Transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are instrumental in revealing the factors that affect cognition in AD patients. Many models utilize mice that express a mutant form of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene associated with AD, develop deposits of β-amyloid, and present with behavioral deficits in adulthood. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the behavioral phenotype of App_sw/Tg2576 transgenic mice that had been back-crossed onto a C57Bl/6 background for 2-3 generations. The mice were then tested at six months of age in three different behavioral paradigms: locomotor activity, Morris Water Maze spatial memory task, and an object recognition task. Mice positive for the APP mutation showed significant increases in locomotor activity. App_sw/Tg2576 mice also demonstrated significant deficits in performance in the hidden and visible platform conditions of the spatial memory swim maze task. Finally, in the object recognition task, App_sw/Tg2576 mice demonstrated significantly reduced recognition in a novel object condition. These results suggest that the App_sw/Tg2576 mice have a distinctive behavioral phenotype. Future studies will focus on the effects of psychopharmacological agents on this transgenic mouse model in an effort to improve behavioral outcomes.

This work was funded by the Kentucky Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network through a grant from the National Center for Research Resources – Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Program (NIH Grant Number 2 P20 RR-16481).