Existence of working memory in teleosts: Establishment of the delayed matching-to-sample task in adult zebrafish

Bloch, Solal; Froc, Cynthia; Pontiggia, Anaïs; Yamamoto, Kei

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2019.111924

Cited by 27 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…After all, fish ( DeLong et al, 2017 ) amphibians ( Uller et al, 2003 ), and non-avian reptiles ( Gazzola et al, 2018 ) show relative numerical competence. In fact, some species of teleost fish show unexpected numerical ( Miletto et al, 2020 ) and cognitive skills ( Bloch et al, 2019 ) suggesting that they may also grasp absolute numerosity judgments. However, I predict that amphibians and non-avian reptiles will never master absolute numerosity tasks because they seem to lack the necessary behavioral flexibility (or intelligence) to solve such abstract tasks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absolute Numerosity Discrimination as a Case Study in Comparative Vertebrate Intelligence

Nieder

2020

Front. Psychol.

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The question of whether some non-human animal species are more intelligent than others is a reoccurring theme in comparative psychology. To convincingly address this question, exact comparability of behavioral methodology and data across species is required. The current article explores one of the rare cases in which three vertebrate species (humans, macaques, and crows) experienced identical experimental conditions during the investigation of a core cognitive capability-the abstract categorization of absolute numerical quantity. We found that not every vertebrate species studied in numerical cognition were able to flexibly discriminate absolute numerosity, which suggests qualitative differences in numerical intelligence are present between vertebrates. Additionally, systematic differences in numerosity judgment accuracy exist among those species that could master abstract and flexible judgments of absolute numerosity, thus arguing for quantitative differences between vertebrates. These results demonstrate that Macphail's Null Hypotheses-which suggests that all non-human vertebrates are qualitatively and quantitatively of equal intelligenceis untenable.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absolute Numerosity Discrimination as a Case Study in Comparative Vertebrate Intelligence

Nieder

2020

Front. Psychol.

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“…The nitrateand nitrite-induced reductions in fatty acids, neurotransmitters, signaling molecules, tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, and amino acids are also of interest and warrant future investigation. A significant limitation of this study is the use of whole zebrafish brains to derive metabolomics data, limiting our ability to draw inferences to specific functional structures within the brain, like the zebrafish equivalent of the prefrontal cortex 71 . Interestingly, a study in older adults using a more focused technique measured brain N-acetyl aspartate, creatine, choline, or myo-inositol levels and found no change with 3 day BRJ supplement 57 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrate and nitrite exposure increases anxiety-like behavior and alters brain metabolomic profile in zebrafish

García-Jaramillo

Beaver

Truong

et al. 2020

Preprint

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IntroductionDietary nitrate lowers blood pressure and improves athletic performance in humans, yet data supporting observations that it may increase cerebral blood flow and improve cognitive performance are mixed. Here we tested the hypothesis that nitrate and nitrite treatment would improve indicators of learning and cognitive performance in a zebrafish (Danio rerio) model. We also explored the extent to which nitrate and nitrite treatment affected the brain metabolome in order to understand how nitrate and nitrite supplementation may affect indices of cognitive function.MethodsFish were exposed to sodium nitrate (606.9 mg/L), sodium nitrite (19.5 mg/L), or control water for 2-4 weeks and free swim, startle response, innate predator avoidance, social cohesion, and shuttle box assays were performed.ResultsNitrate and nitrite treatment did not change fish weight, length, predator avoidance, or distance and velocity traveled in an unstressed environment. Nitrate- and nitrite-treated fish initially experienced more negative reinforcement and increased time to decision in the shuttle box assay, which is consistent with a decrease in associative learning or executive function however, over multiple trials, all treatment groups demonstrated behaviors associated with learning. Nitrate and nitrite treatment significantly increased anxiety-like behavior but did not alter epinephrine, norepinephrine or dopamine levels. Targeted LC-MS/MS analysis revealed no significant increase in brain nitrate or nitrite concentrations with treatment. An untargeted metabolomics analysis found 47 metabolites whose abundance was significantly altered in the brain with nitrate and nitrite treatment including an 18-19% reduction in the neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and 17-22% reduction in its precursor, glutamine, which may contribute to the increased anxiety-like behavior.ConclusionNitrate and nitrite treatment did not adversely affect multiple parameters of zebrafish health but was associated with mild anxiety-like behavior, changes in the brain metabolome, and caused a short-term decrease in executive function or associative learning.

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“…The blue bowl, equally associated with food, is not chosen because the information held in WM allows for a goal selection based on the task demands on the current trial. This general protocol has been used in numerous experiments and variations with different species (e.g., Weinstein, 1941;Lu et al, 1993;Zhang et al, 2005;Bloch et al, 2019). The neuroscientific literature interprets physiologically sustained activity during the delay as a correlate of WM, other physiological processes notwithstanding.…”

Section: A Definition Of Working Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Amongst "fish" (a paraphyletic group of animals), few species were tested on their WM abilities. Recently, zebrafish (Danio rerio) have been tested in a DMTS task, using different colors with a delay of three and 4 s (Bloch et al, 2019). With their study, Bloch and colleagues established an experimental setup that allows fish to be tested, overcoming contextual hurdles for an animal species that is notoriously difficult to train on a behavioral task.…”

Section: Working Memory Of Different Species: Similarities Differencmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With their study, Bloch and colleagues established an experimental setup that allows fish to be tested, overcoming contextual hurdles for an animal species that is notoriously difficult to train on a behavioral task. A substantial constraint is the meager amount of trials that can be performed by the fish in a session [in the study of Bloch et al (2019), only ten trials]. The fish were considered to have learned the task only if they performed at a level of ≥70% correct in a session, for three consecutive sessions, to account for this low number of trials.…”

Section: Working Memory Of Different Species: Similarities Differencmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Working Memory as an Indicator for Comparative Cognition – Detecting Qualitative and Quantitative Differences

Hahn

Rose

2020

Front. Psychol.

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Working memory (WM), the representation of information held accessible for manipulation over time, is an essential component of all higher cognitive abilities. It allows for complex behaviors that go beyond simple stimulus-response associations and inflexible behavioral patterns. WM capacity determines how many different pieces of information (items) can be used for these cognitive processes, and in humans, it correlates with fluid intelligence. As such, WM might be a useful tool for comparison of cognition across species. WM can be tested using comparatively simple behavioral protocols, based on operant conditioning, in a multitude of different species. Speciesspecific contextual variables that influence an animal's performance on a non-cognitive level are controlled by adapting the WM paradigm. The neuronal mechanisms by which WM emerges in the brain, as sustained neuronal activity, are comparable between the different species studied (mammals and birds), as are the areas of the brain in which WM activity can be measured. Thus WM is comparable between vastly different species within their respective niches, accounting for specific contextual variables and unique adaptations. By approaching the question of "general cognitive abilities" or "intelligence" within the animal kingdom from the perspective of WM, the complexity of the core question at hand is reduced to a fundamental memory system required to allow for complex cognitive abilities. This article argues that measuring WM can be a suitable addition to the toolkit of comparative cognition. By measuring WM on a behavioral level and going beyond behavior to the underlying physiological processes, qualitative and quantitative differences in cognition between different animal species can be identified, free of contextual restraints.

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Existence of working memory in teleosts: Establishment of the delayed matching-to-sample task in adult zebrafish

Cited by 27 publications

References 31 publications

Absolute Numerosity Discrimination as a Case Study in Comparative Vertebrate Intelligence

Absolute Numerosity Discrimination as a Case Study in Comparative Vertebrate Intelligence

Nitrate and nitrite exposure increases anxiety-like behavior and alters brain metabolomic profile in zebrafish

Working Memory as an Indicator for Comparative Cognition – Detecting Qualitative and Quantitative Differences

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