Hippocampal activity in C57BL/6 mice was studied during exploration of novel spaces of different levels of complexity and learning by neuromapping using the induction of c-Fos protein by nervous activity. c-Fos-immunopositive neurons were counted at eight levels along the whole of the rostrocaudal axis of the hippocampus. In experiment 1, mice were given six opportunities on a single day to find the entrance to the home cage through one of the arms of a modified eight-arm radial maze. Animals of the active control group were released into the home cage via an isolated arm. Mice tested in the eight-arm maze showed an inhomogeneous increase in c-Fos expression along the rostrocaudal axis: activation in the caudal part of fields CA1 and CA3 and the dentate fascia was significantly greater than that in the rostral part. In experiment 2, animals were tested in a novel open field. In this situation, the increase in expression in the caudal part of field CA1 was greater than that in the rostral part, though in field CA3 and the dentate fascia there was uniform activation over the whole rostrocaudal extent. Both experiments identified positive correlations between the density of c-Fos-positive neurons and measures of investigative activity. These data provide evidence that placing of animals in a novel space leads to inhomogeneous activation of the hippocampal field along its rostrocaudal axis.
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Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel’nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 62, No. 1, p. 43–55, January–February, 2012.
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Kuptsov, P.A., Pleskacheva, M.G. & Anokhin, K.V. Inhomogeneous Rostrocaudal Activation of the Hippocampus in Mice after Exploration of a Novel Space. Neurosci Behav Physi 43, 298–307 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-013-9731-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-013-9731-2