Kea, bird of versatility. Kea parrots (Nestor notabilis) show high behavioural flexibility in solving a demonstrated sequence task

Suwandschieff, Elisabeth; Huber, Ludwig; Bugnyar, Thomas; Schwing, Raoul

doi:10.1007/s10336-023-02127-y

Cited by 3 publications

References 53 publications

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Mechanical problem solving in mice

Boon,

Andresen,

Traverso

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Recent advances in automated tracking tools have sparked a growing interest in studying naturalistic behavior. Yet, traditional decision-making tasks remain the norm for assessing learning behavior in neuroscience. We introduce an alternative sequential decision-making task for studying mouse behavior. It consists of an open-source, 3D-printed "lockbox", a mechanical riddle that requires four different mechanisms to be solved in sequence to obtain a reward. During the task, the mice move around freely, allowing the expression of complex behavioral patterns. We observed that mice willingly engage in the task and learn to solve it in only a few trials. To analyze how the mice solved the task, we recorded their behavior in a multi-camera setup and developed a custom data analysis pipeline to automatically detect the interactions of the mice with the different lockbox mechanisms for a large corpus of video footage (> 300h, 12 mice). The pipeline allows us to further delineate why mouse performance increases over trials. Our analyses suggest that this is not due to an increased interaction time with the task or the acquisition of a smart solution strategy, but primarily due to habituation to the lockbox. Lockboxes may hence be a promising approach to study both abstract sequential decision making and low-level motor learning in a single task that can be rapidly learned by mice.

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Mechanical problem solving in mice

Boon,

Andresen,

Traverso

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Lockbox enrichment facilitates manipulative and cognitive activities for mice

Hohlbaum,

Andresen,

Mieske

et al. 2024

Open Res Europe

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Background Due to the lack of complexity and variety of stimuli, conventional housing conditions of laboratory mice do not allow these animals to fully express their behavioral repertoire, including manipulative and cognitive activities. Therefore, we designed mechanical puzzles, so-called lockboxes, for mice that can be provided in their home cages. We investigated the impact of the lockbox enrichment on their phenotype and affective state when compared to conventional housing and super-environmental enrichment. Methods Young adult female C57BL/6JCrl mice were examined before and after 2-month exposure to the different types of enrichment in a phenotyping test battery, including tests for trait and state anxiety-related behavior, calorimetric measurements, body weight measurements, and the analysis of stress hormone metabolite concentrations as well as sequential problem-solving abilities. At the end of the study, adrenal gland weights were determined and pathohistological evaluation was performed. For all continuous variables, the relative variability was calculated. Results We demonstrated that lockbox enrichment decreased trait anxiety-related behavior compared to conventional housing in the Grid Exploratory Paradigm. In contrast, the different types of enrichment neither influenced state anxiety-related behavior in the Open Field and Elevated Plus Maze Test nor physiological variables (i.e., bodyweight, resting metabolic rate, stress hormone metabolite concentrations, and adrenal gland weights). Lockbox enrichment improved sequential problem-solving when compared to super-environmental enrichment. Regardless of the housing condition, the relative variability increased in most variables over time, although the coefficient of variation decreased for some variables, especially in animals with access to the lockbox enrichment. A pathohistological evaluation revealed no evidence of toxicopathological effects associated with the material from which the lockbox enrichment was made. Conclusions Overall, the lockbox enrichment revealed beneficial effects on the affective state and sequential problem-solving abilities of laboratory mice. The reproducibility was demonstrated not to be compromised by lockbox enrichment, similar to super-environmental enrichment.

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Lockbox enrichment facilitates manipulative and cognitive activities for mice

Hohlbaum,

Andresen,

Mieske

et al. 2024

Open Res Europe

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Background Due to the lack of complexity and variety of stimuli, conventional housing conditions of laboratory mice do not allow these animals to fully express their behavioral repertoire, including manipulative and cognitive activities. Therefore, we designed mechanical puzzles, so-called lockboxes, for mice that can be provided in their home cages. We investigated the impact of the lockbox enrichment on their phenotype and affective state when compared to conventional housing (CH) and super-environmental enrichment (SEE). Methods Young adult female C57BL/6JCrl mice were examined before and after 2-month exposure to the different types of enrichment in a phenotyping test battery, including tests for trait and state anxiety-related behavior, calorimetric measurements, body weight measurements, the analysis of stress hormone metabolite concentrations, and sequential problem-solving abilities with a novel lockbox. At the end of the study, adrenal gland weights were determined and pathohistological evaluation was performed. For all continuous variables, the relative variability was calculated. Results While the different types of enrichment affected trait anxiety-related behavior, neither state anxiety-related behavior nor physiological variables (i.e., bodyweight, resting metabolic rate, stress hormone metabolite concentrations, adrenal gland weights) were influenced. LE improved sequential problem-solving (i.e., solving novel lockboxes) when compared to SEE. Regardless of the housing condition, the relative variability increased in most variables over time, although the coefficient of variation decreased for some variables, especially in animals with access to LE. There was no evidence of toxicopathological effects associated with the material from which the lockboxes were made. Conclusions All lockboxes are available as open-source tool. LE revealed beneficial effects on the affective state of laboratory mice and their performance in solving novel lockboxes. Neither relevant phenotype of the mice nor reproducibility of the data were compromised by LE, similar to SEE. The lockboxes may also be used as novel approach for assessing cognition in mice.

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Kea, bird of versatility. Kea parrots (Nestor notabilis) show high behavioural flexibility in solving a demonstrated sequence task

Cited by 3 publications

References 53 publications

Mechanical problem solving in mice

Mechanical problem solving in mice

Lockbox enrichment facilitates manipulative and cognitive activities for mice

Lockbox enrichment facilitates manipulative and cognitive activities for mice

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