ABSTRACTHistorically, behavior studies have focused mainly on animals of two phyla in particular:... more ABSTRACTHistorically, behavior studies have focused mainly on animals of two phyla in particular: Craniata and Arthropoda, however, behavioral research on alternative phyla like mollusks has been increasing because of the potential for research that these models present. When we talk about mollusk behavior, cephalopods are the first group that stands out, however, research on Mexico’s endemic species likeOctopus maya, is still lacking. This octopus could help to reach a standardized model in neuroscience, because adapts well to laboratory conditions and has been successfully cultured through several generations. These characteristics provide a great advantage as a research model since they could reduce the number of variables that affect behavioral studies, something hard to control with a captured-wild octopus. Hence, in order to work properly with species like this, in research environments, it’s fundamental to know first the behaviors that this species can perform there. Therefor...
Organisms are constantly extracting information from the temporal structure of the environment, w... more Organisms are constantly extracting information from the temporal structure of the environment, which allows them to select appropriate actions and predict impending changes. Several lines of research have suggested that interval timing is modulated by the dopaminergic system. It has been proposed that higher levels of dopamine cause an internal clock to speed up, whereas less dopamine causes a deceleration of the clock. In most experiments the subjects are first trained to perform a timing task while drug free. Consequently, most of what is known about the influence of dopaminergic modulation of timing is on well-established timing performance. In the current study the impact of altered DA on the acquisition of temporal control was the focal question. Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were distributed randomly into three different groups (haloperidol, d-amphetamine or vehicle). Each animal received an injection 15 min prior to the start of every session from the beginning of interval...
The Novel Object Recognition task (NOR) is widely used for the study of memory in vertebrates and... more The Novel Object Recognition task (NOR) is widely used for the study of memory in vertebrates and has been proposed as a solid candidate for evaluating memory in different taxonomic groups, allowing similar and comparable evaluations between them. Although, in cephalopods, several research reports could indicate that they recognize objects in their environment, so far, it has not been evaluated as an experimental paradigm, which allows evaluating different phases of memory. In this study, we show that Octopus maya can differentiate between a new object and a known one, with high accuracy. We observed that to achieve object recognition, octopuses use vision and touch exploration in new objects, while familiar objects only need to be explored in a tactile way. To our knowledge, this is the first time showing an invertebrate performing the NOR task, in a similar way to how it is performed in vertebrates. These results raise the opportunity to use a simple, fast and widely used task in ...
ABSTRACTHistorically, behavior studies have focused mainly on animals of two phyla in particular:... more ABSTRACTHistorically, behavior studies have focused mainly on animals of two phyla in particular: Craniata and Arthropoda, however, behavioral research on alternative phyla like mollusks has been increasing because of the potential for research that these models present. When we talk about mollusk behavior, cephalopods are the first group that stands out, however, research on Mexico’s endemic species likeOctopus maya, is still lacking. This octopus could help to reach a standardized model in neuroscience, because adapts well to laboratory conditions and has been successfully cultured through several generations. These characteristics provide a great advantage as a research model since they could reduce the number of variables that affect behavioral studies, something hard to control with a captured-wild octopus. Hence, in order to work properly with species like this, in research environments, it’s fundamental to know first the behaviors that this species can perform there. Therefor...
Organisms are constantly extracting information from the temporal structure of the environment, w... more Organisms are constantly extracting information from the temporal structure of the environment, which allows them to select appropriate actions and predict impending changes. Several lines of research have suggested that interval timing is modulated by the dopaminergic system. It has been proposed that higher levels of dopamine cause an internal clock to speed up, whereas less dopamine causes a deceleration of the clock. In most experiments the subjects are first trained to perform a timing task while drug free. Consequently, most of what is known about the influence of dopaminergic modulation of timing is on well-established timing performance. In the current study the impact of altered DA on the acquisition of temporal control was the focal question. Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were distributed randomly into three different groups (haloperidol, d-amphetamine or vehicle). Each animal received an injection 15 min prior to the start of every session from the beginning of interval...
The Novel Object Recognition task (NOR) is widely used for the study of memory in vertebrates and... more The Novel Object Recognition task (NOR) is widely used for the study of memory in vertebrates and has been proposed as a solid candidate for evaluating memory in different taxonomic groups, allowing similar and comparable evaluations between them. Although, in cephalopods, several research reports could indicate that they recognize objects in their environment, so far, it has not been evaluated as an experimental paradigm, which allows evaluating different phases of memory. In this study, we show that Octopus maya can differentiate between a new object and a known one, with high accuracy. We observed that to achieve object recognition, octopuses use vision and touch exploration in new objects, while familiar objects only need to be explored in a tactile way. To our knowledge, this is the first time showing an invertebrate performing the NOR task, in a similar way to how it is performed in vertebrates. These results raise the opportunity to use a simple, fast and widely used task in ...
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