Executive functions in agenesis of the corpus callosum: Working memory and sustained attention in the BTBR inbred mouse strain

Bibliographic Details
Title: Executive functions in agenesis of the corpus callosum: Working memory and sustained attention in the BTBR inbred mouse strain
Authors: Loren A. Martin, Fang‐Wei Hsu, Brooke Herd, Michael Gregg, Hannah Sample, Jason Kaplan
Source: Brain and Behavior, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp n/a-n/a (2021)
Publisher Information: Wiley, 2021.
Publication Year: 2021
Collection: LCC:Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Subject Terms: attention, autism, behavioral paradigms, cognition, RRID:IMSR_JAX:000664, RRID:IMSR_JAX:002282, Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry, RC321-571
More Details: Abstract Introduction Agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) is characterized by the congenital partial or complete absence of the corpus callosum. Several strains of mice have been reported to carry AgCC, with the BTBR T+Itpr3tf/J (BTBR) inbred mouse strain consistently showing a complete absence of the corpus callosum, as well as a variable reduction in the size of the hippocampal commissure. While much research has focused on the social deficits of the BTBR strain, little research on its cognitive behavior has been conducted. The goal of our study was to compare two facets of executive functioning, spatial working memory, and sustained attention between the BTBR and C57BL/6J (B6) strains. Methods Spatial working memory was measured utilizing a delayed matching‐to‐position (DMTP) task and sustained attention was measured utilizing an operant task in which mice were trained to distinguish signal and nonsignal events. Results Both the BTBR and B6 mice demonstrated a predictable decline in performance on the DMTP task as the delay interval increased and predictable increase in performance on the sustained attention task as the duration of the signal event increased. Although no significant differences were found between strains on the performance of these tasks, there was a significant difference in learning the association between lever pressing and food reward. Histological investigation confirmed the complete absence of commissural fibers from the corpus callosum, but also the hippocampal commissure, counter to a previous study. Conclusion The results suggest spatial working memory and sustained attention are unaffected by the absence of these commissural fibers alone.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2162-3279
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2162-3279
DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1933
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/61e49ca57ec349dda373500cb362a981
Accession Number: edsdoj.61e49ca57ec349dda373500cb362a981
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:21623279
DOI:10.1002/brb3.1933
Published in:Brain and Behavior
Language:English