I am looking for the proper test to assess cognition (non social) in juvenile mice (between 25 and 30 post-natal days).
My first reaction is of course what kind of cognition will you assess. How do you define cognition? Spatial cognition? Novel object memory? Odor memory? avoidance? etc. And also for what purpose will you conduct these tests?
yours cordially,
Françoise
See Sabine Hölter: Assessing Cognition [in mice]
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470942390.mo150068/abstract
Hi Nuno
I could help you but the key is: which non-social domains of learning and memory do you want to assess? If spatial, I suggest you a Morris Water Maze taking into account methodological particularities for mice. I would like to suggest you papers but...what do you want to assess? Cordially Ivette
Yes, it depends on what type of cognition. Spatial, executive, episodic? Examples could include t-maze, y-maze, novel object recognition, object in place, Morris Water Maze. You could also change the parameters to look at one type of cognition over the other.
yes, Morris Water Maze is best. But T-maze;, Y-maze, Plus maze and multiple unit T-maze may also be used. It depends in type of cognition you want to study.
As everyone else mentioned, the type of cognition you are looking for and the area of the brain areas you would like it to tap would help determine the task you can use. There are also other factors regarding your experimental design, if you want a task you can do in one day or across multiple days, if you need to test the mice again at a later time point, etc. If you could give me more specifics, I would be happy to help you since I have worked with mice in multiple different cognitive tasks before.
Thanks everyone for all the answers. I am aware and I have practice in the majority of the cognitive tests described, however my main concern is the young age of the mice. Could they easily learn how to perform the task? There is a test more suitable to use in juvenile animals? By now, I do not have a specific cognitive dimension to measure.
To my knowledge p25 is just about weaning with mice. So perhaps this might help: The Meaning of Weaning: Influence of the Weaning Period on Behavioral Development in Mice AT http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2820580/
just a small add: specifying the type of cognition to test requires as an indispensable complement : for what (scientific) goal.
yours -Françoise