Figure 4

Activity and learning ability of E10+/− and E10−/− mice in IntelliCage. (A) 9–10 months-old mice devoid of tau exon 10 (E10−/−) were less active when habituating to IntelliCages as compared to E10+/− mice (E10+/−, n = 10; E10−/−; n = 12). No genotype-dependent differences were observed during (B) Place learning, (C) Reversal learning and (D) Extinction of place learning (E10+/−, n = 10; E10−/−; n = 10). (D) The results were indicative of response perseverance since the previously rewarded corner (rewarded RL learning; p < 0.001) was preferred when compared to chance level (dotted line, 12.5%) when all locations were again made accessible for drinking. (E) In passive avoidance, the mice significantly avoided those corners in which an aversive stimulus had been given during training (p < 0.001) and probe trial (p < 0.001) when compared to chance level (dotted line, 25%), i.e. the animals learnt and remembered but there were no genotype-dependent differences in associative learning or memory. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.