Source Paper
Hippocampal Plasticity across Multiple Days of Exposure to Novel Environments
Loren M. Frank, Garrett B. Stanley, Emery N. Brown
Journal of Neuroscience • 2004
Novel Environment Exposure Behavioral Task
Objective: Examine changes in place-specific firing of CA1 hippocampal neurons and behavioral changes as rats are exposed to novel environments across multiple days to understand hippocampal spatial representation formation
This is a Novel Environment Exposure Behavioral Task protocol using rat as the model organism. The procedure involves 3 procedural steps. Extracted from a 2004 paper published in Journal of Neuroscience.
Model and subjects
rat • Not specified • unknown • Not specified • Not specified
Study window
~20 minutes hands-on
Core workflow
Initial Exposure to Novel Environment - Day 1 • Continued Exposure to Novel Environment - Day 2 • Extended Exposure and Stabilization Monitoring
Primary readouts
- Place-specific firing patterns of CA1 hippocampal neurons
- Development of place fields in previously silent neurons
- Changes in neural activity across days of exposure
- Behavioral changes in novel versus familiar environments
Key equipment and reagents
Verified items
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Protocol Steps
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Initial Exposure to Novel Environment - Day 1
Rats are exposed to a novel place for the first time. Behavioral observations and neural recordings are conducted during this initial exposure period.
Note: Many neurons showed rapid changes on the first day, including previously silent neurons developing place fields over a single pass through the environment
View evidence from paper
“many neurons showed very rapid changes on the first day of exposure to the novel place, including many cases in which a previously silent neuron developed a place field”
Continued Exposure to Novel Environment - Day 2
Rats are re-exposed to the same novel environment on day 2. Neural activity and behavior are recorded to measure changes from day 1.
Note: Largest changes in neural activity occurred on day 2, but only if animals had less than 4 minutes experience on day 1. Longer day 1 exposures were associated with smaller day 2 changes.
View evidence from paper
“the largest changes in neural activity occurred on day 2 of exposure to a novel place, but only if the animal had little experience (<4 min) in that location on day 1”
Extended Exposure and Stabilization Monitoring
Continued monitoring of neural activity and behavior across multiple days to determine when hippocampal spatial representations stabilize.
Note: Hippocampal neurons required 5-6 minutes of experience to form a stable spatial representation. Even after representation stabilized, animals' behavior remained different in novel places.
View evidence from paper
“hippocampal neurons required 5-6 min of experience to form a stable spatial representation. Even after the representation stabilized, the animals' behavior remained different in the novel places”