LACK OF STRAIN DIFFERENCES IN SPATIAL-LEARNING AMONG SEIZURE-PRONE AND SEIZURE-RESISTANT MICE

Learning rates were examined in the following inbred mice strains: DBA /2, C3H/He, C57BI/6J, El, and ddY. DBA/2 mice become susceptible to au diogenic seizures after 2-3 weeks of age and El mice have generalized seizures in response to handling after 3 months of age, but the remain ing three strains do not develop seizures. In this study, mice from al l five strains underwent 32 training trials in a Morris water maze at 7-9 weeks of age. The seizure-prone DBA/2 and El mice, along with the nonepileptic ddY and C57Bl/6J mice, exhibited learning at similar rate s, but the nonepileptic C3H/He mice were unable to learn the water maz e task, probably due to visual difficulties. In the C57Bl/6J strain on ly, female mice learned the task significantly faster than males. Ther e was no difference in the learning rate between the El strain and its parent ddY strain, or any correlation between spatial learning abilit y and kindling rates in these strains.