Seasonal variation in reversal learning reveals greater female cognitive flexibility in African striped mice

Abstract Cognitive flexibility describes the ability of animals to alter cognitively mediated behaviour in response to changing situational demands, and can vary according to prevailing environemental conditions and individual caracteristics. In the present study, we investigated (1) how learning an...

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Autores principales:	Céline Rochais, Hoël Hotte, Neville Pillay
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/12adfbe168fc4559814faa7b2877357c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:12adfbe168fc4559814faa7b2877357c2021-12-02T18:01:52ZSeasonal variation in reversal learning reveals greater female cognitive flexibility in African striped mice10.1038/s41598-021-99619-92045-2322https://doaj.org/article/12adfbe168fc4559814faa7b2877357c2021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99619-9https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Cognitive flexibility describes the ability of animals to alter cognitively mediated behaviour in response to changing situational demands, and can vary according to prevailing environemental conditions and individual caracteristics. In the present study, we investigated (1) how learning and reversal learning performance changes between seasons, and (2) how cognitive flexibility is related to sex in a free-living small mammal. We studied 107 African striped mice, Rhabdomys pumilio, in an arid semi-desert, 58 during the hot dry summer with low food availability, and 49 during the cold wet winter with higher food availability. We used an escape box task to test for learning and reversal learning performance. We found that learning and reversal learning efficiency varied seasonally by sex: females tested in summer were faster at solving both learning and reversal tasks than males tested in winter. Performance varied within sex: males tested in winter showed faster learning compared to males tested in summer. During reversal learning, females tested in summer were more efficient and solve the task faster compared to females tested in winter. We suggest that seasonal cognitive performance could be related to sex-specific behavioural characteristics of the species, resulting in adaptation for living in harsh environmental conditions.Céline RochaisHoël HotteNeville PillayNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Céline Rochais Hoël Hotte Neville Pillay Seasonal variation in reversal learning reveals greater female cognitive flexibility in African striped mice
description	Abstract Cognitive flexibility describes the ability of animals to alter cognitively mediated behaviour in response to changing situational demands, and can vary according to prevailing environemental conditions and individual caracteristics. In the present study, we investigated (1) how learning and reversal learning performance changes between seasons, and (2) how cognitive flexibility is related to sex in a free-living small mammal. We studied 107 African striped mice, Rhabdomys pumilio, in an arid semi-desert, 58 during the hot dry summer with low food availability, and 49 during the cold wet winter with higher food availability. We used an escape box task to test for learning and reversal learning performance. We found that learning and reversal learning efficiency varied seasonally by sex: females tested in summer were faster at solving both learning and reversal tasks than males tested in winter. Performance varied within sex: males tested in winter showed faster learning compared to males tested in summer. During reversal learning, females tested in summer were more efficient and solve the task faster compared to females tested in winter. We suggest that seasonal cognitive performance could be related to sex-specific behavioural characteristics of the species, resulting in adaptation for living in harsh environmental conditions.
format	article
author	Céline Rochais Hoël Hotte Neville Pillay
author_facet	Céline Rochais Hoël Hotte Neville Pillay
author_sort	Céline Rochais
title	Seasonal variation in reversal learning reveals greater female cognitive flexibility in African striped mice
title_short	Seasonal variation in reversal learning reveals greater female cognitive flexibility in African striped mice
title_full	Seasonal variation in reversal learning reveals greater female cognitive flexibility in African striped mice
title_fullStr	Seasonal variation in reversal learning reveals greater female cognitive flexibility in African striped mice
title_full_unstemmed	Seasonal variation in reversal learning reveals greater female cognitive flexibility in African striped mice
title_sort	seasonal variation in reversal learning reveals greater female cognitive flexibility in african striped mice
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/12adfbe168fc4559814faa7b2877357c
work_keys_str_mv	AT celinerochais seasonalvariationinreversallearningrevealsgreaterfemalecognitiveflexibilityinafricanstripedmice AT hoelhotte seasonalvariationinreversallearningrevealsgreaterfemalecognitiveflexibilityinafricanstripedmice AT nevillepillay seasonalvariationinreversallearningrevealsgreaterfemalecognitiveflexibilityinafricanstripedmice
_version_	1718378911577931776

Seasonal variation in reversal learning reveals greater female cognitive flexibility in African striped mice

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