In the present study, we used a new training paradigm in the intelliCage 
automatic behavioral assessment system to investigate cognitive functions of the 
transgenic mice harboring London mutation of the human amyloid precursor protein 
(APP.V717I). Three groups of animals: 5-, 12- and 18-24-month old were subjected 
to both Water Maze training and the IntelliCage-based appetitive conditioning. 
The spatial memory deficit was observed in all three groups of transgenic mice 
in both behavioral paradigms. However, the APP mice were capable to learn 
normally when co-housed with the wild-type (WT) littermates, in contrast to 
clearly impaired learning observed when the transgenic mice were housed alone. 
Furthermore, in the transgenic mice kept in the Intellicage alone, the cognitive 
deficit of the young animals was modulated by the circadian rhythm, namely was 
prominent only during the active phase of the day. The novel approach to study 
the transgenic mice cognitive abilities presented in this paper offers new 
insight into cognitive dysfunctions of the Alzheimer's disease mouse model.