Automatic Intra-/Extra-Dimensional Attentional Set-Shifting Task in Adolescent Mice.

Mariasole Ciampoli,Diego Scheggia,Francesco Papaleo

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2021.704684

Abstract

Adolescence is a developmental period crucial for the maturation of higher-order cognitive functions. Indeed, adolescence deficits in executive functions are strong predictors of increased vulnerability to several mental disabilities later in life. Here, we tested adolescent mice in a fully-automated attentional set-shifting task equivalent to the humans’ Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery Intra-/Extra-Dimensional set-shift task (ID/ED). Compared to an adult, adolescent mice required more time to complete the task (≈16 days), and a higher percentage failed to finish the entire task. Nevertheless, adolescent mice completing this demanding task showed an increased effort in solving the extradimensional shift stage (EDS) compared to previous stages. Moreover, we found that this paradigm can be used to detect early cognitive dysfunctions in adolescent genetically modified mice. Thus, this automatic paradigm provides a further tool to assess attentional control in adolescent mice, and the development of dysfunctional executive functions from adolescence to adulthood.

Highlights

Executive functions include the ability to monitor and flexibly change behavior when facing novel situations
We found a distinct behavioral performance of adolescent mice in the Intra-/Extra-dimensional set-shifting task (ID/ED) task compared to adult mice, in agreement with the idea that executive function abilities are still developing during this period
We tested adolescent mice in a fully automated attentional set-shifting task previously validated in adult mice

Summary

Introduction

Executive functions include the ability to monitor and flexibly change behavior when facing novel situations. Neuropsychological assessment of executive functions is commonly done in adolescents, to adults, using tasks such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST; Hintze and Borkowska, 2015; Pontillo et al, 2019), and the CANTAB Intra-/Extra-dimensional set-shifting task (ID/ED; Barnett et al, 2010; Keeler and Robbins, 2011; Papanastasiou et al, 2018; Morrison et al, 2020) These tasks measure attentional set-shifting abilities (Keeler and Robbins, 2011)

Methods

Results

Conclusion