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Shan, X.* ; Contreras, M.P.* ; Sawangjit, A.* ; Dimitrov, S.* ; Born, J. ; Inostroza, M.*

Rearing is critical for forming spatial representations in pre-weanling rats.

Behav. Brain Res. 452:114545 (2023)
DOI PMC
Open Access Green as soon as Postprint is submitted to ZB.
Rearing, i.e., standing on the hind limbs in an upright posture, is part of a rat's innate exploratory motor program. Here, we examined in developing rats whether rearing is critical for the pup's capability to form spatial representations based on distal environmental cues. Pups (male) were tested at PD18, i.e., the first day they typically exhibit stable rearing, on a spatial habituation paradigm comprising a Familiarization session (with the pup exposed to an arena with a specific configuration of distal cues) followed, 3 h later, by a Test session where the pups were either re-exposed to the identical distal cue configuration (NoChange) or a changed configuration (DistalChange). In Experiment 1, rearing activity (rearing events, duration) decreased from Familiarization to Test in the NoChange pups but, remained elevated in the DistalChange group indicating that these pups recognized the distal novelty. Recognition of distal novelty was associated with increased c-Fos expression in hippocampal and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) areas, compared with NoChange pups. Analysis of GAD67+ cells suggested a parallel increase in excitation and inhibition specifically in prelimbic mPFC networks in response to distal cue changes. In Experiment 2, the pups were mechanically prevented from rearing while still seeing the distal cues during Familiarization. Rearing activity in the Test session of these pups did not differ between groups that were or were not exposed to a changed distal cue configuration at Test. The findings evidence a critical role of rearing for the emergence of allocentric representations integrating distal space during early development.
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Publication type Article: Journal article
Document type Scientific Article
Corresponding Author
Keywords Development ; Distal Cues ; Hippocampus ; Medial Prefrontal Cortex ; Rearing ; Upright Position; Distal Cue Utilization; Prefrontal Cortex; Object-context; Dentate Gyrus; Memory; Navigation; Recognition; Behaviors; Ontogeny; Walking
ISSN (print) / ISBN 0166-4328
e-ISSN 1872-7549
Journal Behavioural Brain Research
Quellenangaben Volume: 452, Issue: , Pages: , Article Number: 114545 Supplement: ,
Publisher Elsevier
Publishing Place Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands
Non-patent literature Publications
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
Institute(s) Institute of Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases (IDM)
Grants Hertie Foundation (Hertie Network of Excellence in Clinical Neuroscience)
European Research Council
Deutsche For schungsgemeinschaft
China Scholarship Council