Understanding the origin of number sense: a review of fish studies

Agrillo, Christian; Bisazza, Angelo

doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0511

Cited by 79 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 112 publications

(148 reference statements)

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“…It is unknown whether they can achieve more difficult discriminations 22 . As far as we are aware, this is the very first evidence of such a precise quantitative discrimination in a fish species ( 16,17 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

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Size discrimination in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio): Normative data and individual variation

Santacà

Caja

Petrazzini

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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In humans, aging and neurodegenerative diseases have been found to be associated with impairment in both mathematical abilities and estimation of continuous quantities such as size, weight or distance. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is rapidly becoming a model for human aging and brain disorders but we currently lack any instrument for rapid assessment of quantity estimation abilities in this species. Here we developed a simple method based on spontaneous preference of zebrafish for using the larger available hole to pass an obstacle. We collected a large amount of data from small groups of zebrafish moving between compartments of their tank and we used these normative data to compare the performance of individually tested fish. Zebrafish significantly discriminated size ratios from 0.60 to 0.91 with their performance decreasing while increasing the size ratio between the smaller and the larger hole presented. On average, individually tested fish showed the same performance, but a large inter-individual variability was observed. Test-retest analyses revealed a good reliability of this test, with 0.60 and 0.75 ratios being the most informative. Experience did not affect individual performance, suggesting the suitability of this test to measure the longitudinal changes and the effects of pharmacological treatments on cognitive abilities. Numerous neuropathologies such as some forms of dementia and some psychiatric disorders are associated with a decline in quantity estimation performance. Such decline can affect both numerosity estimation (e.g. 1,2) and the estimation of continuous quantities such as object size, weight and distance or the duration of an event (e.g. 3-5). Both deficits are often used for the differential diagnosis of some neuropathologies (e.g. 6,7). In some cases, the estimations of continuous quantities can be compromised already in the early stages of the disease and, therefore, could potentially be used for an early diagnosis (e.g. 4−8). Both continuous quantity and numerical abilities have been used to investigate cognitive decline in animal models of normal and pathological aging. For example, young dogs (Canis familiaris) were found to learn faster than senior dogs to discriminate between objects of different size and were more efficient in transferring this knowledge to successive tests 9. Another study found that deficits in size discrimination were associated with β-amyloid accumulation in the entorhinal cortex in aging dogs 10. In the Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), older individuals were slower and less accurate than younger individuals in numerical discrimination and summation 11. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are increasingly used as a model in biomedical research, including for research on human neuropathologies, due to its amenability to genetic manipulation, high-resolution imaging and to high throughput in vivo screening. Different zebrafish lines have been generated with alterations of TAU protein functioning that induce early neuronal disturbances and cell death. The alter...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…studying discrimination abilities in fish. Numerical abilities have been thoroughly investigated in various species (reviewed in 16,17 ) including some studies of zebrafish ( 18,19 ). By contrast, estimation of continuous quantities has received relatively less attention.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Size discrimination in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio): Normative data and individual variation

Santacà

Caja

Petrazzini

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…These controls are indeed required, but carry the implicit assumption that quantity discrimination is inherently more complex for countable rather than non-countable quantities, perhaps reflecting a higher cortical function. Nevertheless, numerosity discrimination has been demonstrated in vertebrates that lack the mammalian neocortex (see Agrillo & Bisazza [ 4 ]). In fact, it seems highly unlikely that the architectural plan of the vertebrate brain is necessary for basic numerical cognition; cuttlefish, for example, have recently been claimed to discriminate prey items on the basis of numerosity [ 5 ]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Counting insects

Skorupski

MaBouDi

Dona

et al. 2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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When counting-like abilities were first described in the honeybee in the mid-1990s, many scholars were sceptical, but such capacities have since been confirmed in a number of paradigms and also in other insect species. Counter to the intuitive notion that counting is a cognitively advanced ability, neural network analyses indicate that it can be mediated by very small neural circuits, and we should therefore perhaps not be surprised that insects and other small-brained animals such as some small fish exhibit such abilities. One outstanding question is how bees actually acquire numerical information. For perception of small numerosities, working-memory capacity may limit the number of items that can be enumerated, but within these limits, numerosity can be evaluated accurately and (at least in primates) in parallel. However, presentation of visual stimuli in parallel does not automatically ensure parallel processing. Recent work on the question of whether bees can see ‘at a glance’ indicates that bees must acquire spatial detail by sequential scanning rather than parallel processing. We explore how this might be tested for a numerosity task in bees and other animals.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The origins of numerical abilities’.

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“…Similarly, male wood warblers (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) adjust territory defense behavior depending on the number of songs sung by an intruder (Szymkowiak and Kuczyński 2017). Quantity judgements may be also an important aspect of predator avoidance strategies in prey species, e.g., guppies (Poecilia reticulata) preferentially join larger shoals to reduce predation risk (Agrillo and Bisazza 2017). The ability to use quantitative information is innate, does not reflect any higher cortical functions, occurs in a variety of ecological contexts, and has crucial fitness effects (Shettleworth 2010;Butterworth et al 2017).…”

Section: Assessment Of Tit Clutch Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

On resolving the selective interspecific information use vs. owner aggression hypothesis dilemma—a commentary

Szymkowiak

2019

acta ethol

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Using information acquired from other individuals (social information use) is ubiquitous in animals and not restricted to withinspecies context. Some of the textbook examples of interspecific information use in the wild has been provided using apparent novel niche experiment approach, with migratory flycatcher species (Ficedula spp.) cueing on apparent nest site preferences (geometric symbols) and clutch sizes of resident great tits (Parus major) and blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) to choose their own nest site. However, the interpretation of these results has recently been challenged. It has been argued that there is no evidence that flycatchers visit tit nests to collect information about clutch size or that flycatchers are capable of Bcounting^tit eggs. Instead, it has been proposed that the decision-making patterns of flycatchers found in earlier studies resulted from aggressive interactions, not information use, between tits and flycatchers (termed owner aggression hypothesis). Here, I contribute to the debate around both hypotheses and specifically explore the remaining points of disagreement, related to the timing of flycatchers prospecting and the cognitive abilities needed to assess tit clutch size. I argue how interannual variation in phenology can explain the apparent discrepancy between the observed and predicted timing of flycatchers prospecting. I also argue why assessing tit clutch size neither requires Bcounting^eggs nor any sophisticated cognitive capacities. Finally, I propose experimental designs to test the hypotheses on the underlying mechanisms explaining the observed patterns, which will allow taking further leaps in resolving the selective interspecific information use vs. owner aggression hypothesis dilemma.

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Understanding the origin of number sense: a review of fish studies

Cited by 79 publications

References 112 publications

Size discrimination in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio): Normative data and individual variation

Size discrimination in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio): Normative data and individual variation

Counting insects

On resolving the selective interspecific information use vs. owner aggression hypothesis dilemma—a commentary

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