Sex-specific variations in spatial reference memory acquisition: Insights from a comprehensive behavioral test battery in C57BL/6JRj mice
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Melgar-Locatelli, Sonia; Mañas Padilla, M. Carmen; Gavito, Ana L.; Rivera, Patricia; Rodríguez Pérez, Celia; Castilla Ortega, Estela; Castro Zavala, AdrianaEditorial
Elsevier
Materia
Morris water maze Object recognition Females
Date
2024Referencia bibliográfica
Behavioural Brain Research 459 (2024) 114806 [10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114806]
Sponsorship
"Miguel Servet I" research contract from the National System of Health, EU-ERDF-ISCIII (CP19/00068); Predoctoral grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (FPU17/00276); Postdoctoral research contract from Secretaría General de Universidades, Investigación y Tecnología– Junta de Andalucía (POSTDOC21_00365); MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 PID2020–114374RB-I00; Junta de Andalucía P21_00777; Ministerio de Sanidad, Delegación de Gobierno para el Plan Nacional sobre Drogas Grant 2020/048; Universidad de MálagaAbstract
Sex differences in declarative memory are described in humans, revealing a female or a male advantage
depending on the task. Specifically, spatial memory (i.e., spatial navigation) is typically most efficient in men.
This sexual dimorphism has been replicated in male rats but not clearly in mice. In this study, sex differences in
spatial memory were assessed in thirty-six C57BL/6 J mice (Janvier Labs; i.e., C57BL/6JRj mice), a widely used
mouse substrain. Both male and female mice (12 weeks-old) were subjected to standard behavioral paradigms:
the elevated plus maze, the open field test, the novel object and place tests, the forced swimming test, and the
water maze test for spatial navigation. Across assessment, no sex differences were found in measures of locomotor
activity, emotional and behavioral responses, and object and place recognition memories. In the water
maze, male mice were faster in learning the platform location in the reference memory training and used more
spatial strategies during the first training days. However, both sexes reached a similar asymptotic performance
and performed similarly in the probe trial for long-term memory consolidation. No sex differences were found in
the cued training, platform inversion sessions, or spatial working memory sessions. Hippocampal expression of
the brain-derived neurotrophic factor was similar in both sexes, either in basal conditions or after performing the
behavioral training battery. Importantly, female mice were not more variable than males in any measure
analyzed. This outcome encourages the investigation of sex differences in animal models and the usefulness of
including female mice in behavioral research.