Spatial learning in pigs: effects of environmental enrichment and individual characteristics on behaviour and performance |
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| Authors: | Jarno Jansen J. Elizabeth Bolhuis Willem G. P. Schouten Berry M. Spruijt Victor M. Wiegant |
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| Affiliation: | (1) Ethology Group, Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences (WIAS), Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands;(2) Human and Animal Physiology Group, Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences (WIAS), Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands;(3) Adaptation Physiology Group, Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences (WIAS), Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands;(4) Present address: Developmental Psychology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands;(5) Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 14, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands;(6) Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Universiteitsweg 100, 3584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands; |
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| Abstract: | This study investigated the effects of both environmental enrichment and individual behavioural characteristics on spatial cognitive capabilities of pigs, using a novel latent spatial learning paradigm based on Tolman’s detour experiments (1948). Pigs were housed either in ‘barren’ pens or in pens enriched with straw bedding from birth. Pigs were restrained in a Backtest at 10 and 17 days postpartum. Based on their escape behaviour in this test, which has been shown to reflect their behavioural style, six ‘high-resisting’(HR) and six ‘low-resisting’ (LR) pigs were selected from each housing environment (n = 24 in total). At 12 weeks of age, pairs of pen mates (LR and HR) were exposed to a maze three times (exploration trials). Pigs were then placed individually in the maze, and social reinstatement proved to be a strong incentive to find the exit leading to the home pen. We subsequently blocked the direct route to the exit, forcing animals to find a detour (memory test 1, MT1). This test was repeated once to investigate the relative improvement, i.e. detour learning (memory test 2, MT2). Housing condition and Backtest response strongly affected exploration patterns. In spite of this, no effects on performance during the subsequent memory tests were found. Performance was substantially improved in MT2, indicating that once a goal is apparent, pigs are able to solve a complex spatial memory task easily. In conclusion, social reinstatement provided a good incentive to complete a spatial task, and the substantial improvement in performance between MT1 and MT2 stresses the need for task complexity when testing spatial memory in pigs. Housing conditions or individual behavioural style did not affect spatial memory during MT1 or MT2. However, housing environment and behavioural style strongly affected explorative behaviour of pigs in an unfamiliar maze during both exploration trials and memory tests. This implicates that apparent effects of environmental enrichment on spatial learning and memory in pigs might reflect differences in explorative patterns rather than in cognitive processes. |
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| Keywords: | Environmental enrichment Behavioural style Spatial learning Exploration Social reinstatement |
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