Department of Psychology, Franklin and Marshall College, PO Box 3003, Lancaster, PA 17603, USA
Department of Biology, Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620, USA
Proc Biol Sci. 2018 Nov 14;285(1891):20181904. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1904.
Many animals use complex cognitive processes, including the formation and recall of memories, for successful navigation. However, the developmental and neurological processes underlying these cognitive aspects of navigation are poorly understood. To address the importance of the formation and recollection of memories during navigation, we pharmacologically manipulated turtles () that navigate long distances using precise, complex paths learned during a juvenile critical period. We treated freely navigating turtles both within and outside of their critical learning period with a specific M1 acetylcholine receptor antagonist, a drug known to disrupt spatial cognition. Experienced adult turtles lost all navigational ability under the influence of the drug, while naive juveniles navigated successfully. We retested these same juveniles the following year (after they had passed their critical period). The juveniles that initially navigated successfully under the influence of the antagonist (but were unable to form spatial memories) were unable to do so subsequently. However, the control animals (who had the opportunity to form memories previously) exhibited typical navigational precision. These results suggest that the formation of spatial memories for navigation occur during a critical period, and successful navigation after the critical period is dependent upon the recall of such memories.
许多动物利用复杂的认知过程，包括记忆的形成和回忆，来成功导航。然而，这些导航认知方面的发展和神经过程还知之甚少。为了研究在导航过程中记忆的形成和回忆的重要性，我们使用一种特定的 M1 乙酰胆碱受体拮抗剂对海龟进行了药理学处理，这种拮抗剂已知会破坏空间认知，而海龟在幼年的关键时期会用这种方法来学习精确而复杂的路径，从而进行长距离导航。我们在海龟的关键学习期内和之外，用这种药物处理自由导航的海龟。经验丰富的成年海龟在药物的影响下完全失去了导航能力，而未经训练的幼龟则成功地导航。第二年，我们对这些幼龟进行了同样的测试（在它们通过关键期之后）。最初在拮抗剂的影响下成功导航（但无法形成空间记忆）的幼龟随后无法做到这一点。然而，对照组动物（之前有机会形成记忆）表现出典型的导航精度。这些结果表明，用于导航的空间记忆是在关键时期形成的，而在关键时期之后成功导航则取决于对这些记忆的回忆。
