Early behavioral abnormalities in mice due to scrapie virus encephalopathy.
The behavioral effects of scrapie virus infection, a slow degenerative disease of the central nervous system, were examined in mice. Testing was conducted at 50, 100, and 150 days postinfection and included open-field behavior, Y-maze alternation and activity, and two-way shuttle-box avoidance. The behavioral pathology was found to be task-specific rather than of a global nature. Furthermore, the effects observed could be classified as either early or late components of the disease. The relevance of this animal model to human presenile dementias is discussed.
D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D051379:Mice; D009043:Motor Activity; D012608:Scrapie / Q000523:psychology*; D012756:Sheep