Development of spatial memory in occlusion-experienced domestic chicks
At around day 11 of life, domestic chicks show a tendency to move out of sight of their mother before returning and regaining social and visual contact. We conducted a series of experiments to investigate the role of this voluntary `out-of-sight’ behaviour on the development of spatial memory in young chicks. We compared the behaviour […]
Hastiness, brain size and predation regime affect the performance of wild guppies in a spatial memory task
The ability to return to, or avoid, specific locations is often critical to fitness-related activities. We tested for differences in spatial memory of guppies, Poecilia reticulata, from low- and high-predation populations in a maze task. We also measured the time each fish took to make a decision in the maze, because individuals can show a […]
Spatial memory of sheep at pasture
We studied how sheep learn the distribution of sites with a preferred food at pasture. Pellets in flat-bottomed bowls were used as the preferred food. Nothing distinguished the bowls from the surrounding environment, but the animals could use distal landmarks to orient. Groups of three ewes were tested once a day for 30 min over […]
Spatial learning and memory in African mole-rats: The role of sociality and sex
Spatial learning and memory is an important skill for the survival and fitness and may vary between the sexes depending on differences in space use. This is particularly true for animals that explore the subterranean niche as it is associated with high travelling costs. In subterranean rodents the complexity of burrow systems varies with differing […]
Sex-dependent effects of chronic unpredictable stress in the water maze
Exposure to chronic predictable stress, such as restraint, can affect performance on spatial memory tasks and these effects have been shown to be sex-specific in rats. It is not known whether unpredictable stress has similar sex-specific effects on spatial memory and whether those effects are present after the stress procedure has ended. Therefore, the current […]
Spatial memory recall in the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
The current study tested spatial memory recall in 1 male and 1 female giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). The task required subjects to make a delayed response to a previously lighted location, with varying lengths of delay between the observation phase and the test phase. The male subject reached criterion at 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, […]
The relationship between dominance, corticosterone, memory, and food caching in mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli)
It has been hypothesized that in avian social groups subordinate individuals should maintain more energy reserves than dominants, as an insurance against increased perceived risk of starvation. Subordinates might also have elevated baseline corticosterone levels because corticosterone is known to facilitate fattening in birds. Recent experiments showed that moderately elevated corticosterone levels resulting from unpredictable […]
Effects of pregnancy on spatial cognition in female Hooded Long-Evans rats
Studies examining the roles of estrogens and progestins on spatial cognition have been highly contradictory. To determine if the hormonal environment of pregnancy affects spatial cognition, pregnant (n = 7) and virgin (n = 7) Hooded Long-Evans rats were tested in a Morris water maze throughout the 3 weeks of pregnancy and the second week postpartum. Latency to platform, […]
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) remember the location of a hidden food item after altering their orientation to a spatial array
Two chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) had a direct view of an experimenter placing a food item beneath one of several cups within a horizontal spatial array. The chimpanzees then were required to move around the spatial array, shifting their orientation to the array by 180°. Both chimpanzees remembered the location of the food item. In the […]
Acute stress disrupts performance of zebrafish in the cued and spatial memory tests: The utility of fish models to study stress–memory interplay
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has emerged as a promising model organism for affective or cognitive neuroscience research, and may be useful to study the interplay between memory and anxiety-related states. To assess the effects of acute psychological stress on spatial and cued memory, adult zebrafish were trained in an aquatic plus-maze for 14 days using […]