A single brief stressful event time-dependently affects object recognition memory and promotes familiarity preference in marmoset monkeys

Costa, Clara S.; Oliveira, André W.C.; Easton, Alexander; Barros, Marilia

Abstract

A stressful experience can enhance information storage and impair memory retrieval in the rodent novel object recognition (NOR) task. However, recent conflicting results underscore the need for further investigation. Nonhuman primates may provide a unique, underexplored and more translational means to investigate stress-mediated changes in memory. Therefore, we assessed whether a single brief extrinsic stress event affects information encoding, storage and/or retrieval in adult marmoset monkeys submitted to the NOR task. This consisted of an initial 10 min familiarization period with two identical neutral objects. After a 6 h delay, a 10 min test trial was held where a new and familiar object could be explored. Stress was induced by a 15 min restraint event held before or after the encoding phase, or prior to retrieval. Pre-encoding stress had no effect on task performance, as this group displayed above-chance novelty preference similar to non-stressed controls. Post-encoding stress induced memory deficits, with both objects being explored equally. Interestingly, pre-retrieval stress induced an above-chance familiarity preference. A single brief stressful event thus affects recognition memory in a time-dependent manner. Also, negative discrimination ratios can be used as a measure of memory in the NOR task and a change in strategy may not mean memory failure in spontaneous learning paradigms.

Citation

Costa, C. S., Oliveira, A. W., Easton, A., & Barros, M. (2022). A single brief stressful event time-dependently affects object recognition memory and promotes familiarity preference in marmoset monkeys. Behavioural Processes, 199, Article 104645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104645

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 20, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Apr 27, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022-06
• Deposit Date: Apr 25, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 27, 2023
• Journal: Behavioural Processes
• Print ISSN: 0376-6357
• Electronic ISSN: 1872-8308
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 199
• Article Number: 104645
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104645
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1209864