Visual recognition in infant pigtailed macaques after a 24‐hour delay

Abstract

Comparative studies of memory in monkey and human subjects suggest similarities in visual recognition memory across human and nonhuman primates. In order to investigate developmental aspects of visual recognition memory in monkey infants, the familiarization-novelty procedure, developed for use with human infants, was employed with pigtailed monkey infants to study long-delay recognition memory. Subjects were familiarized with a black-and-white abstract pattern. Twenty-four hours later they were tested with the familiar pattern paired with a novel one. Results indicated a significant visual preference for the novel stimulus, providing evidence for recognition memory. These results parallel those obtained with human infants, suggesting further similarities in the development of visual recognition memory.Key words: visual recognition, memory development, pigtailed macaques, Mucacu nemestrina 1NTK.ODUCTIONOnly recently has the investigation of primate memory included direct comparisons of memory in human and nonhuman primates [Sands & Wright, 1980a,b, 1982 Roberts & Kraemer, 19811. Such studies have found qualitatively similar results with monkey and human adult subjects in regard to the shape of the serial position curve for lists of visually presented stimuli [Sands & Wright, 19803,b; Roberts & Kraemer, 19811. Sands & Wright [1982] also have reported qualitative similarities in memory scanning by monkey and human subjects for visual stimuli presented in serial lists.To the extent that similarities in memory processes are demonstrated across human and nonhuman primates, theoretical treatments of memory must include consideration of nonverbal encoding, storage, and retrieval processes. Thus, at the most fundamental level, an understanding of memory processes in monkeys may provide insight into some aspects of human memory.Previous studies have included investigation of stimulus parameters, task parameters, and temporal parameters in order to develop theories of memory in [see, eg, Jarrard & Moise, 1970, 1971D'Amato, 1973; Mason & Wilson, 1974;Mishkin & Delacour, 1975;Devine et al, 1979; Parkinson & Medin, 19831. All of the previous studies have used adult monkeys in experimental tasks requiring extensive training, food reward, and large numbers of trials. Such studies have provided a great deal of information regarding memory processes in fully developed animals, but the elaborate training procedures involved prohibit the use of currently available experimental techniques to study developmental aspects of memory in monkeys. A procedure used extensively with human infant subjects to investigate developmental aspects of memory is the familiarization-novelty paradigm [Frantz, 1964; Saayman et al, 1964; Fagan 19701. This procedure involves the presentation of two identical stimuli for a familiarization period, followed by the presentation of the familiar stimulus paired with a novel one. Significantly more looking at the novel pattern during the test is taken to indicate memory for the familiar pattern. Using vari...

Recognition memory in tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri) after repeated familiarization sessions

“…Using these tasks, novelty preference has been demonstrated following short-term retention periods (Bachevalier and Nemanic, 2008;Pascalis and de Schonen, 1994;Jutras and Buffalo, 2010;Zeamer et al, 2010) in both human infants and monkeys. A number of studies have also documented novelty preference following long-term retention intervals (Gunderson and Swartz, 1985;Pascalis et al, 1998). In addition, the effect of familiarization time and re-familiarization on novelty preference has been studied in human and non-human primates (Gunderson and Swartz, 1986;Monk et al, 1996;Morgan and Hayne, 2006).…”

Infantile amnesia: A neurogenic hypothesis

“…Indeed, the protracted development of the hippocampus, particularly the DG, after birth in monkeys is consistent with their emerging ability to form and retain episodiclike memories (Alvarado and Bachevalier 2000;Payne et al 2010). For instance, although infant macaque monkeys (4 wk of age) show the ability to learn and form a memory (novelty preference) in the visual paired-comparison task (Gunderson and Sackett 1984;Gunderson and Swartz 1985;Bachevalier et al 1993), memory stability gradually increases with age (from 1.5 to 18 mo) (Zeamer et al 2010).…”

Revisiting the Maturation of Medial Temporal Lobe Memory Functions in Primates

“…Several studies have already shown that the differences could not be accounted for by differing abilities to detect the novel stimulus (Overman et al 1993), nor can they reflect simple immaturity in reaching ability (Diamond 1990;Overman et al 1993) or the inability to retain the sensory information for long periods (Gunderson and Swartz 1985). Rather, the differences between the development of the two tasks appear to be related to an inability to associate the reinforcer with the abstract quality of novelty (Bachevalier 1990).…”

“…1A), Bachevalier and colleagues (1993) showed that monkeys as young as 4 wk old were able to show novelty preference after a 10 sec delay (longest tested). Using longer retention periods, Gunderson and Swartz (1985) reported that infant monkeys could recognize visual stimuli after a 24-h delay as early as the age of 1 mo.…”

“…1A), Bachevalier and colleagues (1993) showed that monkeys as young as 4 wk old were able to show novelty preference after a 10 sec delay (longest tested). Using longer retention periods, Gunderson and Swartz (1985) reported that infant monkeys could recognize visual stimuli after a 24-h delay as early as the age of 1 mo.Performance on PL is highly susceptible to medial temporal lobe damage in adult monkeys (Table 1). For example, ablation of area TE in monkeys completely abolishes novelty preference (Bachevalier 1990;Buffalo et al 1999).…”