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Cited by 221Spatial Cognition and NavigationMemory and Neural MechanismsTactile and Sensory Interactions

Homing with locale, taxon, and dead reckoning strategies by foraging rats: sensory hierarchy in spatial navigation

Maaswinkel, Hans, Whishaw, Ian Q.·1999·Behavioural Brain Research
DOI 10.1016/s0166-4328(98)00100-4
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Abstract

Studies on foraging rats suggest that they can use visual, olfactory, and self-movement cues for spatial guidance, but their relative reliance on these different cues is not well understood. In the present study, rats left a hidden refuge to search for a large food pellet located somewhere on a circular table, and the accuracy with which they returned to the refuge with the food pellet was measured. Cue use was manipulated by administering probe trials from novel locations, blindfolding, moving the home cage relative to the table, rotating the table and using combinations of these manipulations. When visual cues were available and a consistent starting location used, a visual strategy dominated performance. When blindfolded, the rats used olfactory cues from the surface of the table and from the starting hole. When olfactory stimuli were made uninformative, by changing the starting hole and rotating the table, the rats still homed accurately, suggesting they used self-movement cues. In a number of cue combinations, in which cues gave conflicting information, performance degraded. The results suggest that rats display a hierarchical preference in using visual, olfactory and self-movement cues while at the same time being able to reaffirm or switch between various cue combinations. The results are discussed in relation to ideas concerning the neural basis of spatial navigation.

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  • Even blind mole rats and animals rendered situationally-blind in dark environments demonstrate shortcut behaviors.

    “Even blind mole rats and animals rendered situationally- blind in dark environments demonstrate shortcut behaviors (Avni et al., 2008; Kimchi et al., 2004; Maaswinkel & Whishaw, 1999).”

    From Emergence of Maps in the Memories of Blind Navigation Agents (2023) · cites this paper as Maaswinkel & Whishaw, 1999

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Sorted by citations

Authors
Maaswinkel, H., & Whishaw, I. Q.
Affiliations
University of Lethbridge (CA)
Corresponding author
Whishaw, Ian Q.
ORCID
Whishaw, Ian Q.
Venue
Behavioural Brain Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1999-03
Volume
99
Issue
2
Pages
143-152
ISSN
0166-4328 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/s0166-4328(98)00100-4
OpenAlex
W2030621225
Cited by
221
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 7
FWCI
18.45
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Behavioural Brain Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
Keywords
homing, spatial navigation, rats, cue utilization, visual cues, olfactory cues, dead reckoning, sensory hierarchy, blindfolding, cue conflict, foraging behavior
MeSH terms
Animals, Cues, Feeding Behavior, Female, Food, Hearing, Movement, Orientation, Sensory Deprivation, Smell, Space Perception, Vision, Ocular, Rats, Long-Evans, Rats

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