title: Visuospatial impairments in aged canines (Canis familiaris): the role of cognitive-behavioral flexibility.
abstract: This study used a novel delayed nonmatching-to-position task to compare visuospatial learning and memory in young and aged beagle dogs (Canis familiaris). The task used 3, rather than 2, spatial locations, which markedly increased difficulty. There were striking age differences in acquisition. Most of the aged canines did not learn the task, and those that did showed impaired learning when compared with the young canines. The aged canines also showed reduced maximal working memory capacity compared with the young canines. Analysis of the response patterns of individual canines indicated that the deficits were related to the use of ineffective strategies and inflexibility in strategy modification.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Alan D F
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Pria M D
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Nippak
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Murphey
authors.forename: Candace J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Ikeda-Douglas
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Muggenburg
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Head
authors.forename: Carl W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Cotman
authors.forename: Norton W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Milgram
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*