Spatial memory in the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus)
Wild animals face the challenge of locating feeding sites distributed across broad spatial and temporal scales. Spatial memory allows animals to find a goal, such as a productive feeding patch, even when there are no goalspecific sensory cues available. Because there is little experimental information on learning and memory capabilities in free-ranging primates, the aim […]
Environmental enrichment enhances spatial cognition in rats by reducing thigmotaxis (wall hugging) during testing
Rats, Rattus norvegicus, housed with [`]environmental enrichment’ do better in tests of spatial cognition than rats housed in barren cages. The leading hypothesis is that exposure to [`]social and inanimate complexity’ leads to better cognitive-processing abilities, which directly enhances performance in a spatial task. However, enrichment is associated with reduced stress responses and anxiety in […]
Sex differences, or not, in spatial cognition in albino rats: acute stress is the key
Male rats, Rattus norvegicus, typically outperform females in tests of spatial cognition. However, as stress affects cognition differently in the two sexes, performance differences may be an artefact of stress. Rats face at least two sources of stress during an experiment: the test situation (acute) and housing conditions (chronic, e.g. isolation). We used a task […]
Win-shift and win-stay learning in the rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus)
The tendency to win-shift (to better learn to avoid, rather than return to, recently rewarded locations) has been demonstrated in a variety of nectarivorous birds and in honeybees. It is hypothesized to be a cognitive adaptation to the depleting nature of nectar. In the present study we report the first attempt to test for a […]
A cage without a view increases stress and impairs cognitive performance in rats
Single housing is believed to be chronically stressful and to have a negative impact on welfare and cognition in rats (Rattus norvegicus). However, single housing does not consistently evoke stress-like responses nor does it consistently impair cognitive performance. In an experiment in which all cages were separated by an opaque barrier, single- and pair-housed pigmented […]
Radial-arm-maze behavior of the red-footed tortoise (Geochelone carbonaria)
The radial-arm maze is an established method for testing an animal’s spatial win-shift behavior. Research on mammals, birds, and fish has shown that the mastery of this task is commonly mediated, to different degrees, by two types of strategy: those based on external cues and those based on response stereotypy. In the present study we […]
Three-dimensional spatial cognition: freely swimming fish accurately learn and remember metric information in a volume
All animals live and move through three-dimensional environments, yet we do not understand how three-dimensional space is learned, remembered and used. Pelagic fish are ideal model organisms for studying three-dimensional spatial cognition as they move freely through volumes with six degrees of freedom. This is in contrast to surface-bound animals, such as rats, which are […]