Visual associative learning in wood ants.pdf (768.02 kB)
Visual associative learning in wood ants
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 13:13 authored by Sofia David Fernandes, Christopher BuckleyChristopher Buckley, Jeremy E. NivenWood ants are a model system for studying visual learning and navigation. They can forage for food and navigate to their nests effectively by forming memories of visual features in their surrounding environment. Previous studies of freely behaving ants have revealed many of the behavioural strategies and environmental features necessary for successful navigation. However, little is known about the exact visual properties of the environment that animals learn or the neural mechanisms that allow them to achieve this. As a first step towards addressing this, we developed a classical conditioning paradigm for visual learning in harnessed wood ants that allows us to control precisely the learned visual cues. In this paradigm, ants are fixed and presented with a visual cue paired with an appetitive sugar reward. Using this paradigm, we found that visual cues learnt by wood ants through Pavlovian conditioning are retained for at least one hour. Furthermore, we found that memory retention is dependent upon the ants’ performance during training. Our study provides the first evidence that wood ants can form visual associative memories when restrained. This classical conditioning paradigm has the potential to permit detailed analysis of the dynamics of memory formation and retention, and the neural basis of learning in wood ants.
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Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
The Journal of Experimental BiologyISSN
0022-0949Publisher
Company of BiologistsExternal DOI
Issue
3Volume
221Page range
1-8Department affiliated with
- Informatics Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2018-05-14First Open Access (FOA) Date
2018-12-12First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2018-05-09Usage metrics
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