Spatial Short-Term Memory

Given the willingness of rodents to explore new environments, the Y-Maze Test is widely used for testing the conditions affecting memory and learning. Pandolfo et al. [51] assessed SHRs' spatial short-term memory, using a Y-maze paradigm. When compared with WKY rats, the control group SHRs displayed a spatial learning deficit. Importantly, treatment with caffeine (2 mg/kg, i.p.) during adolescence improved SHR memory impairment. Nunes et al. [57] evaluated spatial memory in male and female SHRs using the Y-maze task at PND 53. Female SHRs showed worsened spatial memory. Although caffeine (0.3 g/L) showed effectiveness against recognition memory deficiency in males and females, only female SHRs increased the number of entries in the novel arm following caffeine treatment, from PND 15 to 55, and showed spatial memory recovery.

#### 3.2.4. Olfactory Discrimination

França et al. [56] assessed the effects of caffeine consumption (0.3 mg/mL) and physical exercise on running on wheels over 6 weeks, during either adolescence (30 days old) or adulthood (4–5 months old), by means of SHR during the olfactory discrimination test. Besides providing the first evidence of deficits in olfactory discrimination in both adolescent and adult SHRs, the authors showed how caffeine, together with physical exercise, was able to restore olfactory discrimination ability in these animals during adolescence or adulthood.
