TY - JOUR
T1 - General learning ability regulates exploration through its influence on rate of habituation
AU - Light, Kenneth R.
AU - Grossman, Henya
AU - Kolata, Stefan
AU - Wass, Christopher
AU - Matzel, Louis D.
N1 - Funding Information:
The first and second authors contributed equally to this work. These experiments were supported by the National Institute of Aging ( AG022698 ) and a Busch Foundation Grant to L.D.M. Thanks are extended to Ronald Gandelman and Tracey Shors for their helpful comments on this work.
PY - 2011/10/1
Y1 - 2011/10/1
N2 - " General intelligence" is purported to influence diverse domain-specific learning abilities in humans, and previous research indicates that an analogous trait is expressed in CD-1 outbred mice. In humans and mice, exploratory tendencies are predictive of general cognitive abilities, such that higher cognitive abilities are associated with elevated levels of exploration. However, in mice, repeated exposure to novel environments outside the home cage has been found to up-regulate exploratory tendencies but has no commensurate effect on general learning abilities, suggesting that exploratory tendencies do not causally influence general cognitive performance. This leaves open the question of what is responsible for the robust relationship observed between exploration and general learning abilities? In the present experiments, we find that differential rates of habituation (e.g., to a novel open field) between animals of high and low general learning abilities accounts for the relationship between exploration and learning abilities. First, we up-regulated exploration by exposing mice to a series of novel environments. Similar to its lack of effect on learning tasks, this up-regulation of exploration had no commensurate effect on habituation to novel objects or stimuli. Next we examined the relationship between general learning abilities and exploration under conditions where habituation had a high or low impact on exploratory behaviors. A strong correlation between general learning abilities and exploration was observed under conditions where the levels of habituation (to a novel object or an open field) between animals of high and low general learning abilities were allowed to vary. However, this same correlation was attenuated when the level of habituation attained by animals of high and low general learning abilities was asymptotic or held constant across animals. In total, these results indicate that the relationship between exploration and general learning abilities is accounted for by the impact of habituation (itself a form of learning) on behaviors indicative of exploration.
AB - " General intelligence" is purported to influence diverse domain-specific learning abilities in humans, and previous research indicates that an analogous trait is expressed in CD-1 outbred mice. In humans and mice, exploratory tendencies are predictive of general cognitive abilities, such that higher cognitive abilities are associated with elevated levels of exploration. However, in mice, repeated exposure to novel environments outside the home cage has been found to up-regulate exploratory tendencies but has no commensurate effect on general learning abilities, suggesting that exploratory tendencies do not causally influence general cognitive performance. This leaves open the question of what is responsible for the robust relationship observed between exploration and general learning abilities? In the present experiments, we find that differential rates of habituation (e.g., to a novel open field) between animals of high and low general learning abilities accounts for the relationship between exploration and learning abilities. First, we up-regulated exploration by exposing mice to a series of novel environments. Similar to its lack of effect on learning tasks, this up-regulation of exploration had no commensurate effect on habituation to novel objects or stimuli. Next we examined the relationship between general learning abilities and exploration under conditions where habituation had a high or low impact on exploratory behaviors. A strong correlation between general learning abilities and exploration was observed under conditions where the levels of habituation (to a novel object or an open field) between animals of high and low general learning abilities were allowed to vary. However, this same correlation was attenuated when the level of habituation attained by animals of high and low general learning abilities was asymptotic or held constant across animals. In total, these results indicate that the relationship between exploration and general learning abilities is accounted for by the impact of habituation (itself a form of learning) on behaviors indicative of exploration.
KW - Elevated plus maze
KW - Exploration
KW - General intelligence
KW - Habituation
KW - Learning
KW - Open field
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U2 - 10.1016/j.bbr.2011.04.050
DO - 10.1016/j.bbr.2011.04.050
M3 - Article
C2 - 21571008
AN - SCOPUS:79959287071
VL - 223
SP - 297
EP - 309
JO - Behavioural Brain Research
JF - Behavioural Brain Research
SN - 0166-4328
IS - 2
ER -