Behavioural flexibility and reputation formation.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: McNamara JM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7739495 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:IntroductionWhile several theories have highlighted the importance of the noradrenergic system for behavioral flexibility, a number of recent studies have also shown a role for noradrenaline in motivation, particularly in effort processing. Here, we designed a novel sequential cost/benefit decision task to test the causal influence of noradrenaline on these two functions in rhesus monkeys.MethodsWe manipulated noradrenaline using clonidine, an alpha-2 noradrenergic receptor agonist, which reduces central noradrenaline levels and examined how this manipulation influenced performance on the task.ResultsClonidine had two specific and distinct effects: first, it decreased choice variability, without affecting the cost/benefit trade-off; and second, it reduced force production, without modulating the willingness to work.ConclusionsTogether, these results support an overarching role for noradrenaline in facing challenging situations in two complementary ways: by modulating behavioral volatility, which would facilitate adaptation depending on the lability of the environment, and by modulating the mobilization of resources to face immediate challenges.
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Project description:Behavioural flexibility allows an animal to adapt its behaviour in response to changes in the environment. Research conducted in primates, rodents and domestic fowl suggests greater behavioural persistence and reduced behavioural flexibility in males. We investigated sex differences in behavioural flexibility in fish by comparing male and female guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in a reversal learning task. Fish were first trained on a colour discrimination, which was learned equally rapidly by males and females. However, once the reward contingency was reversed, females were better at inhibiting the previous response and reached criterion twice as fast as males. When reward reversing was repeated, males gradually reduced the number of errors, and the two sexes had a comparable performance after four reversals. We suggest that sex differences in behavioural flexibility in guppies can be explained in terms of the different roles that males and females play in reproduction.
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