title: Strain and sex differences on olfactory discrimination learning in C57BL/6J and DBA/2J inbred mice (Mus musculus).
abstract: In this study, the authors explored potential strain and sex differences in nonspatial cognitive ability. Beginning around 90 days of age, male and female C57BL/6J (C57) and DBA/2J (DBA) inbred mice (Mus musculus) were tested on a task of simple odor discrimination learning with 3 repeated reversals. Males learned the task more readily than females, and DBA mice learned the task more readily than C57 mice. All differences became evident after repeated testing. Similarity of perseveration measures indicated the differences were not due to inhibitory deficits. Instead, a phase analysis localized differences to a transitional period of reversal learning. Females increased transitional errors that more likely indicated adaptive sampling strategies than memory failures. C57 females used this strategy indiscriminately, but DBA females sampled as a function of environmental uncertainty.
authors.affiliation: Psychological Sciences Division, Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center for Mental Retardation, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. smihalick@shriver.org
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Mihalick
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Langlois
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Krienke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL / Q000523:psychology*; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA / Q000523:psychology*; D009812:Odorants; D012193:Reversal Learning; D012737:Sex Factors; D012903:Smell; D013045:Species Specificity