Source Paper
Selective Roles for Hippocampal, Prefrontal Cortical, and Ventral Striatal Circuits in Radial-Arm Maze Tasks With or Without a Delay
Stan B. Floresco, Jeremy K. Seamans, Anthony G. Phillips
Journal of Neuroscience • 1997
Nondelayed Radial-Arm Maze Task
Objective: To investigate the role of hippocampal, prefrontal cortical, and ventral striatal circuits in spatial cognition during a nondelayed radial-arm maze task where rats search for food without prior knowledge of food locations
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Equipment1
Not specified • Not specified • Not specified • Not specified
Materials1
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Protocol Steps
Nondelayed radial-arm maze task setup
Rats are placed in a radial-arm maze without prior training or knowledge of food locations. This single-phase task is identical to the test phase of the delayed task but conducted without a preceding training phase.
Note: Rats lack previous knowledge of the location of food on the maze in this nondelayed condition
View evidence from paper
“The single-phase nondelayed task was identical to the test phase of the delayed task, but in the absence of a training phase rats lacked previous knowledge of the location of food on the maze.”
Bilateral lidocaine injection into ventral CA1/subiculum
Transient inactivation of the ventral CA1/subiculum (vSub) is achieved through bilateral injection of lidocaine to test its role in nondelayed foraging performance.
Note: This manipulation disrupts performance on the nondelayed task
View evidence from paper
“Transient inactivation of the ventral CA1/subiculum (vSub) by a bilateral injection of lidocaine disrupted performance on both tasks.”
Unilateral disconnection of ventral CA1/subiculum and nucleus accumbens
Lidocaine is injected into the vSub on one side of the brain and the nucleus accumbens on the other side to transiently disconnect these two brain regions during the nondelayed task.
Note: This disconnection specifically impairs foraging during the nondelayed task but not the delayed task
View evidence from paper
“Transient disconnections between the vSub and the nucleus accumbens produced the opposite effect, disrupting foraging during the nondelayed task but not during the delayed task.”
Measure foraging performance
Observe and record rat foraging behavior during the nondelayed radial-arm maze task, measuring performance outcomes related to spatial navigation and food location discovery.
Note: Performance is assessed under different neural inactivation conditions
View evidence from paper
“In contrast, exploratory goal-directed locomotion in a novel situation not requiring previously acquired information about the location of food is dependent on serial transmission between the hippocampus and the nucleus accumbens.”