Detour Behavior of Mice Trained with Transparent, Semitransparent and Opaque Barriers

Abstract

Detour tasks are commonly used to study problem solving skills and inhibitory control in canids and primates. However, there is no comparable detour test designed for rodents despite its significance for studying the development of executive skills. Furthermore, mice offer research opportunities that are not currently possible to achieve when primates are used. Therefore, the aim of the study was to translate the classic detour task to mice and to compare obtained data with key findings obtained previously in other mammals. The experiment was performed with V-shaped barriers and was based on the water escape paradigm. The study showed that an apparently simple task requiring mice to move around a small barrier constituted in fact a challenge that was strongly affected by the visibility of the target. The most difficult task involved a completely transparent barrier, which forced the mice to resolve a conflict between vision and tactile perception. The performance depended both on the inhibitory skills and on previous experiences. Additionally, all mice displayed a preference for one side of the barrier and most of them relied on the egocentric strategy. Obtained results show for the first time that the behavior of mice subjected to the detour task is comparable to the behavior of other mammals tested previously with free-standing barriers. This detailed characterization of the detour behavior of mice constitutes the first step toward the substitution of rodents for primates in laboratory experiments employing the detour task.

Individual performance across motoric self-regulation tasks are not correlated for pet dogs

“…This side preference could be due to behavioral or motoric lateralization (Tomkins, Thomson, & McGreevy, 2010), or may simply be due to the tendency for a dog to replicate a previously rewarded response. Similar detouring side preferences have been reported for this task by dogs (Pongrácz et al, 2001), mice (Juszczak & Miller, 2016), and quokkas (Wynne & Leguet, 2004).…”

Consistency and flexibility in solving spatial tasks: different horses show different cognitive styles

“…Orienting oneself in a dynamic environment is vital for animals to maintain access to resources, for example, when the direct route to a target is blocked and a new path must be found. These detour problems require animals to select alternative routes to reach a target and have been widely used to study spatial problem solving in animals 16 , 17 . The ability to find the best route to a reward implies that the animal is able to determine the distance, direction and timing required to reach the goal 16 , 18 .…”

Assessment of Problem‐Solving Skills and Inhibitory Control in Mice Using Water Escape Detour Test

“…Typically, mice ignore the platform during the first session and spend most of the time exploring the walls of the tank to escape from it. However, they quickly learn to use the platform during subsequent sessions and, in most cases, they reach the platform with latencies shorter than 10 s. An example of behavior during the first and last training session is shown in the supplementary video file (https:// doi.org/ 10.1371/ journal.pone.0162018.s002) published in our earlier study (Juszczak & Miller, 2016). Some mice may have a problem finding the platform despite repeated training, which indicates a likely visual impairment.…”

“…However, despite the importance of emotional intelligence, its biological mechanism is still not well understood. For this reason, we have developed a rodent detour task which requires an animal to reach a highly desired object placed directly behind a transparent barrier that blocks the direct route to the target (Juszczak & Miller, 2016;Juszczak & Stryjek, 2019). This apparently simple task is highly dependent on the emotional control that is necessary to inhibit prepotent and counterproductive responses driven by the sight of a desired object.…”

“…Experiments performed in dogs have shown that they are poor at solving the detour task on their own, although they learn quickly when the solution is presented by humans or other dogs (Pongrácz et al, 2001;Pongrácz, Vida, Banhegyi, & Miklosi, 2008). Therefore, tasks employing transparent barriers are especially useful for testing problem-solving skills requiring emotional control (Juszczak & Miller, 2016). Furthermore, they also allow for identification of an impairment termed perseveration (Juszczak & Stryjek, 2019).…”