Morris Water Maze and Contextual Fear Conditioning Tasks to Evaluate Cognitive Functions Associated With Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis

Abstract

New neurons are continuously generated and functionally integrated into the dentate gyrus (DG) network during the adult lifespan of most mammals. The hippocampus is a crucial structure for spatial learning and memory, and the addition of new neurons into the DG circuitry of rodents seems to be a key element for these processes to occur. The Morris water maze (MWM) and contextual fear conditioning (CFC) are among the most commonly used hippocampus-dependent behavioral tasks to study episodic-like learning and memory in rodents. While the functional contribution of adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) through these paradigms has been widely addressed, results have generated controversial findings. In this review, we analyze and discuss possible factors in the experimental methods that could explain the inconsistent results among AHN studies; moreover, we provide specific suggestions for the design of more sensitive protocols to assess AHN-mediated learning and memory functions.

Thymol inTrachyspermum ammiseed extract exhibits neuroprotection, learning, and memory enhancement in scopolamine‐induced Alzheimer's disease mouse model

“…In the present study, TASE and thymol treatments significantly increased the thickness of the granular zone in the dentate gyrus which corresponds with the previous studies (Amaral et al, 2007). In addition, newly generated neurons in the DG of the hippocampus in mice promote spatial learning and memory (Hernández‐Mercado & Zepeda, 2022), which corresponds with our findings in the MWM and passive avoidance tests. DCX is a microtubule‐associated protein expressed as an early marker protein in the immature granule cells harboring migration and dendritic growth (Spampanato et al, 2012).…”

“…Scopolamine, is an approved anticholinergic drug, which can initiate AD-like symptoms, including oxidative stress, Aβ deposition, neurodegeneration, and cognitive decline (Bubser et al, 2012). Morris water maze (MWM) and passive avoidance tasks are behavioral analysis experiments commonly used to analyze episodic-like hippocampal synaptic plasticity in rodents (Hernández-Mercado & Zepeda, 2022). Moreover, molecular markers, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3β), are abundantly expressed in the mammalian central nervous system and are involved in regulating gene expression, cell growth, and development (Kisoh et al, 2017).…”

Pre-Exposure to Environmental Enrichment Protects against Learning and Memory Deficits Caused by Infrasound Exposure

“…In the present study, we used the MWM to evaluate the learning and memory ability. The MWM is widely used to assess hippocampus-dependent spatial learning and memory and is closely related to hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) [ 46 – 48 ]. In the present study, the increased escape latency, less time in target quadrant C, and reduced target crossing times after IE indicated impaired learning and memory, which were consistent with the results of previous studies [ 7 , 11 ].…”

Exploring the role of Tibetan medicinal formula Qishiwei Zhenzhu Pills (Ranasampel) against diabetes mellitus-linked cognitive impairment of db/db mice through serum pharmacochemistry and microarray data analysis

“…The Morris water-maze test is primarily used to test the learning and memory abilities of experimental animals ( Hernández-Mercado and Zepeda, 2021 ). In previous studies, it was found that db/db mice had long-term memory impairment ( Ye et al, 2018 ; Ma et al, 2020 ).…”