Measuring discrimination- and reversal learning in mouse models within 4 days and without prior food deprivation.

ABSTRACT: Many neurological and psychiatric disorders are characterized by deficits in cognitive flexibility. Modeling cognitive flexibility in mice enables the investigation of mechanisms underlying these deficits. The majority of currently available behavioral tests targeting this cognitive domain are reversal learning tasks that require scheduled food restriction, extended training periods and labor-intensive, and stress-inducing animal handling. Here, we describe a novel 4-day (4-d) continuously running task measuring discrimination- and reversal learning in an automated home cage (CognitionWall DL/RL task) that largely eliminates these limitations. In this task, mice can earn unlimited number of food rewards by passing through the correct hole of the three-holed CognitionWall. To assess the val

SUBMITTER: Remmelink E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5066605 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature