Graduate School of Psychology, Doshisha University, 1-3, Tatara Miyakodani, Kyotanabe, 610-0394, Japan.
Faculty of Psychology, Doshisha University, 1-3, Tatara Miyakodani, Kyotanabe, 610-0394, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jul 20;7(1):5960. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-06308-7.
Tool-use behaviour has been observed in nonhuman animals in the wild and in experimental settings. In the present study, we investigated whether rats (Rattus norvegicus) could manipulate a tool according to the position of food to obtain the food in an experimental setting. Eight rats were trained to use a rake-shaped tool to obtain food beyond their reach using a step-by-step protocol in the initial training period. Following training, the rake was placed at the centre of the experimental apparatus, and food was placed on either the left or right side of the rake. Rats learned to manipulate the rake to obtain food in situations in which they could not obtain the food just by pulling the rake perpendicularly to themselves. Our findings thus indicate that the rat is a potential animal model to investigate the behavioural and neural mechanisms of tool-use behaviour.
工具使用行为在野生动物和实验环境中都有观察到。在本研究中，我们调查了大鼠（Rattus norvegicus）是否能够根据食物的位置来操纵工具，以便在实验环境中获取食物。八只大鼠接受了训练，使用耙状工具按照逐步协议在初始训练期间获取超出其触及范围的食物。训练结束后，将耙子放在实验仪器的中心，食物放在耙子的左侧或右侧。大鼠学会了操纵耙子，以便在无法通过将耙子垂直拉向自身来获取食物的情况下获取食物。因此，我们的研究结果表明，大鼠是一种潜在的动物模型，可以用来研究工具使用行为的行为和神经机制。
