Easy rider: Monkeys learn to drive a wheelchair to navigate through a complex maze
PLoS ONE. 2014-05-15; 9(5): e96275
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096275
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Etienne S(1), Guthrie M(1), Goillandeau M(2), Nguyen TH(2), Orignac H(2), Gross
C(2), Boraud T(2).
Author information:
(1)University of Bordeaux, Institut des Maladies Neurodegeneratives UMR 5293,Bordeaux, France.
(2)University of Bordeaux, Institut des Maladies Neurodegeneratives UMR 5293, Bordeaux, France; CNRS, Institut des Maladies Neurodegeneratives UMR 5293, Bordeaux, France.
The neurological bases of spatial navigation are mainly investigated in rodents
and seldom in primates. The few studies led on spatial navigation in both human
and non-human primates are performed in virtual, not in real environments. This
is mostly because of methodological difficulties inherent in conducting research
on freely-moving monkeys in real world environments. There is some incertitude,
however, regarding the extrapolation of rodent spatial navigation strategies to
primates. Here we present an entirely new platform for investigating real
spatial navigation in rhesus monkeys. We showed that monkeys can learn a pathway
by using different strategies. In these experiments three monkeys learned to
drive the wheelchair and to follow a specified route through a real maze. After
learning the route, probe tests revealed that animals successively use three
distinct navigation strategies based on i) the place of the reward, ii) the
direction taken to obtain reward or iii) a cue indicating reward location. The
strategy used depended of the options proposed and the duration of learning.
This study reveals that monkeys, like rodents and humans, switch between
different spatial navigation strategies with extended practice, implying
well-conserved brain learning systems across different species. This new task
with freely driving monkeys provides a good support for the electrophysiological
and pharmacological investigation of spatial navigation in the real world by
making possible electrophysiological and pharmacological investigations.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096275
PMCID: PMC4022652
PMID: 24831130 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
Conflict of interest statement: Competing Interests: The authors have declared
that no competing interests exist.