An age related position reversal impairment in the rat

Abstract

Seventeen-day-old and 38-day-old rats were compared on position habit reversal. 5s were drawn from the same litters and assigned randomly to either the 17-daY-<lld or the 38-daY-<lld test condition. The 17-day-old and the 38-day-old groups were matched on position habit acquisition. The 17-daY-<lld group was significantly poorer on position habit reversal (p < .01). Spontaneous alternation levels in the two groups were also compared. Both grou~ exhibited chance levels of alternation (X = 57m . The litter mothers (N = 4) alternated significantly above chance (X = 83'7c), bu' were similar to their 38-day-old offspring on position habit reversal. The poor reversal performance of the 17-day-old group is consistent with the hypothesis that hippocampal integrity in the rat develops at approximately 30 days of age.

Age-related differences in rats’ spontaneous alternation

“…The unsystematic pattern of goal-arm selections among 15-day-olds suggests that ontongenetic variation in the utilization of stimuli may underlie developmental shifts in spontaneous alternation, Altman, Brunner, and Bayer (1973) have suggested that the 2-or 3-week-old domestic rat is behaviorally similar to the hippocampectornized adult of the species. Further, maturation rates of cells at the dentate gyrus and the development of cholinergic control over behavior are consistent with this brain-development hypothesis (Campbell, Lytle, & Fibiger, 1969;Douglas, 1972).This particular behavioral syndrome, typical of the young rat, includes: (a) elevated and persistent motor activity (Bronstein, Neiman, Wolkoff, & Levine, 1974;Campbell et al, 1969;Feigley, Parsons, Hamilton, & Spear, 1972), (b) considerable difficulty in the acquisition of a passive-avoidance task to a footshock US (e.g., Ricco & Marazzo, 1972), (c) impaired position-habit reversal (Harley & Moody, 1973), and (d) low levels of spontaneous alternation (Douglas, Peterson, & Douglas, 1973;Kirkby, 1967). The present paper describes attempts to replicate and to further understand the age-related differences in spontaneous alternation.…”

“…This particular behavioral syndrome, typical of the young rat, includes: (a) elevated and persistent motor activity (Bronstein, Neiman, Wolkoff, & Levine, 1974;Campbell et al, 1969;Feigley, Parsons, Hamilton, & Spear, 1972), (b) considerable difficulty in the acquisition of a passive-avoidance task to a footshock US (e.g., Ricco & Marazzo, 1972), (c) impaired position-habit reversal (Harley & Moody, 1973), and (d) low levels of spontaneous alternation (Douglas, Peterson, & Douglas, 1973;Kirkby, 1967). The present paper describes attempts to replicate and to further understand the age-related differences in spontaneous alternation.…”

Ontogeny of behavioral arousal in rats: Effect of maternal and sibling presence.

“…The young of most altricial species are thought to pass through periods of development in which they are more active and impulsive than their more quiescent adult counterparts. Play and exploratory behavior are generally more prevalent in young than in older animals (Welker, 1971), and by several criteria young animals have difficulty withholding active responses (Riccio & Marazzo, 1972;Riceio, Rohrbaugh, & Hodges, 1968) or in shifting from one response set to another (Harley & Moody, 1973;Kirkby, 1967). Furthermore, a number of studies have demonstrated that young animals are slow or even fail to habituate both to phasic stimulation and to more general environmental changes (Bronstein, Neiman, Wolkoff, & Levine, 1974;Feigley, Parsons, Hamilton, & Spear, 1972).…”