title: Task-dependent strain difference of spatial learning in C57BL/6N and BALB/c mice.
abstract: In the present study, we used a dry maze task to assess the spatial learning ability of C57BL/6N and BALB/cA mice besides the water maze task. In Experiment 1, the performance of C57BL/6N and BALB/cA mice in the water maze task and dry maze task were investigated. In the former task, the mice had to learn the position of a hidden platform submerged below the water surface and they had to learn the position of a baited hole on the circular maze in the latter task. C57BL/6N mice showed significant learning in both maze tasks, whereas BALB/cA mice showed learning in a dry maze but not in water maze as reported before. In Experiment 2, a dry maze task was conducted on a circular open field which contained 16 holes arranged symmetrically and which was put on the same height as the surface of the water maze. In Experiment 2, BALB/cA mice showed significant improvement in latency and path length to reach the food hole. The poor performance of the BALB/cA in the water maze task may reflect a weak motivation, escaping from water, rather than the poor spatial memory in this strain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Keio University, Mita 2-15-45, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004924:Escape Reaction; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning; D011939:Mental Recall; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009042:Motivation; D009949:Orientation; D011930:Reaction Time; D013045:Species Specificity