Maintained directional navigation across environments in the Morris water task is dependent on vestibular cues.

Clark, Benjamin J.; Hong, Nancy S.; Bettenson, Dennis; Woolford, Jamie; Horwood, Lewis; McDonald, Robert J.

doi:10.1037/xan0000066

Cited by 12 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…The purpose of the hidden platform variant of the Morris water task is to assess animal navigation to a precise spatial location based on multiple allocentric spatial cues particularly those associated with the features of the distal environment (Clark et al, 2015; Harker and Whishaw, 2002; Morris, 1984; Vorhees and Williams, 2014). Rats were given 4 trials per day for 5 consecutive days.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From the video records, behavioral coders blind to experimental group manually tracked each animal’s location in the pool. Tracking and analysis was performed for each trial of the hidden platform, no-platform probe, and cued platform experiments (Clark et al, 2015; Pentkowski et al, 2018). First, raw video files were converted to JPEG images in a Linux bash shell using FFMPEG (https://www.ffmpeg.org).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Progressive impairment of directional and spatially precise trajectories by TgF344-AD Rats in the Morris Water Task

Berkowitz

Harvey

Drake

et al. 2018

Preprint

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6 7 8 Abstract 24Spatial navigation is impaired in early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 25 may be a defining behavioral marker of preclinical AD. Nevertheless, limitations of 26 diagnostic criteria for AD and within animal models of AD make characterization of 27 preclinical AD difficult. A new rat model (TgF344-AD) of AD overcomes many of these 28 limitations, though spatial navigation has not been comprehensively assessed. Using the 29 hidden and cued platform variants of the Morris water task, a longitudinal assessment of 30 spatial navigation was conducted on TgF344-AD (n=16) and Fischer 344 (n=12) male 31 and female rats at three age ranges: 4 to 5 months, 7 to 8, and 10 to 11 months of age. 32TgF344-AD rats exhibited largely intact navigation at 4-5 and 7-8 months of age, with 33 deficits in the hidden platform task emerging at 10-11 months of age. In general, TgF344-34 AD rats displayed less accurate swim trajectories to the platform and a wider search area 35 around the platform region compared to wildtype rats. Impaired navigation occurred in 36 the absence of deficits in acquiring the procedural task demands or navigation to the cued 37 platform location. Together, the results indicate that TgF344-AD rats exhibit comparable 38 deficits to those found in individuals in the early stages of AD. 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in the United 48 States and is characterized by progressive cognitive decline and neurodegeneration 49 (Association and others, 2017). AD pathology, marked by amyloid plaques and 50 neurofibrillary tangles that accumulate throughout the limbic system and hippocampus, is 51 predicted to initiate up to 20 years prior to the onset of behavioral symptoms (Gao et al., 52 1998; Mielke et al., 2014). Although the long preclinical period poses a significant 53 challenge to early diagnosis of AD (Dubois et al., 2016; Graham et al., 2017) subtle 54 changes in memory, as observed in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), can 55 indicate an increased risk of progressing to dementia (Petersen, 2004; Winblad et al., 56 2004). However, because not all cases of aMCI progress to AD, there is a growing need 57 for sensitive behavioral assessments for AD diagnosis. 58Mounting evidence suggests that spatial disorientation, sometimes referred to as 59 wandering, are among the earliest memory complaints in AD (Bianchini et al., 2014; Bird 60 et al., 2010; Chan et al., 2016; Guariglia and Nitrini, 2009; Pai and Jacobs, 2004; Yew et 61 al., 2013). In general, disorientation is characterized as deficient localization of hidden 62 goals (Hort et al., 2007), a loss of direction sense (Cushman et al., 2008; deIpolyi et al., 63 2007; Monacelli et al., 2003; Tu et al., 2015), or an impairment in correctly identifying 64 familiar spatial scenes after a small change in view-point (Bird et al., 2010; Chan et al., 65 2016). Deficits in establishing or utilizing map-like (allocentric) frameworks for 66 navigation ...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progressive impairment of directional and spatially precise trajectories by TgF344-AD Rats in the Morris Water Task

Berkowitz

Harvey

Drake

et al. 2018

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…In recent work, the ATN head direction cell activity has also been linked to the unique spatial firing patterns of place cells and grid cells in radially oriented environments (Fuhs et al, 2005; Derdikman et al, 2009; Spiers et al, 2015; Grieves et al, 2016). Specifically, the ATN may play a central role in disambiguating spatial locations based on directional orientation (Stackman et al, 2012; Clark et al, 2015; Grieves et al, 2016; Sanchez et al, 2016), which would ultimately influence the accuracy of spatial navigation in the radial maze. Observations of increased activity dependent gene expression in the ATN following training in the radial arm maze supports this hypothesis (Vann et al, 2000), but the effects of direct manipulations of the ATN on hippocampal spatial representation in radial environments is presently unknown.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-training Inactivation of the Anterior Thalamic Nuclei Impairs Spatial Performance on the Radial Arm Maze

et al. 2017

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The limbic thalamus, specifically the anterior thalamic nuclei (ATN), contains brain signals including that of head direction cells, which fire as a function of an animal's directional orientation in an environment. Recent work has suggested that this directional orientation information stemming from the ATN contributes to the generation of hippocampal and parahippocampal spatial representations, and may contribute to the establishment of unique spatial representations in radially oriented tasks such as the radial arm maze. While previous studies have shown that ATN lesions can impair spatial working memory performance in the radial maze, little work has been done to investigate spatial reference memory in a discrimination task variant. Further, while previous studies have shown that ATN lesions can impair performance in the radial maze, these studies produced the ATN lesions prior to training. It is therefore unclear whether the ATN lesions disrupted acquisition or retention of radial maze performance. Here, we tested the role of ATN signaling in a previously learned spatial discrimination task on a radial arm maze. Rats were first trained to asymptotic levels in a task in which two maze arms were consistently baited across training. After 24 h, animals received muscimol inactivation of the ATN before a 4 trial probe test. We report impairments in post-inactivation trials, suggesting that signals from the ATN modulate the use of a previously acquired spatial discrimination in the radial-arm maze. The results are discussed in relation to the thalamo-cortical limbic circuits involved in spatial information processing, with an emphasis on the head direction signal.

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“…In this way, we could observe the effects of pool shape on new learning, as well. Given the findings of past research, we believed that rats would use the pool shape as a critical piece of environmental information to guide spatial navigation and memory (Clark et al, 2015;Hamilton et al, 2009). We hypothesized that a change in pool shape would eliminate spatial preference during the probe test and eliminate interference from previous training during mass training, resulting in enhanced new learning.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…With this in mind, we conducted a related behavioral study using the water maze and multiple training rooms, in which rats were given standard spatial training in one room and then a probe test in a different room (Clark, Bettenson, Woolford, Horwood, & McDonald, 2015). None of the extramaze information was the same between the rooms, and the only spatial feature that remained constant was the shape of the pool.…”

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confidence: 99%

The effects of pool shape manipulations on rat spatial memory acquired in the Morris water maze

et al. 2018

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The Morris water maze is a popular task for examining spatial navigation and memory in rats. Historically, emphasis has been put on extramaze cues as the primary environmental feature guiding navigation and spatial memory formation. However, other features of the environment may also be involved. In this experiment, we trained rats on the spatial version of the Morris water maze over four days. A probe test was given 24 h after training, in which the shape of the pool either remained the same as during training or was changed to a different shape. Mass training of a new platform position in one training session was performed in a pool of one of these two shapes, with a second probe test being done 24 h afterward. The results showed that spatial training produces a spatial preference for the trained location in the probe test when the pool shape remains the same. However, changing the shape of the pool eliminates this preference. All groups learned the new platform position during mass training and also expressed a spatial preference for the mass-trained quadrant when tested 24 h later. The results from these experiments implicate the use of pool shape in guiding spatial navigation in the water maze and as a critical environmental feature represented in spatial memory.

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Maintained directional navigation across environments in the Morris water task is dependent on vestibular cues.

Cited by 12 publications

References 33 publications

Progressive impairment of directional and spatially precise trajectories by TgF344-AD Rats in the Morris Water Task

Progressive impairment of directional and spatially precise trajectories by TgF344-AD Rats in the Morris Water Task

Post-training Inactivation of the Anterior Thalamic Nuclei Impairs Spatial Performance on the Radial Arm Maze

The effects of pool shape manipulations on rat spatial memory acquired in the Morris water maze

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