Visual detection, pattern discrimination and visual acuity in 14 strains of mice

Abstract

Based on the procedure of Prusky et al. (2000, Vision Research, 40, 2201–2209), we used a computer‐based, two‐alternative swim task to evaluate visual detection, pattern discrimination and visual acuity in 14 strains of mice from priority groups A and B of the JAX phenome project (129S1/SvImJ, A/J, AKR/J, BALB/cByJ, BALB/cJ, C3H/HeJ, C57BL/6J, CAST/Ei, DBA/2J, FVB/NJ, MOLF/Ei, SJL/J, SM/J and SPRET/Ei). Each mouse was tested for eight trials/day for 8 days on each of the three tests. There was a significant strain difference in visual ability in all three tests. Mice with reported normal vision (129S1/SvImJ, C57BL/6J and DBA/2J) and one albino strain (AKR/J) performed very well in these tasks. The other albino strains (A/J, BALB/cByJ and BALB/cJ) took longer to learn the tasks than mice with normal vision and did not reach the criterion of 70% correct. Mice with retinal degeneration (C3H/HeJ, FVB/NJ, MOLF/Ei and SJL/J) performed only at chance levels as did the three strains with unknown visual abilities (CAST/Ei, SM/J and SPRET/Ei). Because many behavioral tasks for rodents rely on visual cues, we suggest that the visual abilities of mice should be evaluated before they are tested in commonly used visuo‐spatial learning and memory tasks.