The use of these behavioural tests dates back over a century, and a plethora of maze designs have been developed since then to probe different aspects of learning and memory. Rodent spatial memory tests, often mazes, are commonly used in preclinical drug development and fundamental science experiments. Therefore, behavioural tests that are specific to one domain or behavioural tests that can correctly dissociate multiple domains should be used. These inferences are only accurate with the use of appropriate tests with high specificity both for the behaviour in question and in terms of the specific brain regions recruited during test performance.
Dysfunctions in these behaviours are used to infer structural and functional changes in the brain, and the recovery of performance on these tests is used to evaluate the effectiveness of potential therapeutics.
This parallel role of the hippocampus in both humans and animals allows research to be performed on these animals with the insights gained able to be extrapolated to humans.īehaviourally characterising an animal model of disease often involves a battery of tests that investigate the animal’s motivation, locomotor activity, startle reflex, anxiety, fear response, social behaviour, learning, memory and other emotional and cognitive traits. Disruptions to hippocampal tissue or silencing of neurons in the hippocampus leads to spatial memory deficits. In parallel, through multiple manipulations such as lesion, electrophysiological and optogenetic studies, the hippocampus has been shown to be equally important to animal spatial memory. In humans, damage to the temporal lobe causes disturbances to spatial navigation, and similarly, humans employed in roles that require fantastic spatial navigation skills have enlargement of the hippocampus and its connections. Seminal studies in humans and animals have demonstrated the important role that the hippocampus plays in navigating the world around us. It is the domain of the hippocampus and medial temporal lobe, with links to the retrosplenial cortex and parietal cortex. It is important for survival, by enabling searching and finding safety and food and being able to return to found places without issue. Spatial memory is the cognitive process of noticing, encoding, and retrieving landmarks in the surrounding environment, to allow an organism to navigate and exist in the world.
0 kommentar(er)
