Effects of age and genotype on acquisition of an active avoidance response in mice.
Two experiments were conducted in which inbred C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice were trained in an active avoidance jump-up task under distributed practice conditions at a variety of ages comprising a large part of their life-span. DBA/2J mice were found to be basically an escaping strain and exhibited little change in behavior as a function of age. C57BL/6J mice developed consistent avoidance behavior when training was initiated at 31-36 days of age. Avoidance behavior appeared to reach a peak in the 45-day-old group and progressively decreased in 145- and 560-day-old groups. Increased footshock intensity in old DBA/2J mice enhanced escape responding without increasing avoidance responding. Increased footshock intensity in old C57BL/6J mice enhanced avoidance responding.
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D005838:Genotype; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D011214:Practice, Psychological