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Healy SD. Adding the neuro to cognition: from food storing to nest building. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:249-260. [PMID: 36482117 PMCID: PMC9876861 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01725-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2022] [Revised: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Typically, investigations of animal cognition couple careful experimental manipulations with examination of the animal's behavioural responses. Sometimes those questions have included attempts to describe the neural underpinnings of the behavioural outputs. Over the past 25 years, behaviours that involve spatial learning and memory (such as navigation and food storing) has been one context in which such dual or correlated investigations have been both accessible and productive. Here I review some of that work and where it has led. Because of the wealth of data and insights gained from that work and song learning before it, it seems that it might also be useful to try to add some neurobiology to other systems in animal cognition. I finish then, with a description of recent work on the cognition and neurobiology of avian nest building. It is still relatively early days but asking questions about the cognition of nest building has already shown both neural correlates of nest building and that learning and memory play a much greater role in this behaviour than previously considered. While it is not yet clear how putting these components together will be synergistic, the examples of song learning and food storing provide encouragement. Perhaps this might be true for other behaviours too?
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan D Healy
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9TH, UK.
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2
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Lucon-Xiccato T. The contribution of executive functions to sex differences in animal cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 138:104705. [PMID: 35605792 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive sex differences have been reported in several vertebrate species, mostly in spatial abilities. Here, I review evidence of sex differences in a family of general cognitive functions that control behaviour and cognition, i.e., executive functions such as cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. Most of this evidence derives from studies in teleost fish. However, analysis of literature from other fields (e.g., biomedicine, genetic, ecology) concerning mammals and birds reveals that more than 40% of species investigated exhibit sex differences in executive functions. Among species, the direction and magnitude of these sex differences vary greatly, even within the same family, suggesting sex-specific selection due to species' reproductive systems and reproductive roles of males and females. Evidence also suggests that sex differences in executive functions might provide males and females highly differentiated cognitive phenotypes. To understand the evolution of cognitive sex differences in vertebrates, future research should consider executive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
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3
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Ashton BJ, Thornton A, Cauchoix M, Ridley AR. Long-term repeatability of cognitive performance. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220069. [PMID: 35620015 PMCID: PMC9128854 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Measures of cognitive performance, derived from psychometric tasks, have yielded important insights into the factors governing cognitive variation. However, concerns remain over the robustness of these measures, which may be susceptible to non-cognitive factors such as motivation and persistence. Efforts to quantify short-term repeatability of cognitive performance have gone some way to address this, but crucially the long-term repeatability of cognitive performance has been largely overlooked. Quantifying the long-term repeatability of cognitive performance provides the opportunity to determine the stability of cognitive phenotypes and the potential for selection to act on them. To this end, we quantified long-term repeatability of cognitive performance in wild Australian magpies over a three-year period. Cognitive performance was repeatable in two out of four cognitive tasks-associative learning and reversal-learning performance was repeatable, but spatial memory and inhibitory control performance, although trending toward significance, was not. Measures of general cognitive performance, obtained from principal components analyses carried out on each cognitive test battery, were highly repeatable. Together, these findings provide evidence that at least some cognitive phenotypes are stable, which in turn has important implications for our understanding of cognitive evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin J. Ashton
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Maxime Cauchoix
- Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale du CNRS (UMR5321), Moulis, France
| | - Amanda R. Ridley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
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Garnham LC, Clarke C, Løvlie H. How Inhibitory Control Relates to Positive and Negative Affective States in Red Junglefowl. Front Vet Sci 2022; 9:872487. [PMID: 35464350 PMCID: PMC9024352 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.872487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Individual differences in inhibitory control, an aspect of cognition, are found in many species. How this variation links to affective states is not much explored, and could be relevant for welfare. As less fearful, more optimistic, individuals may act more impulsively, inhibitory control could link to less negative, more positive, affective states. Alternatively, poorer inhibitory control could associate with more negative, less positive, affective states, as poorer inhibitory control can result in individuals being less able to adapt to changing environments and more likely to show stereotypies. We here explored in three cohorts (N = 209) of captive red junglefowl, the ancestor of domestic chickens, how inhibitory control associated with affective states. Specifically, we measured inhibitory control with a detour task, and negative and positive affective states with a tonic immobility test and a cognitive judgement bias test, respectively. Cognition and behaviour can differ between ages and sexes. Therefore, we investigated how inhibitory control related to affective states in younger chicks (≈2.5 weeks old), older chicks (≈5 weeks old) and sexually mature adults (≈28 weeks old) of both sexes. In younger chicks, poorer inhibitory control associated with less negative, more positive, affective states. We found no relationship between inhibitory control and affective states in older chicks or adults, nor sex differences regarding how inhibitory control related to affective states. Overall, our results suggest that inhibitory control can link to affective states and that the nature of these links can change over ontogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Clare Garnham
- Division of Biology, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Charlie Clarke
- Division of Biology, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Hanne Løvlie
- Division of Biology, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- *Correspondence: Hanne Løvlie
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Davidson GL, Reichert MS, Coomes JR, Kulahci IG, de la Hera I, Quinn JL. Inhibitory control performance is repeatable over time and across contexts in a wild bird population. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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6
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Ryding S, Garnham LC, Abbey-Lee RN, Petkova I, Kreshchenko A, Løvlie H. Impulsivity is affected by cognitive enrichment and links to brain gene expression in red junglefowl chicks. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Dog cognitive development: a longitudinal study across the first 2 years of life. Anim Cogn 2020; 24:311-328. [PMID: 33113034 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-020-01443-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2020] [Revised: 10/02/2020] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
While our understanding of adult dog cognition has grown considerably over the past 20 years, relatively little is known about the ontogeny of dog cognition. To assess the development and longitudinal stability of cognitive traits in dogs, we administered a battery of tasks to 160 candidate assistance dogs at 2 timepoints. The tasks were designed to measure diverse aspects of cognition, ranging from executive function (e.g., inhibitory control, reversal learning, memory) to sensory discrimination (e.g., vision, audition, olfaction) to social interaction with humans. Subjects first participated as 8-10-week-old puppies, and then were retested on the same tasks at ~ 21 months of age. With few exceptions, task performance improved with age, with the largest effects observed for measures of executive function and social gaze. Results also indicated that individual differences were both early emerging and enduring; for example, social attention to humans, use of human communicative signals, independent persistence at a problem, odor discrimination, and inhibitory control all exhibited moderate levels of rank-order stability between the two timepoints. Using multiple regression, we found that young adult performance on many cognitive tasks could be predicted from a set of cognitive measures collected in early development. Our findings contribute to knowledge about changes in dog cognition across early development as well as the origins and developmental stability of individual differences.
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Bray EE, Gruen ME, Gnanadesikan GE, Horschler DJ, Levy KM, Kennedy BS, Hare BA, MacLean EL. Cognitive characteristics of 8- to 10-week-old assistance dog puppies. Anim Behav 2020; 166:193-206. [PMID: 32719570 PMCID: PMC7384752 DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.05.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
To characterize the early ontogeny of dog cognition, we tested 168 domestic dog, Canis familiaris, puppies (97 females, 71 males; mean age = 9.2 weeks) in a novel test battery based on previous tasks developed and employed with adolescent and adult dogs. Our sample consisted of Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers and Labrador × golden retriever crosses from 65 different litters at Canine Companions for Independence, an organization that breeds, trains and places assistance dogs for people with disabilities. Puppies participated in a 3-day cognitive battery that consisted of 14 tasks measuring different cognitive abilities and temperament traits such as executive function (e.g. inhibitory control, reversal learning, working memory), use of social cues, sensory discriminations and reactivity to and recovery from novel situations. At 8-10 weeks of age, and despite minimal experience with humans, puppies reliably used a variety of cooperative-communicative gestures from humans. Puppies accurately remembered the location of hidden food for delays of up to 20 s, and succeeded in a variety of visual, olfactory and auditory discrimination problems. They also showed some skill at executive function tasks requiring inhibitory control and reversal learning, although they scored lower on these tasks than is typical in adulthood. Taken together, our results confirm the early emergence of sensitivity to human communication in dogs and contextualize these skills within a broad array of other cognitive abilities measured at the same stage of ontogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily E Bray
- Arizona Canine Cognition Center, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A
- Canine Companions for Independence, National Headquarters, Santa Rosa, CA, U.S.A
| | - Margaret E Gruen
- Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, U.S.A
| | - Gitanjali E Gnanadesikan
- Arizona Canine Cognition Center, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A
- Cognitive Science Program, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A
| | - Daniel J Horschler
- Arizona Canine Cognition Center, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A
- Cognitive Science Program, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A
| | - Kerinne M Levy
- Canine Companions for Independence, National Headquarters, Santa Rosa, CA, U.S.A
| | - Brenda S Kennedy
- Canine Companions for Independence, National Headquarters, Santa Rosa, CA, U.S.A
| | - Brian A Hare
- Duke Canine Cognition Center, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, U.S.A
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, U.S.A
| | - Evan L MacLean
- Arizona Canine Cognition Center, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A
- Cognitive Science Program, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A
- College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A
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