Intramaze and extramaze cue processing in adult APPSWE Tg2576 transgenic mice.

The present study examined spatial and nonspatial learning in adult Tg2576 mice. Transgenic mice were impaired in acquisition of a T-maze forced-choice alternation task. However, mutant mice were as sensitive as control mice to the introduction of retention intervals and proactive interference, and this suggested that short-term memory processes were intact in Tg2576 mice. Probe trials revealed that the Tg2576 mice did not use an allocentric strategy to navigate to the goal arm. However, mutant mice acquired an intramaze brightness discrimination, a simple room discrimination, and a contextual biconditional left-right discrimination in a T maze. Results suggest that Tg2576 mice are able to process both intramaze and extramaze stimuli but are impaired in forming an allocentric representation of their environment.