The relevance of memory, arousal, and cue factors to developmental changes in spontaneous alternation by rats

Egger, Garry

doi:10.1002/dev.420060510

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…Since the initiation of the present studies, Egger (1973) has also confirmed these ontogenetic aspects of alternation. His data are rather unique in that his 15-to 16-day-olds showed reliable perseveration (approximately 25% alternation).…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Thã ftereffects of a maze-arm choice are known to be degraded with a legnthened IT! (e.g., Egger, 1973). Older Ss, therefore, should exhibit a reduction in alternation with long ITIs.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The same relationship holds for Egger's infants, which displayed a 25% rate of alternation. Furthermore, the age-related change in T-maze choices is obtained even with very brief ITIs (Dworkin & Bronstein, 1974;Egger, 1973).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since Egger's Ss were not behaving randomly, they must have either been utilizing some information or been turning in a stereotyped fashion. Egger (1973) investigated these two interpretations. Reasoning from Douglas's (1966) model, alternation was attributed to the use of two stimuli.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age-related differences in rats’ spontaneous alternation

Bronstein

Dworkin

Bilder

1974

Animal Learning & Behavior

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Fifteen-day-old rats made random choices in a T-maze, while adult levels of alternation (approximately 70%) were noted among 30-day-olds, Also, younger pups were insensitive to a lengthening of the intertrial interval, unlike older animals whose rate of alternation decreased when a l-h delay was interposed between arm entries, These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that hippocampal development is a factor in the ontogeny of postweaning locomotion. The unsystematic pattern of goal-arm selections among 15-day-olds suggests that ontongenetic variation in the utilization of stimuli may underlie developmental shifts in spontaneous alternation, Altman, Brunner, and Bayer (1973) have suggested that the 2-or 3-week-old domestic rat is behaviorally similar to the hippocampectornized adult of the species. Further, maturation rates of cells at the dentate gyrus and the development of cholinergic control over behavior are consistent with this brain-development hypothesis (Campbell, Lytle, & Fibiger, 1969;Douglas, 1972).This particular behavioral syndrome, typical of the young rat, includes: (a) elevated and persistent motor activity (Bronstein, Neiman, Wolkoff, & Levine, 1974;Campbell et al, 1969;Feigley, Parsons, Hamilton, & Spear, 1972), (b) considerable difficulty in the acquisition of a passive-avoidance task to a footshock US (e.g., Ricco & Marazzo, 1972), (c) impaired position-habit reversal (Harley & Moody, 1973), and (d) low levels of spontaneous alternation (Douglas, Peterson, & Douglas, 1973;Kirkby, 1967). The present paper describes attempts to replicate and to further understand the age-related differences in spontaneous alternation. EXPERIMENT IThe first experiment is a longitudinal investigation of alternation in the rat. MethodSubjects. Twenty-three male and 14 female rat pups served as Ss. These were derived from four Sprague-Dawley albino litters (9 or 10 pups/dam) born in the Brooklyn College laboratories. The animals were individually marked and housed with their mothers in plastic litter cages. Twenty-two days after parturition, the maternal females were removed from their offspring with all pups left behind in the litter boxes. When the young were 31 days old, they were rehoused, 2 to a cage (same-sex pairs), except for a few individually caged Ss, Purina Lab Chow and water were always available, and the colony was heated to about 74°F. The vivarium was brightly lighted from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily, and Ss were run during the light part of the cycle, always at about the same time of day.Apparatus. One bottomless plywood T-rnaze, painted flat black, was the apparatus. The maze was 6.40 cm high and initially had a width of 6.35 em, but was widened to 10.80 cm throughout after the Ss were 31 days old. This enlargement was needed in order to accommodate the pups' growth. The apparatus was covered with clear Plexiglas, and three guillotine doors of white plastic divided the maze stem into a startbox and runway (each 20.32 cm long) and goal arms (each 28.85 em long). A 15-Wincandescent bulb, shaded ...

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Thã ftereffects of a maze-arm choice are known to be degraded with a legnthened IT! (e.g., Egger, 1973). Older Ss, therefore, should exhibit a reduction in alternation with long ITIs.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age-related differences in rats’ spontaneous alternation

Bronstein

Dworkin

Bilder

1974

Animal Learning & Behavior

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“…Until about 3 weeks of age, neonatal rats behave in a manner analogous to adults with lesions of the hippocampus, across a wide spectrum of behavioral tasks. Disengagement of the hippocampus in intact juvenile rats may explain why these animals do not alternate at rates similar to adults until they are !25 days old (Kirkby, 1967;Douglas et al, 1973;Egger, 1973) or habituate across repeated exposure to the same environment (Campbell et al, 1969;Feigley et al, 1972;Bronstein et al, 1974), or why they show thigmotaxis in an open field, spending less time investigating objects in the environment (Kurz et al, 1984). Likewise, tasks described as requiring working memory are sensitive to hippocampal disruption in adults (Olton, 1983;Kesner and Rolls, 2001).…”

Section: Late Emerging Behaviors Depend On Proper Hippocampal Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late postnatal maturation of excitatory synaptic transmission permits adult-like expression of hippocampal-dependent behaviors

Dumas

2005

Hippocampus

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Sensorimotor systems in altricial animals mature incrementally during early postnatal development, with complex cognitive abilities developing late. Of prominence are cognitive processes that depend on an intact hippocampus, such as contextual-configural learning, allocentric and idiocentric navigation, and certain forms of trace conditioning. The mechanisms that regulate the delayed maturation of the hippocampus are not well understood. However, there is support for the idea that these behaviors come "on line" with the final maturation of excitatory synaptic transmission. First, by providing a timeline for the first behavioral expression of various forms of learning and memory, this study illustrates the late maturation of hippocampal-dependent cognitive abilities. Then, functional development of the hippocampus is reviewed to establish the temporal relationship between maturation of excitatory synaptic transmission and the behavioral evidence of adult-like hippocampal processing. These data suggest that, in rats, mechanisms necessary for the expression of adult-like synaptic plasticity become available at around 2 postnatal weeks of age. However, presynaptic plasticity mechanisms, likely necessary for refinement of the hippocampal network, predominate and impede information processing until the third postnatal week.

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Aversive prenatal stimulation: Effects on behavioral, biochemical, and somatic ontogeny in the rat

Sobrian

1977

Developmental Psychobiology

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Electric foot shock administered to pregnant rats altered the ontogeny of spontaneous motor activity in their pups. Prenatally stimulated (PMS) offspring were more active than controls on Days 1-10 but less active during the 3rd postpartum week. The age of peak activity, a major developmental landmark, occurred in PMS pups around 10 days of age; in controls maximum activity was not seen until the 3rd week. This effect was independent of the gender of the offspring and the timing of the gestational stimulation. Its appearance in both cross-fostered and fostered pups indicated the prenatal origin of the effect. The maturation of spontaneous alternation behavior and several reflexes and the appearance of physical features were not affected by prenatal stimulation. Moreover, both PMS and control groups exhibited an age-related increase in brain concentrations of norepinephrine, serotonin, and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid. These findings indicate that spontaneous motor activity is uniquely sensitive to PMS, and as far as can be determined here, PMS produces no generalized alteration in behavioral and physical ontogeny.

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The relevance of memory, arousal, and cue factors to developmental changes in spontaneous alternation by rats

Cited by 13 publications

References 14 publications

Age-related differences in rats’ spontaneous alternation

Age-related differences in rats’ spontaneous alternation

Late postnatal maturation of excitatory synaptic transmission permits adult-like expression of hippocampal-dependent behaviors

Aversive prenatal stimulation: Effects on behavioral, biochemical, and somatic ontogeny in the rat

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