Troha Ryan G, Dong Danni, Markus Etan J
Department of Psychology, 406 Babbidge Road Unit 1020, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.
Department of Psychology, 406 Babbidge Road Unit 1020, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.
J Neurosci Methods. 2020 Apr 1;335:108617. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2020.108617. Epub 2020 Jan 31.
Observational learning allows for learning without direct exposure to danger or energetic demands. This form of learning is seen in humans, other primates, and other species such as rodents. The neurobiology behind social learning has been studied mostly in rats, specifically focusing on social transmission of food preference and fear. However, less is known regarding the neural circuitry behind social learning of a foraging scenario.
The current study examined observational learning in a working memory Tmaze task. The food location changed daily such that the observing animal had to learn the correct location anew each day. This delineated the time frame when an animal learned by observation, making the phenomenon easier to study.
Rats learned the location of a food reward by observing a conspecific. Furthermore, the distance of the rats from the maze affected performance. Additionally, performance was affected by whether the performer made mistakes. This memory could persist for at least five minutes. Lastly, performance was not affected by observer-demonstrator familiarity COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS: Previous rodent foraging studies typically exposed observers to the same behavior over many observation sessions. In this scenario, it is difficult to determine when and how an animal learns through observation. The current task delineates the period of observation in each session, allowing manipulations during the observation period.
The current paradigm allows for repeated examinations of observational learning and provides an alternative method for neurobiological studies of social learning.
观察性学习使动物无需直接接触危险或消耗能量就能进行学习。这种学习形式在人类、其他灵长类动物以及啮齿动物等其他物种中都有体现。社会学习背后的神经生物学主要在大鼠中进行了研究，特别关注食物偏好和恐惧的社会传递。然而，对于觅食场景下社会学习背后的神经回路了解较少。
本研究在工作记忆T迷宫任务中检验观察性学习。食物位置每天改变，使得观察的动物每天都要重新学习正确位置。这明确了动物通过观察进行学习的时间框架，使该现象更易于研究。
大鼠通过观察同种个体学会了食物奖励的位置。此外，大鼠与迷宫的距离影响表现。另外，表现还受执行者是否犯错的影响。这种记忆至少能持续五分钟。最后，表现不受观察者与示范者熟悉程度的影响。与现有方法的比较：以往啮齿动物觅食研究通常让观察者在多个观察时段接触相同行为。在这种情况下，很难确定动物何时以及如何通过观察进行学习。当前任务明确了每个时段的观察期，允许在观察期内进行操作。
当前范式允许对观察性学习进行重复检验，并为社会学习的神经生物学研究提供了一种替代方法。
