title: Acquisition of steady-state operant behavior in long-living Ames Dwarf mice.
abstract: Ames dwarf mice have a Prop-1 mutation that has been identified with increased levels of IGF-I in the central nervous system, upregulation of neuroprotective systems, and increased lifespan. To elucidate the behavioral effects of the Prop-1 mutation, 8 Ames dwarf and 7 normal mice (all of whom were 8 months of age or younger) were compared on a differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate-of-responding schedule of reinforcement and a matching-to-sample task. On both tasks, nosepokes were reinforced with access to a saccharin solution. Comparisons were based on several measures of behavioral efficiency: pause durations, intertrial intervals, and numbers of responses. Ames dwarf mice were generally less efficient than normal mice. One possible cause of this outcome is that relatively young Ames dwarf mice show less cognitive development than age-matched normal mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202-8380, USA. adam.derenne@und.edu
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Derenne
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brown-Borg
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Feltman
authors.forename: Grant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Corbett
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lackman
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004392:Dwarfism / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C102134:Prophet of Pit-1 protein