Visually Inexperienced Chicks Exhibit Spontaneous Preference for Biological Motion Patterns

Vallortígara, Giorgio; Regolin, Lucia; Marconato, Fabio

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030208

Cited by 352 publications

(303 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…(The problem is less acute when using Wxed action patterns of response elicited by releasing mechanisms as in classical ethological work, e.g. Tinbergen 1951; and see Vallortigara et al 2005b;Vallortigara and Regolin 2006 for a more recent demonstration of innate predispositions involving perception of biological motion that makes use of the approach and following response of newly hatched domestic chicks). Unavoidably, once the experimental chicks begin training, they begin to experience geometry, and when the test is performed, the experimental animals have already had some experience with geometry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there an innate geometric module? Effects of experience with angular geometric cues on spatial re-orientation based on the shape of the environment

2007

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Non-human animals and human children can make use of the geometric shape of an environment for spatial reorientation and in some circumstances reliance on purely geometric information (metric properties of surfaces and sense) can overcome the use of local featural cues. Little is known as to whether the use of geometric information is in some way reliant on past experience or, as would likely be argued by advocates of the notion of a geometric module, it is innate. We tested the navigational abilities of newborn domestic chicks reared in either rectangular or circular cages. Chicks were trained in a rectangular-shaped enclosure with panels placed at the corners to provide salient featural cues. Rectangular-reared and circular-reared chicks proved equally able to learn the task. When tested after removal of the featural cues, both rectangular-and circular-reared chicks showed evidence that they had spontaneously encoded geometric information. Moreover, when trained in a rectangular-shaped enclosure without any featural cues, chicks reared in rectangular-, circular-, or cshaped cages proved to be equally able to learn and perform the task using geometric information. These results suggest that eVective use of geometric information for spatial reorientation does not require experience in environments with right angles and metrically distinct surfaces, thus supporting the hypothesis of a predisposed geometric module in the animal brain.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there an innate geometric module? Effects of experience with angular geometric cues on spatial re-orientation based on the shape of the environment

2007

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“…Once autoshaping was complete, the ability of the rats to discriminate between a point-light display of biological motion, white dots moving on a completely dark background (a walking hen; open-access video source from Vallortigara et al, 2005) ( Figure 4A), and one of four manipulations of that pattern (static, inverted, scrambled, and rotating versions of the pattern) was determined using the procedures outlines above. Presentation of correct (directed biological motion) and incorrect manipulated stimuli on the screens was pseudo-random as a given stimulus could not appear on the same screen for more than three consecutive trials.…”

Section: Behavioural Assessment -Testing Phasementioning

confidence: 99%

Class I histone deacetylase inhibition ameliorates social cognition and cell adhesion molecule plasticity deficits in a rodent model of autism spectrum disorder

et al. 2012

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Publication information Neuropharmacology, 63 (4): 750-760Publisher Elsevier Item record/more information http://hdl.handle.net/10197/3779 Publisher's statementThis is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in Neuropharmacology. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Neuropharmacology (VOL 63, ISSUE4, (2012) inhibitor, has been proposed to induce an adult phenotype with behavioural characteristics reminiscent of those observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We have evaluated the face validity of this model in terms of social cognition deficits which are a major core symptom of ASD. We employed the social approach avoidance paradigm as a measure of social reciprocity, detection of biological motion that is crucial to social interactions, and spatial learning as an indicator of dorsal stream processing of social cognition and found each parameter to be significantly impaired in Wistar rats with prior in utero exposure to VPA. We found no significant change in the expression of neural cell adhesion molecule polysialylation state (NCAM PSA), a measure of construct validity, but a complete inability to increase its glycosylation state which is necessary to mount the neuroplastic response associated with effective spatial learning. Finally, in all cases, we found chronic HDAC inhibition, with either pan-specific or HDAC1-3 isoform-specific inhibitors, to significantly ameliorate deficits in both social cognition and its associated neuroplastic response. We conclude that in utero exposure to VPA provides a robust animal model for the social cognitive deficits of ASD and a potential screen for the development of novel therapeutics for this condition. 2 RUNNING TITLESocial deficit amelioration in rat autism model KEY WORDSHistone deacetylase; SAHA; MS-275; social interaction; biological motion; spatial learning; synaptic plasticity; NCAM PSA. ABBREVIATIONS

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“…In addition, we believe it may prove to be an excellent model to adopt in order to tackle some classical issues in developmental psychology, offering a novel battle-ground for the empirical investigation of nature-nurture issues on the origins of knowledge. We used the domestic chick to investigate social cognition, looking for innate predispositions to respond to face-like stimuli , biological motion (Vallortigara et al, 2005;Regolin & Vallortigara, 2006), and causal agency associated with self-propulsion (Mascalzoni et al, 2010;and see Vallortigara, 2006b; 2009b for general reviews). Here, we review our studies on core knowledge of number and geometry in very young chicks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rudiments of mind: Insights through the chick model on number and space cognition in animals.

Vallortígara¹,

Regolin²,

Chiandetti³

et al. 2010

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Studies on human infants, focused on the ontogenetic origins of knowledge, have provided evidence for a small set of separable systems of core knowledge dealing with the representation of objects, number, and space. We investigated core knowledge systems from a comparative perspective, making use of the domestic chick as a model system, and filial imprinting as a key to animal mind. Here, we discuss evidence showing precocious abilities in the chick for representing: (i) the cardinal and ordinal/sequential aspects of numerical cognition, and (ii) the distance, angle, and sense relations among extended surfaces in the surrounding layout. Some of the abilities associated with core knowledge systems of number and space were observed in the absence of (or with very reduced) visual experience, supporting a nativistic account of the origins of knowledge.

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Visually Inexperienced Chicks Exhibit Spontaneous Preference for Biological Motion Patterns

Cited by 352 publications

References 29 publications

Is there an innate geometric module? Effects of experience with angular geometric cues on spatial re-orientation based on the shape of the environment

Is there an innate geometric module? Effects of experience with angular geometric cues on spatial re-orientation based on the shape of the environment

Class I histone deacetylase inhibition ameliorates social cognition and cell adhesion molecule plasticity deficits in a rodent model of autism spectrum disorder

Rudiments of mind: Insights through the chick model on number and space cognition in animals.

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