Abstract
Food restriction has been reported to have positive effects on cognition. This study examines how another environmental factor, daylength, can alter the impact of food restriction on the brain and behavior. Female California mice (Peromyscus californicus), housed on either long days (16 h of light and 8 h of darkness) or short days (8 h of light and 16 h of darkness), were restricted to 80% of their normal baseline food intake or provided with food ad libitum. Testing in a Barnes maze revealed that the effects of food restriction depended on photoperiod, and that these effects differed for acquisition vs. reversal learning. During acquisition testing, food restriction increased latency to finding the target hole in short-day mice but not in long-day mice. In reversal testing, food restriction decreased latency to finding the target hole in long-day mice but not in short-day mice. Latency to finding the hole was positively and independently correlated with both errors and time spent freezing, suggesting that changes in both spatial learning and anxiety-like behavior contributed to performance. Short days increased hippocampal expression of the synaptic protein, synapsin I, which was reversed by food restriction. Short days also reduced plasma corticosterone levels, but diet had no effect. There was no effect of diet or photoperiod on hippocampal expression of the glial marker, glial fibrillary acidic protein. The present findings suggest that, in female California mice, the differential effects of food restriction on acquisition and reversal learning are photoperiod-dependent. These results justify further testing of the relationship between food restriction and hippocampal synapsin I in the context of spatial learning.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 361-370 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | European Journal of Neuroscience |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2011 |
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Keywords
- Food deprivation
- Hippocampus
- Learning and memory
- Photoperiodism
- Spatial cognition
- Synapsin I
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience(all)
Cite this
Photoperiod interacts with food restriction in performance in the Barnes maze in female California mice. / Steinman, Michael Q.; Crean, Katie K.; Trainor, Brian C.
In: European Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 33, No. 2, 01.2011, p. 361-370.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Photoperiod interacts with food restriction in performance in the Barnes maze in female California mice
AU - Steinman, Michael Q.
AU - Crean, Katie K.
AU - Trainor, Brian C.
PY - 2011/1
Y1 - 2011/1
N2 - Food restriction has been reported to have positive effects on cognition. This study examines how another environmental factor, daylength, can alter the impact of food restriction on the brain and behavior. Female California mice (Peromyscus californicus), housed on either long days (16 h of light and 8 h of darkness) or short days (8 h of light and 16 h of darkness), were restricted to 80% of their normal baseline food intake or provided with food ad libitum. Testing in a Barnes maze revealed that the effects of food restriction depended on photoperiod, and that these effects differed for acquisition vs. reversal learning. During acquisition testing, food restriction increased latency to finding the target hole in short-day mice but not in long-day mice. In reversal testing, food restriction decreased latency to finding the target hole in long-day mice but not in short-day mice. Latency to finding the hole was positively and independently correlated with both errors and time spent freezing, suggesting that changes in both spatial learning and anxiety-like behavior contributed to performance. Short days increased hippocampal expression of the synaptic protein, synapsin I, which was reversed by food restriction. Short days also reduced plasma corticosterone levels, but diet had no effect. There was no effect of diet or photoperiod on hippocampal expression of the glial marker, glial fibrillary acidic protein. The present findings suggest that, in female California mice, the differential effects of food restriction on acquisition and reversal learning are photoperiod-dependent. These results justify further testing of the relationship between food restriction and hippocampal synapsin I in the context of spatial learning.
AB - Food restriction has been reported to have positive effects on cognition. This study examines how another environmental factor, daylength, can alter the impact of food restriction on the brain and behavior. Female California mice (Peromyscus californicus), housed on either long days (16 h of light and 8 h of darkness) or short days (8 h of light and 16 h of darkness), were restricted to 80% of their normal baseline food intake or provided with food ad libitum. Testing in a Barnes maze revealed that the effects of food restriction depended on photoperiod, and that these effects differed for acquisition vs. reversal learning. During acquisition testing, food restriction increased latency to finding the target hole in short-day mice but not in long-day mice. In reversal testing, food restriction decreased latency to finding the target hole in long-day mice but not in short-day mice. Latency to finding the hole was positively and independently correlated with both errors and time spent freezing, suggesting that changes in both spatial learning and anxiety-like behavior contributed to performance. Short days increased hippocampal expression of the synaptic protein, synapsin I, which was reversed by food restriction. Short days also reduced plasma corticosterone levels, but diet had no effect. There was no effect of diet or photoperiod on hippocampal expression of the glial marker, glial fibrillary acidic protein. The present findings suggest that, in female California mice, the differential effects of food restriction on acquisition and reversal learning are photoperiod-dependent. These results justify further testing of the relationship between food restriction and hippocampal synapsin I in the context of spatial learning.
KW - Food deprivation
KW - Hippocampus
KW - Learning and memory
KW - Photoperiodism
KW - Spatial cognition
KW - Synapsin I
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78651444774&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=78651444774&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07528.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07528.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 21198981
AN - SCOPUS:78651444774
VL - 33
SP - 361
EP - 370
JO - European Journal of Neuroscience
JF - European Journal of Neuroscience
SN - 0953-816X
IS - 2
ER -