Assessing learning and memory in pigs |
| |
Authors: | Elise Titia Gieling Rebecca Elizabeth Nordquist Franz Josef van der Staay |
| |
Institution: | (1) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Farm Animal Health, Emotion and Cognition Program, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 7, 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands;(2) Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Universiteitsweg 100, Utrecht, The Netherlands |
| |
Abstract: | In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in (mini) pigs (Sus scrofa) as species for cognitive research. A major reason for this is their physiological and anatomical similarity with humans.
For example, pigs possess a well-developed, large brain. Assessment of the learning and memory functions of pigs is not only
relevant to human research but also to animal welfare, given the nature of current farming practices and the demands they
make on animal health and behavior. In this article, we review studies of pig cognition, focusing on the underlying processes
and mechanisms, with a view to identifying. Our goal is to aid the selection of appropriate cognitive tasks for research into
pig cognition. To this end, we formulated several basic criteria for pig cognition tests and then applied these criteria and
knowledge about pig-specific sensorimotor abilities and behavior to evaluate the merits, drawbacks, and limitations of the
different types of tests used to date. While behavioral studies using (mini) pigs have shown that this species can perform
learning and memory tasks, and much has been learned about pig cognition, results have not been replicated or proven replicable
because of the lack of validated, translational behavioral paradigms that are specially suited to tap specific aspects of
pig cognition. We identified several promising types of tasks for use in studies of pig cognition, such as versatile spatial
free-choice type tasks that allow the simultaneous measurement of several behavioral domains. The use of appropriate tasks
will facilitate the collection of reliable and valid data on pig cognition. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|