title: NGF induces appearance of adult-like response to spatial novelty in 18-day male mice.
abstract: We investigated the effects of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) administration on the maturation of reactivity to spatial and non-spatial novelty in developing mice. CD-1 mice of both sexes received intracerebral administration of NGF on postnatal day (pnd) 15, and their response to object displacement (spatial novelty) and object substitution (object novelty) were assessed in a spatial open-field with four objects on pnd 18 or 28. On pnd 18, NGF induced only in males precocious appearance of spatial novelty discrimination, while increasing choline acetyltransferase activity in neocortex and hippocampus of both sexes. The behavioral and neurochemical effects disappeared by pnd 28. NGF triggers adult-like responding to spatial novelty in developing mice and such effect is gender-specific.
authors.affiliation: Section of Comparative Psychology, Laboratorio di Fisiopatologia di Organo e Sistema, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Rome, Italy. gemma.calamandrei@iss.it
authors.forename: Gemma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calamandrei
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valanzano
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ricceri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010275:Parasympathetic Nervous System / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013028:Space Perception / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase