Abstract
The role of adult-born neurons in the hippocampal dentate gyrus and its significance in memory processes is a field of high interest. To add to this literature, we investigated the feasibility of ivermectin-based chemogenetic manipulation of recently born neurons in the hippocampus in altering spatial and contextual memory retrieval. The adult-born neurons in male mice were targeted using a nestin-cre mouse model, employing lentivirus-mediated transduction of inhibitory chloride channel constructs sensitive or insensitive to ivermectin in order to be able to silence them during different developmental stages. Two mouse age groups were compared: 5 weeks and 5 months old at the time of lentivirus injection. Behavioural assessments involving the Morris water maze and contextual fear conditioning were conducted. Unexpectedly, ivermectin administration alone led to apparent memory impairments regardless of the virus construct, confounding behavioural test outcomes. This study highlights the challenge of distinguishing specific effects of targeting adult-born neuronal activity from nonspecific effects of ivermectin on cognition.