Inheritance of Spatial Learning Ability in Inbred Mice: A Classical Genetic Analysis

The inheritance of spatial learning ability in inbred mice was examined by performance of a classical genetic cross between the 2 inbred strains C57BL/6lbg and DBA/2lsbg. The inbreds were crossed to produce the 1st filial generation (F 1 ) hybrids. F 1 mice were bred to each other and were backcross...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral neuroscience 1989-12, Vol.103 (6), p.1251-1258
Main Authors: Upchurch, Margaret, Wehner, Jeanne M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal
Animal behavior
Animals
Breeding of animals
Crosses, Genetic
Discrimination Learning
Female
Genetics
Genotypes
Hippocampus - physiology
Learning Ability
Male
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL - genetics
Mice, Inbred DBA - genetics
Nerve Fibers - physiology
Orientation - physiology
Phenotype
Problem Solving - physiology
Rats
Reaction Time - physiology
Rodents
Spatial Ability
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Summary:The inheritance of spatial learning ability in inbred mice was examined by performance of a classical genetic cross between the 2 inbred strains C57BL/6lbg and DBA/2lsbg. The inbreds were crossed to produce the 1st filial generation (F 1 ) hybrids. F 1 mice were bred to each other and were backcrossed to the parental strains to produce 3 hybrid generations with recombinant genotypes. The animals were tested for spatial learning ability in the Morris water task. All hybrid generations showed greater spatial learning ability than the inbreds, with F 1 hybrids showing the greatest degree of spatial learning. The inheritance pattern for spatial learning. differed between male and female mice, with males showing a type of inheritance in which dominant genes made the major contribution to the expression of the behavior. Females showed equal contributions of dominance deviation and additive genetic effects. The results are discussed in terms of fitness value to the animals.
ISSN:0735-7044
1939-0084
DOI:10.1037/0735-7044.103.6.1251