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  • Title: Assessing the interplay between fear and learning in mice exposed to a live rat in a spatial memory task (MWM).
    Author: Bonsignore LT, Chiarotti F, Alleva E, Cirulli F.
    Journal: Anim Cogn; 2008 Jul; 11(3):557-62. PubMed ID: 18266012.
    Abstract:
    In this study we tested the hypothesis that fear might facilitate learning when experienced contextually to the task. To this purpose, learning and memory performance of CD-1 mice in a Morris Water Maze (MWM) was assessed in the presence of a live predator (rat). Results indicate that a live predator induced specific predatory-avoidance responses, such as diving behavior and thigmotaxis. The rat-exposed group showed the most adaptive strategy, balancing anti-predator behavior and escape responses, while the rat pre-exposed group showed impairment in the initial phases of the acquisition. The probe trial revealed distinct swimming patterns but equal memory abilities in the different groups. Overall, this procedure represents a novel and easy test to assess the effects of stressful stimuli, contextually to spatial learning and memory performance, in mice.
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