; 1461-7285
• DOI: 10.1177/0269881117704987

Dysfunction in topographical memory is a core feature of several neurological disorders. There is a large unmet medical need to address learning and memory deficits as a whole in central nervous system disease. There are considerable efforts to identify pro-cognitive compounds but current methods are either lengthy or labour intensive. Our test used a two chamber apparatus and is based on the preference of rodents to explore novel environments. It was used firstly to assess topographical memory in mice at different retention intervals (RI) and secondly to investigate the effect of three drugs reported to be beneficial for cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease, namely: donepezil, memantine and levetiracetam. Animals show good memory performance at all RIs tested under four hours. At the four-hour RI, animals show a significantly poorer memory performance which can be rescued using donepezil, memantine and levetiracetam. Using this test we established and validated a spatial recognition paradigm to address topographical memory in mice by showing a decremental time-induced forgetting response and reversing this decrease in performance using pharmacological tools. The spatial recognition test differs from more commonly used visuospatial laboratory tests in both throughput capability and potentially neuroanatomical substrate. This test has the potential to be used to assess cognitive performance in transgenic animals, disease models and to screen putative cognitive enhancers or depressors.