The Black Box effect: sensory stimulation after learning interferes with the retention of long-term object location memory in rats.

Reducing sensory experiences during the period that immediately follows learning improves long-term memory retention in healthy humans, and even preserves memory in patients with amnesia. To date, it is entirely unclear why this is the case, and identifying the neurobiological mechanisms underpinning this effect requires suitable animal models, which are currently lacking. Here, we describe a straightforward experimental procedure in rats that future studies can use to directly address this issue.

Metformin ameliorates core deficits in a mouse model of fragile X syndrome.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the leading monogenic cause of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Trinucleotide repeat expansions in FMR1 abolish FMRP expression, leading to hyperactivation of ERK and mTOR signaling upstream of mRNA translation. Here we show that metformin, the most widely used drug for type 2 diabetes, rescues core phenotypes in Fmr1 mice and selectively normalizes ERK signaling, eIF4E phosphorylation and the expression of MMP-9.

Social propinquity in rodents as measured by tube cooccupancy differs between inbred and outbred genotypes.

Existing assays of social interaction are suboptimal, and none measures propinquity, the tendency of rodents to maintain close physical proximity. These assays are ubiquitously performed using inbred mouse strains and mutations placed on inbred genetic backgrounds. We developed the automatable tube cooccupancy test (TCOT) based on propinquity, the tendency of freely mobile rodents to maintain close physical proximity, and assessed TCOT behavior on a variety of genotypes and social and environmental conditions.