Object exploration in staggerer mutant mice

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Abstract

Staggerer mutant mice, which lose Purkinje and granule cells in the cerebellum, were found to explore for a longer period of time than normal mice a novel object placed in a familiar environment. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of general motor activity. These results are discussed in regard to a role for the cerebellum in behavioral inhibition and emotion.

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    It coud be, as suggested by Tanaka et al. [40], that such a frontal dysfunction is characterized by an impairment of the inhibitory system. Such a view would agree with decrease in anxiety, neophilic reactions and disinhibition recorded in mutant mice whose cerebellar cortex is almost completely degenerated, such as staggerer [15], in early cerebellar lesioned rats [3], as well as in transgenic mice overexpressing bcl-2 in neurons [33] which are characterized by supernumerary neurons in the central nervous system, including the cerebellum. We have previously found a functional lateralization of the cerebellum concerning motor function, the motor deficits being more pronounced after left as opposed to right cerebellar damage [7].

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