Position reversal deficit in young ferrets

Abstract

Young ferrets (6 and 10 weeks old at the start of the experiments) were compared to adult ferrets on learning (1) a Lashley III maze, (2) a left-right discrimination in T-maze with identical choice arms, and (3) a reversal of the left-right discrimination. The young were not inferior to the adults in learning either the Lashley III maze or the initial discrimination in the T-maze. However, the young were markedly (and significantly) inferior to the adults in learning to reverse.

Establishing the ferret as a gyrencephalic animal model of traumatic brain injury: Optimization of controlled cortical impact procedures

“…Similar to previous researchers, we found ferrets to be amenable to behavioral testing. Specifically, other researchers investigated spatial maze learning, delayed response, visual discrimination learning, shock avoidance learning, ambulation, spontaneous alternation, as well as T-maze, Lashley III maze, reversal, visual discrimination, auditory gap-detection and open field locomotion (Christensson and Garwicz 2005; Gold et al, 2015; Haddad et al, 1976; Rabe et al, 1985; Zhou et al, 2016). In this study, we tested a variety of behaviors (locomotion, anxiety, memory, gait, adhesive detection) in a naïve control and in ferrets that received either a mild and severe brain injury.…”

“…Ferrets are advantageous for many practical reasons such as a comparatively low cost, sociability to allow group housing thereby minimizing space needs, and body dimensions with a slender torso that allows use of specialized pre-clinical MRI scanners for in vivo imaging. Ferrets are also amenable to many types of behavioral testing (e.g., Christensson and Garwicz, 2005; Gold et al, 2015; Haddad et al, 1976; Rabe et al, 1985; Zhou et al, 2016). For a full review of various issues to consider when choosing the ferret as a laboratory animal see Ball (2006).…”

The ferret, Mustela putorius furo, as a new species in toxicology

“…Accepted 30 October 1978. poliomyelitis (Patocka,194]), and measles (Shaver, Bussel & Barron, 1964). More recently the ferret has been used in studies in gastroenterology (Pfeiffer & Weibel, ]973; Shillingford, Lindup & Parke, 1974), cardiology (Truex, Belej, Ginsberg & Hartman, 1974), teratology (Haddad, Rabe & Dumas, 1975), metabolism (Idle, Millburn & Williams, 1976), and endocrinology (Rieger & Murphy, 1977). However, there has been no systematic study of urine and blood chemistry, though limited haematological measurements (3 animals each) have been reported for Mustela nigripes (Pyle, 1940) and Mustela putorius Juro (Wintrobe & Wintrobe,196]).…”

Clinical Relevance of Behavior Testing in Animal Models of Traumatic Brain Injury

“…289 Although differences were noted on both the T-maze and NOR post-injury, because no control data were shown it is difficult to determine whether these alterations may relate to a repeated training effect rather than impaired cognition. 289 Other behavioral tasks that have been validated in ferrets, but not yet used in TBI research, include spatial discrimination by a Tmaze task, 292 spatial memory in the Lashley III maze, 292 and shock avoidance learning, 293 which could be incorporated into future TBI studies. Nonetheless, these preliminary studies demonstrate that a clinically relevant model of TBI can be induced in ferrets, with persistent inflammation a key feature of clinical TBI.…”