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Isolation rearing impairs novel object recognition and attentional set shifting performance in female rats

Grayson, Ben
Harris, M.
Protheroe, C.
Bate, S.
Woolley, M.L.
Neill, Joanna C.
Publication Date
2010-01
End of Embargo
Supervisor
Rights
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Journal of Psychopharmacology, vol 24/issue 1 by SAGE Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. © 2010 SAGE Publications Ltd.
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
openAccess
Accepted for publication
2008
Institution
Department
Awarded
Embargo end date
Additional title
Abstract
It has been suggested that the isolation rearing paradigm models certain aspects of schizophrenia symptomatology. This study aimed to investigate whether isolation rearing impairs rats’ performance in two models of cognition: the novel object recognition (NOR) and attentional set-shifting tasks, tests of episodic memory and executive function, respectively. Two cohorts of female Hooded-Lister rats were used in these experiments. Animals were housed in social isolation or in groups of five from weaning, post-natal day 28. The first cohort was tested in the NOR test with inter-trial intervals (ITIs) of 1 min up to 6 h. The second cohort was trained and tested in the attentional set-shifting task. In the NOR test, isolates were only able to discriminate between the novel and familiar objects up to 1-h ITI, whereas socially reared animals remembered the familiar object up to a 4-h ITI. In the attentional set-shifting task, isolates were significantly and selectively impaired in the extra-dimensional shift phase of the task (P < 0.01). Rats reared in isolation show impaired episodic memory in the NOR task and reduced ability to shift attention between stimulus dimensions in the attentional set-shifting task. Because schizophrenic patients show similar deficits in performance in these cognitive domains, these data further support isolation rearing as a putative preclinical model of the cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia.
Version
Accepted manuscript
Citation
McLean SL, Grayson B, Harris M, Protheroe C, Bate S, Woolley ML and Neill JC (2010) Isolation rearing impairs novel object recognition and attentional set shifting performance in female rats. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 24(1): 57-63.
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Link to published version
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Article
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Notes