Striatal CREB Phosphorylation Following Cued/Response Learning in the Water Maze Differ in Two Inbred Strains of Mice

Much evidence shows that the hippocampus and striatum play roles as important neural substrates for spatial/place and cued/response learning, respectively. This experiment was conducted to investigate the engagement of the striatum in cued/response learning. The engagement of the striatum was assessed after either place or cue training by determining levels of cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) and phosphorylated CREB (pCREB) in these two mouse strains. Results revealed that striatal CREB levels in both strains of mice were not significantly increased after cued/response learning comparing to place training mediated by the hippocampus. However, striatal pCREB of DBA/2 mice was significantly higher after cued/response training in comparison to place learning, while striatal pCREB levels on C57BL/6 mice did not differ in cued learning versus place learning. These findings indicate that striatal pCREB, specifically associated with cued/response learning, is closely tied to differences in cued/responses strategy preference between C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice.