Dataset Information

Testing spatial working memory in pigs using an automated T-maze.

ABSTRACT: Pigs are an important large animal model for translational clinical research but underutilized in behavioral neuroscience. This is due, in part, to a lack of rigorous neurocognitive assessments for pigs. Here, we developed a new automated T-maze for pigs that takes advantage of their natural tendency to alternate. The T-maze has obvious cross-species value having served as a foundation for cognitive theories across species. The maze (17' × 13') was constructed typically and automated with flanking corridors, guillotine doors, cameras, and reward dispensers. We ran nine pigs in (1) a simple alternation task and (2) a delayed spatial alternation task. Our assessment focused on the delayed spatial alternation task which forced pigs to wait for random delays (5, 60, 120, and 240 s) and burdened spatial working memory. We also looked at self-paced trial latencies, error types, and coordinate-based video tracking. We found pigs naturally alternated but performance declined steeply across delays (R² = 0.84). Self-paced delays had no effect on performance suggestive of an active interference model of working memory. Positional and head direction data could differentiate subsequent turns on short but not long delays. Performance levels were stable over weeks in diverse strains and sexes, and thus provide a benchmark for future neurocognitive assessments in pigs.

SUBMITTER: Allen LM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10913826 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Testing spatial working memory in pigs using an automated T-maze.

Allen L M LM Murphy D A DA Roldan V V Moussa M N MN Draper A A Delgado A A Aguiar M M Capote M A MA Jarome T J J TJJ Lee K K Mattfeld A T AT Prather R R Allen T A TA

Oxford open neuroscience 20231004

Pigs are an important large animal model for translational clinical research but underutilized in behavioral neuroscience. This is due, in part, to a lack of rigorous neurocognitive assessments for pigs. Here, we developed a new automated T-maze for pigs that takes advantage of their natural tendency to alternate. The T-maze has obvious cross-species value having served as a foundation for cognitive theories across species. The maze (17' × 13') was constructed typically and automated with flanki ...[more]

PMID: 38596242

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Project description:Ample research in visual working memory (VWM) has demonstrated that the memorized items are maintained in integrated spatial configurations, even when the spatial context is task irrelevant. These insights were obtained in studies in which participants were provided with the information they memorized. However, the encoding of provided information is only one aspect of memory. In everyday life, individuals often construct their own memory representations, an aspect of memory we have previously termed self-initiated (SI) working memory. In this study, we employed a SI VWM task in which participants selected the visual targets they memorized. The spatial locations of the targets were task irrelevant. Nevertheless, we were interested to see whether participants would construct spatially structured memory representations, which would suggest that they intended to maintain the visual targets as integrated spatial configurations. The results of two experiments demonstrated that participants constructed spatially structured configurations relative to random displays. Specifically, participants selected visual targets in close spatial proximity and constructed spatial sequences with short distances and fewer path crossings. When asked to construct configurations for a hypothetical competitor in a memory contest, participants disrupted the spatial structure by selecting visual targets that were further apart and by increasing the distances between them, which suggests that these characteristics were under their control. At the end of each experiment, participants provided verbal descriptions of the strategies they used to construct the memory displays. While the spatial structure of the SI memory representations was robust, it was absent from the participants' explicit descriptions, which focused on non-spatial strategies. Participants reported selecting items based, most frequently, on semantic categories and visual features. Taken together, these results demonstrated that participants had access to the metacognitive knowledge on the spatial structure of VWM representations, knowledge they manipulated to construct memory representations that enhanced or disrupted memory performance. While having a profound impact on behavior, this metacognitive knowledge on spatial structure remained implicit, as it was absent from the participants' verbal reports. Viewed from a larger perspective, this study explores how individuals interact with the world by actively structuring their surroundings to maximize cognitive performance.

Dataset Information

Testing spatial working memory in pigs using an automated T-maze.

Publications

Testing spatial working memory in pigs using an automated T-maze.

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