The free-movement pattern Y-maze: a cross-species measure of working memory and executive function
The free-movement pattern Y-maze: a cross-species measure of working memory and executive function
Numerous neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders are associated with deficits in executive functions, such as working memory and cognitive flexibility. Progress in developing effective treatments for disorders may benefit from targeting these cognitive impairments, the success of which is predicated on the development of animal models with validated behavioural assays. Zebrafish offer a promising model for studying complex brain disorders, but tasks assessing executive function are lacking. The Free movement pattern (FMP) Ymaze combines aspects of the common Y-maze assay, which exploits the inherent motivation of an organism to explore an unknown environment, with analysis based on a series of sequential two-choice discriminations. We validate the task as a measure of working memory and executive function by comparing task performance parameters in adult zebrafish treated with a range of glutamatergic, cholinergic and dopaminergic drugs known to impair working memory and cognitive flexibility. We demonstrate the cross-species validity of the task by assessing performance parameters in adapted versions of the task for mice and Drosophila, and finally a virtual version in humans, and identify remarkable commonalities between vertebrate species’ navigation of the maze. Together, our results demonstrate that the FMP Y-maze is a sensitive assay for assessing working memory and cognitive flexibility across species from invertebrates to humans, providing a simple and widely applicable behavioural assay with exceptional translational relevance.
FMP Y-maze; zebrafish; Drosophila; working memory; executive function; translational research
Cleal, Madeleine
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Fontana, Barbara
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Ranson, Daniel
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McBride, Sebastian
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Swinny, Jerome
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Redhead, Edward
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Parker, Matthew
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Cleal, Madeleine
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Fontana, Barbara
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Ranson, Daniel
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McBride, Sebastian
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Swinny, Jerome
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Redhead, Edward
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Parker, Matthew
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Cleal, Madeleine, Fontana, Barbara, Ranson, Daniel, McBride, Sebastian, Swinny, Jerome, Redhead, Edward and Parker, Matthew
(2020)
The free-movement pattern Y-maze: a cross-species measure of working memory and executive function.
Behavior Research Methods.
(doi:10.3758/s13428-020-01452-x).
Abstract
Numerous neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders are associated with deficits in executive functions, such as working memory and cognitive flexibility. Progress in developing effective treatments for disorders may benefit from targeting these cognitive impairments, the success of which is predicated on the development of animal models with validated behavioural assays. Zebrafish offer a promising model for studying complex brain disorders, but tasks assessing executive function are lacking. The Free movement pattern (FMP) Ymaze combines aspects of the common Y-maze assay, which exploits the inherent motivation of an organism to explore an unknown environment, with analysis based on a series of sequential two-choice discriminations. We validate the task as a measure of working memory and executive function by comparing task performance parameters in adult zebrafish treated with a range of glutamatergic, cholinergic and dopaminergic drugs known to impair working memory and cognitive flexibility. We demonstrate the cross-species validity of the task by assessing performance parameters in adapted versions of the task for mice and Drosophila, and finally a virtual version in humans, and identify remarkable commonalities between vertebrate species’ navigation of the maze. Together, our results demonstrate that the FMP Y-maze is a sensitive assay for assessing working memory and cognitive flexibility across species from invertebrates to humans, providing a simple and widely applicable behavioural assay with exceptional translational relevance.
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Cleal et al 2020_ BRM_accepted
- Accepted Manuscript
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Cleal 2020 Article The Free movement Pattern Y-maze
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 7 July 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 3 August 2020
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
MC is funded by a University of Portsmouth Science Faculty PhD Studentship. BDF is funded by CAPES foundation, Brazil. DCR is funded by the Society for the Study of Addiction. MOP currently receives funding from Alzheimer’s Research UK, Foundation for Liver Research and The British Academy. We have no known conflict of interest to declare.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
Keywords:
FMP Y-maze; zebrafish; Drosophila; working memory; executive function; translational research
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 443054
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/443054
ISSN: 1554-351X
PURE UUID: 33973397-17f6-4a13-a3d4-7260115a15ac
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Date deposited: 07 Aug 2020 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:47
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Contributors
Author:
Madeleine Cleal
Author:
Barbara Fontana
Author:
Daniel Ranson
Author:
Sebastian McBride
Author:
Jerome Swinny
Author:
Matthew Parker
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