RADIAL MAZE-LEARNING USING EXCLUSIVELY DISTANT VISUAL CUES REVEALS LEARNERS AND NONLEARNERS AMONG INBRED MOUSE STRAINS

Spatial working memory on the radial maze was studied in 8 groups of i sogenic mice. The device and procedure were specially designed to prev ent the mice from using a response strategy or taking advantage of olf actory trails or other proximal cues. The results showed that the stra ins of mice were clearly split between those which succeeded (C57BL/6, DBA/2, CB6F1, B6D2F1) and those which failed (NZB, CBA, C3H/HE, BALB/ c) to learn the task. A second experiment established that when more e xtended training was given, the four strains which had performed poorl y in experiment 1 still did not improve their performance. In the conc lusion, we discuss the possible reasons for the deficits of nonlearner s and emphasize the importance of using proper tools to ensure the una mbiguous assessment of the cognitive processes underlying behavioral a daptation.