Learning by Doing: The Use of Distance, Corners and Length in Rewarded Geometric Tasks by Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>)
Zebrafish spontaneously use distance and directional relationships among three-dimensional extended surfaces to reorient within a rectangular arena. However, they fail to take advantage of either an array of freestanding corners or an array of unequal-length surfaces to search for a no-longer-presen...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/7/2001 |
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| author | Greta Baratti Angelo Rizzo Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini Valeria Anna Sovrano |
| author_facet | Greta Baratti Angelo Rizzo Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini Valeria Anna Sovrano |
| author_sort | Greta Baratti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Zebrafish spontaneously use distance and directional relationships among three-dimensional extended surfaces to reorient within a rectangular arena. However, they fail to take advantage of either an array of freestanding corners or an array of unequal-length surfaces to search for a no-longer-present goal under a spontaneous cued memory procedure, being unable to use the information supplied by corners and length without some kind of rewarded training. The present study aimed to tease apart the geometric components characterizing a rectangular enclosure under a procedure recruiting the reference memory, thus training zebrafish in fragmented layouts that provided differences in surface distance, corners, and length. Results showed that fish, besides the distance, easily learned to use both corners and length if subjected to a rewarded exit task over time, suggesting that they can represent all the geometrically informative parts of a rectangular arena when consistently exposed to them. Altogether, these findings highlight crucially important issues apropos the employment of different behavioral protocols (spontaneous choice versus training over time) to assess spatial abilities of zebrafish, further paving the way to deepen the role of visual and nonvisual encodings of isolated geometric components in relation to macrostructural boundaries. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:48:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e01e8a2167ad496e86bbf2cd5934c25c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:48:23Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-e01e8a2167ad496e86bbf2cd5934c25c2023-11-22T03:00:06ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152021-07-01117200110.3390/ani11072001Learning by Doing: The Use of Distance, Corners and Length in Rewarded Geometric Tasks by Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>)Greta Baratti0Angelo Rizzo1Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini2Valeria Anna Sovrano3CIMeC, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, 38068 Rovereto, ItalySchool of Natural Sciences, University of Torino, 10124 Torino, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, ItalyCIMeC, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, 38068 Rovereto, ItalyZebrafish spontaneously use distance and directional relationships among three-dimensional extended surfaces to reorient within a rectangular arena. However, they fail to take advantage of either an array of freestanding corners or an array of unequal-length surfaces to search for a no-longer-present goal under a spontaneous cued memory procedure, being unable to use the information supplied by corners and length without some kind of rewarded training. The present study aimed to tease apart the geometric components characterizing a rectangular enclosure under a procedure recruiting the reference memory, thus training zebrafish in fragmented layouts that provided differences in surface distance, corners, and length. Results showed that fish, besides the distance, easily learned to use both corners and length if subjected to a rewarded exit task over time, suggesting that they can represent all the geometrically informative parts of a rectangular arena when consistently exposed to them. Altogether, these findings highlight crucially important issues apropos the employment of different behavioral protocols (spontaneous choice versus training over time) to assess spatial abilities of zebrafish, further paving the way to deepen the role of visual and nonvisual encodings of isolated geometric components in relation to macrostructural boundaries.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/7/2001navigationspatial learningenvironmental geometrygeometric componentszebrafish |
| spellingShingle | Greta Baratti Angelo Rizzo Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini Valeria Anna Sovrano Learning by Doing: The Use of Distance, Corners and Length in Rewarded Geometric Tasks by Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) Animals navigation spatial learning environmental geometry geometric components zebrafish |
| title | Learning by Doing: The Use of Distance, Corners and Length in Rewarded Geometric Tasks by Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) |
| title_full | Learning by Doing: The Use of Distance, Corners and Length in Rewarded Geometric Tasks by Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) |
| title_fullStr | Learning by Doing: The Use of Distance, Corners and Length in Rewarded Geometric Tasks by Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Learning by Doing: The Use of Distance, Corners and Length in Rewarded Geometric Tasks by Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) |
| title_short | Learning by Doing: The Use of Distance, Corners and Length in Rewarded Geometric Tasks by Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) |
| title_sort | learning by doing the use of distance corners and length in rewarded geometric tasks by zebrafish i danio rerio i |
| topic | navigation spatial learning environmental geometry geometric components zebrafish |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/7/2001 |
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