Absence of behavioral differences between male and female rats in different radial-maze procedures

Haaren, Frans van; Wouters, Machteld; Poll, Nanne E. van de

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(87)90243-5

Cited by 66 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…These results indicate that males perform better than females on the ability to separate similar, but not distinct, patterns. This finding is consistent with previous studies showing that sex differences favoring males in spatial learning are more prominent when spatial cues overlap to greater degrees, indicating the need for better pattern separation under similar conditions (van Haaren et al, 1987;Williams et al, 1990;Chamizo et al, 2011). Furthermore, our findings that the sex differences were only observed in spatial strategy users are somewhat consistent with Chow et al (2013), who showed sex differences, favoring males, in acquisition of the spatial Morris water maze only among spatially trained, but not cuetrained, rats.…”

Section: Male Spatial Strategy Users Are Better At Separating Similarsupporting

confidence: 92%

Sex and strategy use matters for pattern separation, adult neurogenesis, and immediate early gene expression in the hippocampus

et al. 2015

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Adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) plays a crucial role for pattern separation, and there are sex differences in the regulation of neurogenesis. Although sex differences, favoring males, in spatial navigation have been reported, it is not known whether there are sex differences in pattern separation. The current study was designed to determine whether there are sex differences in the ability for separating similar or distinct patterns, learning strategy choice, adult neurogenesis, and immediate early gene (IEG) expression in the DG in response to pattern separation training. Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats received a single injection of the DNA synthesis marker, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), and were tested for the ability of separating spatial patterns in a spatial pattern separation version of delayed nonmatching to place task using the eight-arm radial arm maze. Twenty-seven days following BrdU injection, rats received a probe trial to determine whether they were idiothetic or spatial strategy users. We found that male spatial strategy users outperformed female spatial strategy users only when separating similar, but not distinct, patterns. Furthermore, male spatial strategy users had greater neurogenesis in response to pattern separation training than all other groups. Interestingly, neurogenesis was positively correlated with performance on similar pattern trials during pattern separation in female spatial strategy users but negatively correlated with performance in male idiothetic strategy users. These results suggest that the survival of new neurons may play an important positive role for pattern separation of similar patterns in females. Furthermore, we found sex and strategy differences in IEG expression in the CA1 and CA3 regions in response to pattern separation. These findings emphasize the importance of studying biological sex on hippocampal function and neural plasticity.

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Section: Male Spatial Strategy Users Are Better At Separating Similarsupporting

confidence: 92%

Sex and strategy use matters for pattern separation, adult neurogenesis, and immediate early gene expression in the hippocampus

et al. 2015

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“…Males make significantly fewer errors than females in a wide range of maze types (27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33). This sex difference seems to be less replicable in radial mazes (34)(35)(36), but it is by no means always absent (37)(38)(39)(40), and its direction is never reversed in normal rats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Evolution of spatial cognition: sex-specific patterns of spatial behavior predict hippocampal size.

Jacobs

Gaulin

Sherry

et al. 1990

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

334

212

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In a study of two congeneric rodent species, sex differences in hippocampal size were predicted by sexspecific patterns of spatial cognition. Hippocampal size is known to correlate positively with maze performance in laboratory mouse strains and with selective pressure for spatial memory among passerine bird species. In polygamous vole species (Rodentia: Microtus), males range more widely than females in the field and perform better on laboratory measures of spatial ability; both of these differences are absent in monogamous vole species. Ten females and males were taken from natural populations of two vole species, the polygamous meadow vole, M. pennsylvanicus, and the monogamous pine vole, M. pinetorum. Only in the polygamous species do males have larger hippocampi relative to the entire brain than do females. Two-way analysis of variance shows that the ratio of hippocampal volume to brain volume is differently related to sex in these two species. To our knowledge, no previous studies of hippocampal size have linked both evolutionary and psychometric data to hippocampal dimensions. Our controlled comparison suggests that evolution can produce adaptive sex differences in behavior and its neural substrate.The hippocampus, a large forebrain structure, plays an important role in spatial learning (1-3). Rodents given hippocampal lesions show impaired performance on spatial tasks (4-6), and spatial performance is positively correlated with certain hippocampal dimensions in inbred mouse strains (7-9). Hippocampal size also varies between males and females in laboratory rats (10) and across species (11,12). Recent evidence suggests that variation in hippocampal size among species may be adaptively related to interspecific differences in the intensity of selection for spatial processing: the hippocampus is relatively larger in birds that hoard food items in scattered locations than it is in avian species that do not use this spatially demanding foraging tactic (13-15). In general, ecological pressures are known to shape brain evolution (16)(17)(18). In this paper, we integrate field and laboratory data on spatial behavior with measures of hippocampal size to show that evolution may produce adaptive sex differences in particular brain structures.Likely candidates for neural sex differences are species known to exhibit adaptive sex differences in spatial ability. Spatial ability should evolve in proportion to the navigational demands that an individual faces in its natural environment. In most mammalian species, males and females exploit the same environment, but the patterns of competition for mates determine how the two sexes exploit this environment. In monogamous species, the sexes exhibit convergent reproductive strategies. They exploit the environment in similar ways and therefore are subject to similar selective pressures for spatial ability. Conversely, divergent reproductive strategies predominate in polygamous species. Here, range expansion is an important tactic used by polygamous males to maximize the...

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“…Because choice accuracy is measured, the radial-arm maze is less sensitive to general sex and species behavioral differences in activity and exploratory levels [30]. In general, reports of sexdifferences in the literature have been inconsistent in both the standard 8-arm version [10,28,31] and 17-arm version of the radial maze [11,32]. In the few protocols where both working and reference memory have been tested, reports of a male advantage have also been inconsistent [9,29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Although sexual dimorphisms in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology believed to be important for spatial learning and memory processes have recently been verified [3][4][5], the cognitive implications of these differences are still contested. Much of the disagreement now centers on the apparent divergence of behavioral findings [6][7][8][9][10][11]. The following meta-analysis, the first systematic review of sex differences in the animal literature, was developed to provide a more consistent interpretation of behavioral findings and to resolve long-standing disagreements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meta-analysis of sex differences in rodent models of learning and memory: a review of behavioral and biological data

Jonasson

2005

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

448

282

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Absence of behavioral differences between male and female rats in different radial-maze procedures

Cited by 66 publications

References 14 publications

Sex and strategy use matters for pattern separation, adult neurogenesis, and immediate early gene expression in the hippocampus

Sex and strategy use matters for pattern separation, adult neurogenesis, and immediate early gene expression in the hippocampus

Evolution of spatial cognition: sex-specific patterns of spatial behavior predict hippocampal size.

Meta-analysis of sex differences in rodent models of learning and memory: a review of behavioral and biological data

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