1. The BACHD Rat Model of Huntington Disease Shows Signs of Fronto-Striatal Dysfunction in Two Operant Conditioning Tests of Short-Term Memory.
- Author
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Clemensson EK, Clemensson LE, Riess O, and Nguyen HP
- Subjects
- Animals, Behavior, Animal, Disease Models, Animal, Head, Male, Rats, Transgenic, Survival Analysis, Time Factors, Video Recording, Conditioning, Operant, Huntington Disease physiopathology, Memory, Short-Term physiology, Neostriatum physiopathology
- Abstract
The BACHD rat is a recently developed transgenic animal model of Huntington disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by extensive loss of striatal neurons. Cognitive impairments are common among patients, and characterization of similar deficits in animal models of the disease is therefore of interest. The present study assessed the BACHD rats' performance in the delayed alternation and the delayed non-matching to position test, two Skinner box-based tests of short-term memory function. The transgenic rats showed impaired performance in both tests, indicating general problems with handling basic aspects of the tests, while short-term memory appeared to be intact. Similar phenotypes have been found in rats with fronto-striatal lesions, suggesting that Huntington disease-related neuropathology might be present in the BACHD rats. Further analyses indicated that the performance deficit in the delayed alternation test might be due to impaired inhibitory control, which has also been implicated in Huntington disease patients. The study ultimately suggests that the BACHD rats might suffer from neuropathology and cognitive impairments reminiscent of those of Huntington disease patients., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Laura Clemensson’s affiliation with QPS Austria is not considered a competing interest, as her contribution to the study was separate from her work at QPS Austria. QPS Austria had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Laura Clemensson’s involvement in the current study should thus be considered the work of an independent researcher, rather than a representative of a commercial company. The affiliation with QPS Austria also does not alter our adherence to PLoS One policies on sharing data and materials.
- Published
- 2017
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