GENETICALLY-MODIFIED MICE AND COGNITION

Cognition in transgenic and knockout mice is preferentially assessed b y spatial learning in the Morris water maze. Awareness is growing, how ever, that the putative cognitive deficits observed using such a parad igm may be biased by the genetic background and behavioral peculiariti es of the specific animals used. Recent progress in cognitive research includes new behavioral tests and refined analysis of performance imp airments. Advances in our understanding of memory and learning are bei ng made possible through use of transgenic rescue of disrupted genes, inducible and reversible gene targeting in selected brain regions, and single-cell recordings of hippocampal place cells in mutant mice.