title: Kainate-induced epileptogenesis alters circular hole board learning strategy but not the performance of C57BL/6J mice.
abstract: Patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) frequently show cognitive deficits. However, the relation between mTLE and cognitive impairment is poorly understood. To gain more insight into epilepsy-associated alterations in cognitive performance, we studied the spatial learning of C57BL/6J mice five weeks after kainate-induced status epilepticus (SE). Typically, structural hippocampal rearrangements take place within five weeks after SE. Mice were monitored by exposing them to four tasks with a focus on spatial memory and anxiety: the circular hole board, modified hole board, novel object-placement task, and elevated plus maze. On the circular hole board, animals showed a higher preference for hippocampus-independent strategies after SE. In contrast, no change in strategy was seen on the modified hole board, but animals with SE were able to finish the task more often. Animals did not have an increased preference for a relocated object in the novel object-placement task but showed an increased locomotion after SE. No indications for altered anxiety were found when tested on the elevated plus maze following SE. These data suggest that the circular hole board is a well-suited paradigm to detect subtle SE-induced hippocampal deficits.
authors.affiliation: Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland (SEIN), Heemstede, The Netherlands; Department of Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research (LACDR), Leiden, The Netherlands. Electronic address: cjyhubens@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Chantal J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hubens
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research (LACDR), Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Pascale S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Kaptein
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) & LACDR, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Judith P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: ter Horst
authors.affiliation: Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland (SEIN), Heemstede, The Netherlands; Department of Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research (LACDR), Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rob A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Voskuyl
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) & LACDR, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Geert J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Schenk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects; D003292:Convulsants / Q000633:toxicity*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000523:psychology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000633:toxicity*; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects; D013028:Space Perception / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D003292:Convulsants; D007608:Kainic Acid
keywords: Anxiety; C57BL/6J mice; Circular hole board; Cognitive impairment; Elevated plus maze; Kainate; Modified hole board; Novel object-placement recognition; Spatial memory; mTLE