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Nagano A. Training of Motion Control May Not Improve Tool-Manipulation Ability in Rats (Rattus norvegicus). Front Psychol 2022; 13:931957. [PMID: 35911044 PMCID: PMC9326322 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.931957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent times, previous studies have reported the manipulation of tools by rats and degus in controlled experimental settings. However, a previous study reported that only one out of eight experimentally naïve rats could manipulate a rake-shaped tool according to the position of a food reward without prior experience of obtaining the reward with the tool before the test. The present study aimed to improve the training of rats and investigate rodents’ ability to manipulate tools according to food position. Stricter criteria were employed when training the rats to promote the rats’ monitoring of their own tool manipulation. Additional training was introduced to give them the opportunity to learn that the reward moved closer to them by pulling an object connected to the reward. The present study showed that only one of eight rats could manipulate a tool according to the position of the reward without prior experience of obtaining the reward with the tool or perceiving that part of the tool came in contact with the reward, as the previous study showed. The change in training did not enhance the rats’ tool-manipulation ability according to the food position. These procedures should be conducted in a wider variety of animals to investigate whether the training in motion control can promote the subjects’ effective tool-use behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akane Nagano
- Laboratory for Imagination and Executive Functions, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Wako, Japan
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda-ku, Japan
- *Correspondence: Akane Nagano,
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Nagano A. Behavioral task to assess physical causal understanding in rats (Rattus norvegicus). CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-020-01315-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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