Brain areas contributing to different phases of visual spatial learning in mice and humans

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Brain areas contributing to different phases of visual spatial learning in mice and humans Ilse Gantois1*, Annelies Laeremans2, Daniel Woolley3, Lut Arckens2, Nici Wenderoth3 and Rudi D Hooge1 1 K.U, Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Belgium 2 KU, Laboratory of Neuroplasticity and Neuroproteomics, Belgium 3 KU, Laboratory of Movement Control and Neuroplasticity, Belgium It is well established that the striatum and hippocampus are critically involved in visuo-spatial learning processes. There is evidence that these structures contribute at different phases of learning. Comparing brain activation in a similar spatial learning task between mice and humans will provide more insight into the specific differential and time dependent contributions of striatum and hippocampus. Additionally, we will further assess if there is also overlap in the function of these brain areas. Mice were trained in the Morris water maze task for either 3 days (early learning phase group) or 4 weeks (late learning phase group). Neuronal activity at different phases of spatial learning was determined by a comparison of expression levels of the immediate early genes Arc, Homer1a and Zif268 in hippocampus and striatum between different mouse groups. Data show higher activity of the hippocampus during the early learning phase compared to the late phase, as expected. Upregulation of the ventrolateral striatum was observed during the early learning phase, while activity was higher in dorsal striatum during the late learning phase. We developed a virtual Morris water maze to measure human brain activation during different phases of learning. The task was designed to ensure that specific learning processes observed in both species are comparable. First fMRI data show increased activation of striatum in the late learning phase when compared to the early learning phase of the task (specifically during the initial orientation period of the trial). Using the human virtual Morris water maze allows us to cross-validate learning related plasticity between mouse and human research. Conference: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting, Rhodes Island, Greece, 13 Sep - 18 Sep, 2009. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster presentations Citation: Gantois I, Laeremans A, Woolley D, Arckens L, Wenderoth N and D Hooge R (2009). Brain areas contributing to different phases of visual spatial learning in mice and humans. Conference Abstract: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.08.2009.09.153 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 09 Jun 2009; Published Online: 09 Jun 2009. * Correspondence: Ilse Gantois, K.U, Laboratory of Biological Psychology, Leuven, Belgium, ilse.gantois@psy.kuleuven.be Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Ilse Gantois Annelies Laeremans Daniel Woolley Lut Arckens Nici Wenderoth Rudi D Hooge Google Ilse Gantois Annelies Laeremans Daniel Woolley Lut Arckens Nici Wenderoth Rudi D Hooge Google Scholar Ilse Gantois Annelies Laeremans Daniel Woolley Lut Arckens Nici Wenderoth Rudi D Hooge PubMed Ilse Gantois Annelies Laeremans Daniel Woolley Lut Arckens Nici Wenderoth Rudi D Hooge Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.