Faculty Opinions recommendation of High-valued seeds are remembered better: evidence for item-based spatial memory of scatter-hoarding rodents

Understanding the survival value of behaviour does not tell us how the mechanisms that control this behaviour work. Nevertheless, understanding survival value can guide the study of these mechanisms. In this paper, we apply this principle to understanding the cognitive mechanisms that support cache retrieval in scatter-hoarding animals. We believe it is too simplistic to predict that all scatter-hoarding animals will outperform non-hoarding animals on all tests of spatial memory. Instead, we argue that we should look at the detailed ecology and natural history of each species. This understanding of natural history then allows us to make predictions about which aspects of spatial memory should be better in which species. We use the natural hoarding behaviour of the three best-studied groups of scatter-hoarding animals to make predictions about three aspects of their spatial memory: duration, capacity and spatial resolution, and we test these predictions against the existing literature. Having laid out how ecology and natural history can be used to predict detailed cognitive abilities, we then suggest using this approach to guide the study of the neural basis of these abilities. We believe that this complementary approach will reveal aspects of memory processing that would otherwise be difficult to discover.

Download Full-text

The history of scatter hoarding studies

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2009.0217 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 365 (1542) ◽

pp. 869-881 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Anders Brodin

Keyword(s):

Spatial Memory ◽

Large Scale ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Field Studies ◽

General Interest ◽

Scatter Hoarding ◽

Long Time ◽

History Of ◽

Theoretical Paper ◽

The 1960S

In this review, I will present an overview of the development of the field of scatter hoarding studies. Scatter hoarding is a conspicuous behaviour and it has been observed by humans for a long time. Apart from an exceptional experimental study already published in 1720, it started with observational field studies of scatter hoarding birds in the 1940s. Driven by a general interest in birds, several ornithologists made large-scale studies of hoarding behaviour in species such as nutcrackers and boreal titmice. Scatter hoarding birds seem to remember caching locations accurately, and it was shown in the 1960s that successful retrieval is dependent on a specific part of the brain, the hippocampus. The study of scatter hoarding, spatial memory and the hippocampus has since then developed into a study system for evolutionary studies of spatial memory. In 1978, a game theoretical paper started the era of modern studies by establishing that a recovery advantage is necessary for individual hoarders for the evolution of a hoarding strategy. The same year, a combined theoretical and empirical study on scatter hoarding squirrels investigated how caches should be spaced out in order to minimize cache loss, a phenomenon sometimes called optimal cache density theory. Since then, the scatter hoarding paradigm has branched into a number of different fields: (i) theoretical and empirical studies of the evolution of hoarding, (ii) field studies with modern sampling methods, (iii) studies of the precise nature of the caching memory, (iv) a variety of studies of caching memory and its relationship to the hippocampus. Scatter hoarding has also been the subject of studies of (v) coevolution between scatter hoarding animals and the plants that are dispersed by these.

Download Full-text

Is bigger always better? A critical appraisal of the use of volumetric analysis in the study of the hippocampus

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2009.0208 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 365 (1542) ◽

pp. 915-931 ◽

Cited By ~ 59

Author(s):

Timothy C. Roth ◽

Anders Brodin ◽

Tom V. Smulders ◽

Lara D. LaDage ◽

Vladimir V. Pravosudov

Keyword(s):

Spatial Memory ◽

Brain Area ◽

Volumetric Analysis ◽

Theoretical Background ◽

Physiological Adaptation ◽

Scatter Hoarding ◽

Axonal Arborization ◽

Adaptive Specialization ◽

Mechanisms Of Memory ◽

The Brain

A well-developed spatial memory is important for many animals, but appears especially important for scatter-hoarding species. Consequently, the scatter-hoarding system provides an excellent paradigm in which to study the integrative aspects of memory use within an ecological and evolutionary framework. One of the main tenets of this paradigm is that selection for enhanced spatial memory for cache locations should specialize the brain areas involved in memory. One such brain area is the hippocampus (Hp). Many studies have examined this adaptive specialization hypothesis, typically relating spatial memory to Hp volume. However, it is unclear how the volume of the Hp is related to its function for spatial memory. Thus, the goal of this article is to evaluate volume as a main measurement of the degree of morphological and physiological adaptation of the Hp as it relates to memory. We will briefly review the evidence for the specialization of memory in food-hoarding animals and discuss the philosophy behind volume as the main currency. We will then examine the problems associated with this approach, attempting to understand the advantages and limitations of using volume and discuss alternatives that might yield more specific hypotheses. Overall, there is strong evidence that the Hp is involved in the specialization of spatial memory in scatter-hoarding animals. However, volume may be only a coarse proxy for more relevant and subtle changes in the structure of the brain underlying changes in behaviour. To better understand the nature of this brain/memory relationship, we suggest focusing on more specific and relevant features of the Hp, such as the number or size of neurons, variation in connectivity depending on dendritic and axonal arborization and the number of synapses. These should generate more specific hypotheses derived from a solid theoretical background and should provide a better understanding of both neural mechanisms of memory and their evolution.

Download Full-text

High-valued seeds are remembered better: evidence for item-based spatial memory of scatter-hoarding rodents

Animal Behaviour ◽

10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.02.009 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 175 ◽

pp. 1-6

Author(s):

Xianfeng Yi ◽

Sijie Yi ◽

Yinhua Deng ◽

Minghui Wang ◽

Mengyao Ju

Keyword(s):

Spatial Memory ◽

Scatter Hoarding

Download Full-text

Improved spatial memory promotes scatter hoarding by Siberian chipmunks

Journal of Mammalogy ◽

10.1093/jmammal/gyy109 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 99 (5) ◽

pp. 1189-1196 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Minghui Wang ◽

Dongyuan Zhang ◽

Zhenyu Wang ◽

Xianfeng Yi

Keyword(s):

Spatial Memory ◽

Scatter Hoarding

Download Full-text

The use of spatial memory for cache management by a scatter-hoarding rodent

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology ◽

10.1007/s00265-016-2161-8 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 70 (9) ◽

pp. 1527-1534 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Xianfeng Yi ◽

Michael A. Steele ◽

Jeffrey A. Stratford ◽

Zhenyu Wang ◽

Yueqin Yang

Keyword(s):

Spatial Memory ◽

Cache Management ◽

Scatter Hoarding

Download Full-text

Great tits who remember more accurately have difficulty forgetting, but variation is not driven by environmental harshness

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-89125-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ethan Hermer ◽

Ben Murphy ◽

Alexis S. Chaine ◽

Julie Morand-Ferron

Keyword(s):

Spatial Memory ◽

Proactive Interference ◽

Parus Major ◽

Variance Partitioning ◽

Harsh Environments ◽

Potential Cost ◽

Scatter Hoarding ◽

Individual Level ◽

Memory Accuracy ◽

Significant Difference

AbstractThe causes of individual variation in memory are poorly understood in wild animals. Harsh environments with sparse or rapidly changing food resources are hypothesized to favour more accurate spatial memory to allow animals to return to previously visited patches when current patches are depleted. A potential cost of more accurate spatial memory is proactive interference, where accurate memories block the formation of new memories. This relationship between spatial memory, proactive interference, and harsh environments has only been studied in scatter-hoarding animals. We compare spatial memory accuracy and proactive interference performance of non-scatter hoarding great tits (Parus major) from high and low elevations where harshness increases with elevation. In contrast to studies of scatter-hoarders, we did not find a significant difference between high and low elevation birds in their spatial memory accuracy or proactive interference performance. Using a variance partitioning approach, we report the first among-individual trade-off between spatial memory and proactive interference, uncovering variation in memory at the individual level where selection may act. Although we have no evidence of harsh habitats affecting spatial memory, our results suggest that if elevation produced differences in spatial memory between elevations, we could see concurrent changes in how quickly birds can forget.

Download Full-text

Review for "Anti‐Lingo ‐1 antibody ameliorates spatial memory and synapse loss induced by chronic stress"

10.1002/cne.25038/v1/review2 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Spatial Memory ◽

Chronic Stress ◽

Synapse Loss

Download Full-text

Wechsler Memory Scale, Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test, and Everyday Memory Questionnaire in Healthy Adults and Alzheimer Patients

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027//1015-5759.18.1.63 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 63-77 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Anastasia Efklides ◽

Efterpi Yiultsi ◽

Theopisti Kangellidou ◽

Fotini Kounti ◽

Fotini Dina ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Memory ◽

Semantic Memory ◽

Memory Test ◽

Healthy Adults ◽

Gender Effects ◽

Everyday Memory ◽

Wechsler Memory Scale ◽

Everyday Memory Questionnaire ◽

Behavioral Memory ◽

Memory Questionnaire

Summary: The Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) is a laboratory-based memory test that has been criticized for its lack of ecological validity and for not testing long-term memory. A more recent memory test, which aims at testing everyday memory, is the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test (RBMT); it tests prospective memory and other forms of memory not tapped by WMS. However, even this test does not capture all aspects of everyday memory problems often reported by adults. These problems are the object of the Everyday Memory Questionnaire (EMQ). This study aimed at identifying the relationships between these three memory tests. The differential effect of Alzheimer's disease (AD) on the above relationships was also studied. The sample consisted of 233 healthy adults (20 to 75+ years of age) and 39 AD patients (50 to 75 years of age). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the following latent factors: Verbal Memory, Visual Reconstruction, Orientation, Message (action embedded in spatial context), Visual Recognition, Spatial Memory, New Learning/Association Forming, Prospective/Episodic Memory, and Metamemory. These first-order factors were further explained by two second-order factors: Semantic Memory and Coordination of Semantic and Visuo-Spatial Memory. This basic structure was preserved in the sample of AD patients, although AD patients performed less well on the WMS and the RBMT. Some interesting findings regarding semantic memory, face recognition, and metamemory in AD patients are also reported. Age, education, but no gender effects on memory performance were also detected.

Download Full-text