Dear Researchers,
I am working on a behavioral and molecular study in a transgenic mice model. I want to evaluate the improvement in cognitive ability among mice after using certain agents. I want to know if it is necessary to test Morris maze among both male and female?
Please, if possible provide me with an article to read more about this.
Regards,
Mohammed
It may be advisable to test in both males and females, because as you are aware, literature abounds with examples of sex differences in performance on memory tasks.
It will be advisable to first establish the basal cognitive effects of the agents to be tested; in whih case,you are either using one sex or mixed sex. To check the effect of sex means you are already suspecting the influence of sex hormones.
Dear Ahmed,
You have raised a very interesting question to answer....
I have been working on both male and female rats since 8 years of my professional career. It would give an added value to your research when you work in both genders as the physiology of hormones is entirely different in male and female counter parts and also the applicability of the work is more relevant.
There are certain cases where you can do studies only in females as in case of finding interventions or developing animal models for "Chemobrain" in relation to breast cancer survivors.
In one of my studies, we noticed that female rats are more relevant to evaluate "Chemobrain" effects. You can find the same on my RG home page publications. Although, estrus cycle may have some influencing effects on cognitive function, it is always advisable to evaluate cognitive function in female animals as it will have added support and advantage of improving your work's quality whenever it is feasible to perform.
Hope this will help you...
Thanking You,
Best Regards,
Grandhi V Ramalingayya
I agree that it is important for any of the studies to test both males and females. Long history of differences in neuronal plasticity alone makes such studies important.
Effects of sex on behavioural tests are well known. Concerning Morris Water Maze, here you can see an example of the differences between male and female C57BL/6 mice:
Sex differences in learning and memory in mice: Effects of sequence of testing and cholinergic blockade, Berger-Sweeney et al., 1995 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8554711)
But what would be even more interesting in your case is to evaluate a possible treatment x sex interaction effect (i.e. if the treatment has the same effect on both sexes) or, similarly, a mutation x sex interaction effect. So, yes, if you can, it is always useful to test both male and female animals. But, of course, sometimes it will not be possible due to budget limits or time schedules.
It is advisable to perform cognitive function test in both sex of mice as there is sex differences in brain function and development due to the influence of sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone. Additionally, the enzymes involving in biosynthesis of these hormones like aromatase also have differential impact on cognitive functions in male and female mice.
Dear Mohammed, Yes run your tests using both males and females as there are very significant sex differences, not only in ability but also in style for solving the WM problem. Please read our published work. I believe you will find the information there. You can check Pubmed or ISI web of Science (Pogun & Kanit). If you have any problem accessing our papers, let me know.
With my pleasure, Mohamed!
http://www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/asc/Healy/Default.htm
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