Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068 Rovereto, Italy.
Proc Biol Sci. 2012 Jun 7;279(1736):2228-36. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.2522. Epub 2012 Jan 11.
The macroscopic, three-dimensional surface layout geometry of an enclosure apparently provides a different contribution for spatial reorientation than the geometric cues associated with freestanding objects arranged in arrays with similar geometric shape. Here, we showed that a unitary spatial representation can account for the capability of animals to reorient both by extended surfaces and discrete objects in a small-scale spatial task. We trained domestic chicks to locate a food-reward from an opening on isolated cylinders arranged either in a geometrically uninformative (square-shaped) or informative (rectangular-shaped) arrays. The arrays were located centrally within a rectangular-shaped enclosure. Chicks trained to access the reward from a fixed position of openings proved able to reorient according to the geometric cues specified by the shape of the enclosure in all conditions. Chicks trained in a fixed position of opening with geometric cues provided both by the arena and the array proved able to reorient according to each shape separately. However, chicks trained to access the reward from a variable position of openings failed to reorient. The results suggest that the physical constrains associated with the presence of obstacles in a scene, rather than their apparent visual extension, are crucial for spatial reorientation.
封闭空间的宏观三维表面布局几何形状显然为空间重新定向提供了不同于与以相似几何形状排列的独立物体相关联的几何线索的不同贡献。在这里，我们表明，单一的空间表示可以解释动物通过扩展表面和离散物体在小尺度空间任务中重新定向的能力。我们训练家鸡从位于矩形封闭空间中心的单独圆柱上的开口中找到食物奖励，这些圆柱以几何上无信息（方形）或信息（矩形）的方式排列。从固定开口位置获取奖励的小鸡经过训练后，可以根据封闭空间形状提供的几何线索在所有条件下重新定向。从具有由竞技场和数组提供的几何线索的固定开口位置接受训练的小鸡能够根据每个形状单独重新定向。然而，从可变开口位置获取奖励的小鸡无法重新定向。结果表明，与障碍物在场景中的存在相关的物理约束，而不是它们明显的视觉延伸，对于空间重新定向至关重要。
