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Aoki N, Mori C, Fujita T, Serizawa S, Yamaguchi S, Matsushima T, Homma KJ. Imprintability of Newly Hatched Domestic Chicks on an Artificial Object: A Novel High Time-Resolution Apparatus Based on a Running Disc. Front Physiol 2022; 13:822638. [PMID: 35370801 PMCID: PMC8965712 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.822638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In filial imprinting, newly hatched chicks repeatedly approach a conspicuous object nearby and memorize it, even though it is an artificial object instead of their mother hen. Imprinting on an artificial object in a laboratory setting has a clear sensitive period from post hatch days 1–3 in the case of domestic chicks. However, the establishment of imprintability are difficult to investigate because of the limitations of the behavioral apparatus. In this study, we developed a novel behavioral apparatus, based on a running disc, to investigate the learning processes of imprinting in newly hatched domestic chicks. In the apparatus, the chick repeatedly approaches the imprinting object on the disc. The apparatus sends a transistor-transistor-logic signal every 1/10 turn of the disc to a personal computer through a data acquisition system following the chick’s approach to the imprinting object on the monitor. The imprinting training and tests were designed to define the three learning processes in imprinting. The first process is the one in which chicks spontaneously approach the moving object. The second is an acquired process in which chicks approach an object even when it is static. In the third process, chicks discriminate between the differently colored imprinting object and the control object in the preference test. Using the apparatus, the difference in the chicks’ behavior during or after the sensitive period was examined. During the sensitive period, the chicks at post hatch hour 12 and 18 developed the first imprinting training process. The chicks at post hatch hour 24 maintained learning until the second process. The chicks at post hatch hour 30 reached the discrimination process in the test. After the sensitive period, the chicks reared in darkness until post hatch day 4 exhibited poor first learning process in the training. Thus, this apparatus will be useful for the detection of behavioral changes during neuronal development and learning processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naoya Aoki
- Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Chihiro Mori
- Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Toshiyuki Fujita
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shouta Serizawa
- Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shinji Yamaguchi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Toshiya Matsushima
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan
| | - Koichi J. Homma
- Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan
- *Correspondence: Koichi J. Homma,
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Lemaire BS, Rucco D, Josserand M, Vallortigara G, Versace E. Stability and individual variability of social attachment in imprinting. Sci Rep 2021; 11:7914. [PMID: 33846440 PMCID: PMC8041793 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86989-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Filial imprinting has become a model for understanding memory, learning and social behaviour in neonate animals. This mechanism allows the youngs of precocial bird species to learn the characteristics of conspicuous visual stimuli and display affiliative response to them. Although longer exposures to an object produce stronger preferences for it afterwards, this relation is not linear. Sometimes, chicks even prefer to approach novel rather than familiar objects. To date, little is known about how filial preferences develop across time. This study aimed to investigate filial preferences for familiar and novel imprinting objects over time. After hatching, chicks were individually placed in an arena where stimuli were displayed on two opposite screens. Using an automated setup, the duration of exposure and the type of stimuli were manipulated while the time spent at the imprinting stimulus was monitored across 6 days. We showed that prolonged exposure (3 days vs 1 day) to a stimulus produced robust filial imprinting preferences. Interestingly, with a shorter exposure (1 day), animals re-evaluated their filial preferences in functions of their spontaneous preferences and past experiences. Our study suggests that predispositions influence learning when the imprinting memories are not fully consolidated, driving animal preferences toward more predisposed stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bastien S. Lemaire
- grid.11696.390000 0004 1937 0351Center for Mind and Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Daniele Rucco
- grid.11696.390000 0004 1937 0351Center for Mind and Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy ,grid.7563.70000 0001 2174 1754Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Mathilde Josserand
- grid.11696.390000 0004 1937 0351Center for Mind and Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy ,grid.25697.3f0000 0001 2172 4233Laboratory Dynamique du Language, University of Lyon 2, Lyon, France
| | - Giorgio Vallortigara
- grid.11696.390000 0004 1937 0351Center for Mind and Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Versace
- grid.11696.390000 0004 1937 0351Center for Mind and Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy ,grid.4868.20000 0001 2171 1133School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
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Wood SMW, Johnson SP, Wood JN. Automated Study Challenges the Existence of a Foundational Statistical-Learning Ability in Newborn Chicks. Psychol Sci 2019; 30:1592-1602. [PMID: 31615337 PMCID: PMC6843746 DOI: 10.1177/0956797619868998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2018] [Accepted: 07/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
What mechanisms underlie learning in newborn brains? Recently, researchers reported that newborn chicks use unsupervised statistical learning to encode the transitional probabilities (TPs) of shapes in a sequence, suggesting that TP-based statistical learning can be present in newborn brains. Using a preregistered design, we attempted to reproduce this finding with an automated method that eliminated experimenter bias and allowed more than 250 times more data to be collected per chick. With precise measurements of each chick's behavior, we were able to perform individual-level analyses and substantially reduce measurement error for the group-level analyses. We found no evidence that newborn chicks encode the TPs between sequentially presented shapes. None of the chicks showed evidence for this ability. Conversely, we obtained strong evidence that newborn chicks encode the shapes of individual objects, showing that this automated method can produce robust results. These findings challenge the claim that TP-based statistical learning is present in newborn brains.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Scott P Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
| | - Justin N Wood
- School of Informatics, Computing & Engineering, Indiana University
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Di Giorgio E, Loveland JL, Mayer U, Rosa-Salva O, Versace E, Vallortigara G. Filial responses as predisposed and learned preferences: Early attachment in chicks and babies. Behav Brain Res 2017; 325:90-104. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.09.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2016] [Revised: 09/06/2016] [Accepted: 09/08/2016] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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Wood JN. A smoothness constraint on the development of object recognition. Cognition 2016; 153:140-5. [PMID: 27208825 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.04.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2015] [Revised: 03/22/2016] [Accepted: 04/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Understanding how the brain learns to recognize objects is one of the ultimate goals in the cognitive sciences. To date, however, we have not yet characterized the environmental factors that cause object recognition to emerge in the newborn brain. Here, I present the results of a high-throughput controlled-rearing experiment that examined whether the development of object recognition requires experience with temporally smooth visual objects. When newborn chicks (Gallus gallus) were raised with virtual objects that moved smoothly over time, the chicks developed accurate color recognition, shape recognition, and color-shape binding abilities. In contrast, when newborn chicks were raised with virtual objects that moved non-smoothly over time, the chicks' object recognition abilities were severely impaired. These results provide evidence for a "smoothness constraint" on newborn object recognition. Experience with temporally smooth objects facilitates the development of object recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin N Wood
- University of Southern California, Department of Psychology, 3620 South McClintock Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States.
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Wood JN, Prasad A, Goldman JG, Wood SMW. Enhanced learning of natural visual sequences in newborn chicks. Anim Cogn 2016; 19:835-45. [PMID: 27079969 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-0982-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2015] [Revised: 02/06/2016] [Accepted: 03/31/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
To what extent are newborn brains designed to operate over natural visual input? To address this question, we used a high-throughput controlled-rearing method to examine whether newborn chicks (Gallus gallus) show enhanced learning of natural visual sequences at the onset of vision. We took the same set of images and grouped them into either natural sequences (i.e., sequences showing different viewpoints of the same real-world object) or unnatural sequences (i.e., sequences showing different images of different real-world objects). When raised in virtual worlds containing natural sequences, newborn chicks developed the ability to recognize familiar images of objects. Conversely, when raised in virtual worlds containing unnatural sequences, newborn chicks' object recognition abilities were severely impaired. In fact, the majority of the chicks raised with the unnatural sequences failed to recognize familiar images of objects despite acquiring over 100 h of visual experience with those images. Thus, newborn chicks show enhanced learning of natural visual sequences at the onset of vision. These results indicate that newborn brains are designed to operate over natural visual input.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin N Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Building SGM, Room 501, 3620 South McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
| | - Aditya Prasad
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Building SGM, Room 501, 3620 South McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Jason G Goldman
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Building SGM, Room 501, 3620 South McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Samantha M W Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Building SGM, Room 501, 3620 South McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
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