Rats’ Ability to Demonstrate Memory for Objects

Develop a simple and novel task to examine rats’ ability to demonstrate memory for objects, their spatial position, and the context in which they appeared.

To answer this question, investigate memory for objects (what), their spatial location (where), and a temporal element (when). Take another approach and consider the role of context in such tasks. Take into account that a direct comparison with simple object recognition in the standard spontaneous recognition paradigm is not valid. Consider whether the performance demonstrated could occur based on familiarity alone. Memory in this task is acquired easily without apparent effort or motivation and is selectively impaired by disruption of the hippocampal system. Do you think that this task may provide a simple and effective model of episodic-like memory for the rat?