place avoidance
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Mechanizmy prostorové orientace patří k nejstudovanějším oblastem kognitivních neurovědeckých disciplin posledních desetiletí. Nedávno byly vyvinuty dvě nové metody pro experimentální zkoumání prostorové navigace: aktivní a pasivní vyhýbání se místu. Při aktivním vyhýbání se místu se potkan pohybuje po rotující aréně, na které je v souřadnicovém systému místnosti definován zakázaný sektor, jehož navštívení je potrestáno elektrickým šokem. Potkan tak musí být stále aktivní, rozpoznat zakázané místo v prostoru, aktivně se mu vyhýbat a nenechat se do něj pasivně přemístit rotací arény. V úloze pasivního vyhýbání se místu je sektor definován v souřadnicovém systému rotující arény, ale pokud je aréna stabilní, je definován shodně v souřadnicových systémech arény i místnosti. V závěru článek představuje vybrané poznatky získané za použití popisovaných technik.
Mechanisms of spatial orientation belonged to the most studied fields in cognitive neuroscience in past years. Recently, two novel place navigation tests were designed: active and passive place avoidance. During active place avoidance, rat moves on a rotating arena and avoids a sector (defined in the coordinate frame of the room), entering of which is punished by a footshock. In the passive place avoidance task, the shock sector is defined in the coordinate frame of the rotating arena, but in case that arena is stable, the shock sector is defined concordantly in the coordinate frame of the room and arena. Paper also presents several interesting findings obtained using place avoidance tasks.
The active place avoidance task is used in the research of spatial cognition. Rats are trained on a rotating arena to avoid an aversive stimulus delivered in a part of the room while being transported toward it by the arena rotation. The task tests the ability of rats to navigate with respect to distal cues in the room and to ignore confusing cues on the arena. The demand for cue segregation makes the task suitable for studying neural mechanisms responsible for cognitive coordination. An incidental observation made in our laboratory implied that overtrained rats may be able to solve the task without the room-bound cues. The aim of this study was to test this observation. The room-bound cues were hidden by switching off the lights. Rats trained only in darkness did not learn the task at all. Rats that were initially pre-trained in light performed considerably better. In a few exceptional dark sessions they even reached the level of performance observed in light. The rats needed the aversive stimuli to keep off the to-be-avoided sector. Without them, they continued their behavior, but with no spatial relationship to the to-be-avoided sector. We conclude that rats are able to solve the place avoidance task without the room-bound cues, but not as efficiently as in their presence.
- MeSH
- elektrický šok MeSH
- plnění a analýza úkolů MeSH
- podněty * MeSH
- potkani Long-Evans MeSH
- prostorové učení * MeSH
- psychologické testy MeSH
- tma MeSH
- učení vyhýbat se * MeSH
- zraková percepce MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
The active place avoidance task is used for testing cognitive abilities in rats. A rat, placed on a rotating circular arena, should avoid an unmarked sector defined with respect to stable extra-arena cues. We hypothesized that the inertial stimuli generated by the arena rotation may contribute to the performance in the task. These stimuli provide permanent information to the rat concerning changes in its position with respect to the extra-arena cues, it means to the reference frame in which the to-be-avoided sector is defined. To test the hypothesis, we trained one group of rats on a stable arena while extra-arena cues rotated around the arena. This eliminated the inertial stimuli generated by the arena rotation while preserving other aspects of the task. Six out of seven rats from this group did not learn this modified task. The remaining rat learned it equally well as rats from a control group learned the standard active place avoidance task. After six days of training, we changed the tasks between the groups. The control rats solved the modified task as well as the standard task. We conclude that the inertial stimuli generated by the arena rotation are important for acquisition of the active place avoidance task but not for performance once the task has been mastered. We suggest that rats must perceive the distal extra-arena cues as stable in order to associate the position of the to-be-avoided sector with these cues.
- MeSH
- analýza rozptylu MeSH
- kognice fyziologie MeSH
- krysa rodu rattus MeSH
- orientace fyziologie MeSH
- podněty MeSH
- potkani Long-Evans MeSH
- prostorové chování fyziologie MeSH
- rotace MeSH
- učení vyhýbat se fyziologie MeSH
- vnímání prostoru fyziologie MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- krysa rodu rattus MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
The active place avoidance task is a cognitive task requiring spatial learning and cognitive coordination. In this task, animals are trained to move over a continuously rotating arena, on which an imperceptible to-be-avoided sector is defined, remaining stable with respect to the experimental room. The present study was aimed at evaluating the effect of GABA-B receptor agonist baclofen on locomotion and spatial behavior in active place avoidance task. Baclofen (at doses 2, 3, 3.5, 4 and 6 mg/kg) was applied 30 min prior to testing in the task. Doses 2 mg/kg and 3 mg/kg were found not to interfere with either locomotion or spatial avoidance; a dose 3.5 mg/kg disrupted selectively spatial behavior, and doses 4 mg/kg and 6 mg/kg proved to decrease both avoidance efficiency and locomotor activity. It is concluded that GABA-B receptor agonist baclofen dose-dependently disrupts spatial learning and locomotion in the place avoidance task.
- MeSH
- analýza rozptylu MeSH
- baklofen farmakologie MeSH
- chování zvířat účinky léků MeSH
- GABA agonisté farmakologie MeSH
- krysa rodu rattus MeSH
- lokomoce účinky léků MeSH
- poruchy učení chemicky indukované MeSH
- potkani Long-Evans MeSH
- prostorové chování MeSH
- reakční čas účinky léků MeSH
- učení vyhýbat se účinky léků MeSH
- vztah mezi dávkou a účinkem léčiva MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- krysa rodu rattus MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
Spatial navigation comprises a widely-studied complex of animal behaviors. Its study offers many methodological advantages over other approaches, enabling assessment of a variety of experimental questions and the possibility to compare the results across different species. Spatial navigation in laboratory animals is often considered a model of higher human cognitive functions including declarative memory. Almost fifteen years ago, a novel dry-arena task for rodents was designed in our laboratory, originally named the place avoidance task, and later a modification of this approach was established and called active place avoidance task. It employs a continuously rotating arena, upon which animals are trained to avoid a stable sector defined according to room-frame coordinates. This review describes the development of the place avoidance tasks, evaluates the cognitive processes associated with performance and explores the application of place avoidance in the testing of spatial learning after neuropharmacological, lesion and other experimental manipulations.
- MeSH
- behaviorální výzkum metody MeSH
- chování zvířat fyziologie MeSH
- druhová specificita MeSH
- kognice fyziologie MeSH
- modely u zvířat MeSH
- neurovědy metody MeSH
- paměť fyziologie MeSH
- prostorové chování fyziologie MeSH
- učení vyhýbat se fyziologie MeSH
- vnímání prostoru fyziologie MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- přehledy MeSH
Neurotransmitter substrate of spatial cognition belongs to current topics in behavioral neuroscience. The present study examined the effects of serotonin depletion with p-chlorophenylalanine on learning of rats in active place avoidance, a spatial task requiring allothetic mapping and cognitive coordination and highly dependent upon hippocampus. Serotonin depletion transiently increased locomotor activity in response to footshocks, but it did not change the avoidance efficiency measured by three spatial parameters. These results suggest that serotonin neurotransmission is not crucial for cognitive coordination and allothetic learning, i.e. the processes, which are crucial for active place avoidance performance.
- MeSH
- antagonisté serotoninu farmakologie MeSH
- fenklonin MeSH
- financování organizované MeSH
- kognice fyziologie účinky léků MeSH
- krysa rodu rattus MeSH
- pohybová aktivita fyziologie účinky léků MeSH
- potkani Long-Evans MeSH
- serotonin metabolismus MeSH
- učení vyhýbat se fyziologie účinky léků MeSH
- vnímání prostoru fyziologie účinky léků MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- krysa rodu rattus MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
