Author:

Keywords:

Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Neurosciences, Neurosciences & Neurology, functional connectivity, Morris water maze, mouse brain, search strategy, spatial learning, MEDIAL FRONTAL-CORTEX, ANTERIOR CINGULATE, SYNAPTIC PLASTICITY, MEMORY, HIPPOCAMPAL, LESIONS, RODENT, INACTIVATION, OSCILLATIONS, INTEGRATION, Animals, Brain, Brain Mapping, Female, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Maze Learning, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Reversal Learning, Spatial Processing, C14/17/042#54271066, 1109 Neurosciences, 1701 Psychology, 1702 Cognitive Sciences, Experimental Psychology, 3209 Neurosciences, 5202 Biological psychology, 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology

Abstract:

Learning has been proposed to coincide with changes in connections between brain regions. In the present study, we used resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) to map brain-wide functional connectivity (FC) in mice that were trained in the hidden-platform version of the Morris water maze. C57BL6 mice were investigated in a small animal MRI scanner following 2, 10, or 15 days of acquisition learning, or 5 days of reversal learning. Spatial learning coincided with progressive and changing FC between telencephalic regions that have been implemented in spatial learning (such as hippocampus, cingulate, visual, and motor cortex). Search strategy assessment demonstrated that the use of cognitively advanced spatial strategies correlated positively with extensive telencephalic connectivity, whereas non-spatial strategies correlated negatively with connectivity. FC patterns were different and more extensive after reversal learning compared with after extended acquisition learning, which could explain why reversal learning has been shown to be more sensitive to subtle functional defects.