We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Spatial memory and orientation strategies in the elasmobranch Potamotrygon motoro.
- Authors
Schluessel, Vera; Bleckmann, Horst
- Abstract
We investigated whether juvenile freshwater stingrays ( Potamotrygon motoro) can solve spatial tasks by constructing a cognitive map of their environment. Two experimental conditions were run: allocentric and ego-allocentric. Rays were trained to locate food within a four-arm maze placed in a room with visual spatial cues. The feeding location (goal) within the maze (room) remained constant while the starting position varied for the allocentrically but not for the ego-allocentrically trained group. After training, all rays solved the experimental tasks; however, different orientation strategies were used within and between groups. Allocentrically trained rays reached the goal via novel routes starting from unfamiliar locations, while ego-allocentrically trained rays primarily solved the task on the basis of an egocentric turn response. Our data suggest that P. motoro orients by constructing a visual cognitive map of its environment, but also uses egocentric and/or other orientation strategies alone or in combination for spatial orientation, a choice which may be governed by the complexity of the problem. We conclude that spatial memory functions are a general feature of the vertebrate brain.
- Subjects
POTAMOTRYGON; BRAIN; FRESHWATER stingrays; VERTEBRATES; COGNITION; CENTRAL nervous system
- Publication
Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural & Behavioral Physiology, 2005, Vol 191, Issue 8, p695
- ISSN
0340-7594
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00359-005-0625-9