Frederick Donald E, Brown Austin, Tacopina Stephanie, Mehta Nisarg, Vujovic Mark, Brim Elizabeth, Amina Tasneem, Fixsen Bethany, Kay Leslie M
Department of Psychology.
Institute for Mind and Biology, and.
J Neurosci. 2017 Apr 19;37(16):4416-4426. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1797-16.2017. Epub 2017 Mar 23.
Differing results in olfactory-based decision-making research regarding the amount of time that rats and mice use to identify odors have led to some disagreements about odor-processing mechanics, including whether or not rodents use temporal integration (i.e., sniffing longer to identify odors better). Reported differences in behavioral strategies may be due to the different types of tasks used in different laboratories. Some researchers have reported that animals performing two-alternative choice (TAC) tasks need only 1-2 sniffs and do not increase performance with longer sampling. Others have reported that animals performing go/no-go (GNG) tasks increase sampling times and performance for difficult discriminations, arguing for temporal integration. We present results from four experiments comparing GNG and TAC tasks over several behavioral variables (e.g., performance, sampling duration). When rats know only one task, they perform better in GNG than in TAC. However, performance was not statistically different when rats learned and were tested in both tasks. Rats sample odors longer in GNG than in TAC, even when they know both tasks and perform them in the same or different sessions. Longer sampling is associated with better performance for both tasks in difficult discriminations, which supports the case for temporal integration over ≥2-6 sniffs in both tasks. These results illustrate that generalizations from a single task about behavioral or cognitive abilities (e.g., processing, perception) do not capture the full range of complexity and can significantly impact inferences about general abilities in sensory perception. Behavioral tasks and training and testing history affect measured outcomes in cognitive tests. Rats sample odors longer in a go/no-go (GNG) than in a two-alternative choice (TAC) task, performing better in GNG unless they know both tasks. Odor-sampling time is extended in both tasks when the odors to be discriminated are very similar. Rats may extend sampling time to integrate odor information up to ∼0.5 s (2-6 sniffs). Such factors as task, task parameters, and training history affect decision times and performance, making it important to use multiple tasks when making inferences about sensory or cognitive processing.
在基于嗅觉的决策研究中，关于大鼠和小鼠识别气味所用时间的结果各异，这导致了在气味处理机制方面存在一些分歧，包括啮齿动物是否使用时间整合（即通过更长时间的嗅闻来更好地识别气味）。报告的行为策略差异可能是由于不同实验室使用的任务类型不同。一些研究人员报告称，执行二选一（TAC）任务的动物只需要1 - 2次嗅闻，并且延长采样时间并不会提高表现。另一些人则报告说，执行“是/否”（GNG）任务的动物会增加采样时间，并且在进行困难辨别时表现会提高，这支持了时间整合的观点。我们展示了四个实验的结果，这些实验在几个行为变量（如表现、采样持续时间）上比较了GNG和TAC任务。当大鼠只知道一种任务时，它们在GNG任务中的表现优于TAC任务。然而，当大鼠学习并在两种任务中都接受测试时，表现没有统计学差异。大鼠在GNG任务中比在TAC任务中嗅闻气味的时间更长，即使它们知道两种任务并在相同或不同的实验环节中执行。在困难辨别中，更长的采样时间与两种任务的更好表现相关，这支持了在两种任务中超过2 - 6次嗅闻进行时间整合的观点。这些结果表明，从单一任务得出的关于行为或认知能力（如处理、感知）的概括并不能涵盖全部的复杂性，并且会显著影响对感官感知一般能力的推断。行为任务以及训练和测试历史会影响认知测试中的测量结果。大鼠在“是/否”（GNG）任务中比在二选一（TAC）任务中嗅闻气味的时间更长，除非它们知道两种任务，否则在GNG任务中的表现更好。当要辨别的气味非常相似时，两种任务中的气味采样时间都会延长。大鼠可能会延长采样时间以整合长达约0.5秒（2 - 6次嗅闻）的气味信息。诸如任务、任务参数和训练历史等因素会影响决策时间和表现，因此在对感官或认知处理进行推断时使用多种任务非常重要。
