Development of vicarious trial-and-error behavior in odor discrimination learning in the rat: relation to hippocampal function?
Previous work from our laboratory has suggested that hippocampal electrolytic lesions result in a deficit in simultaneous, black-white discrimination learning and reduce the frequency of vicarious trial-and-error (VTE) at a choice-point. VTE is a term Tolman used to describe the rat's conflict-like behavior, moving its head from one stimulus to the other at a choice point, and has been proposed as a major nonspatial feature of hippocampal function in both visual and olfactory discrimination learning. Simultaneous odor discrimination and VTE behavior were examined at three different ages. The results were that 16-day-old pups made fewer VTEs and learned much more slowly than 30- and 60-day-olds, a finding in accord with levels of hippocampal maturity in the rat.
Hu
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Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin 78712, USA.
Griesbach
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Amsel
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D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D012931:Social Environment