Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Episodic-like memory in the rat.

Stephanie J Babb1, Jonathon D Crystal

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.

Current Biology : CB
|July 11, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Assessments of Evoked and Spontaneous Pain Following Administration of Gabapentin and the Cannabinoid CB<sub>2</sub> Agonist LY2828360 in a Rat Model of Spared Nerve Injury.

Cannabis and cannabinoid research·2026
Same author

Rats replay episodic memories in context.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same author

Editorial.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2025
Same author

Assessments of Evoked and Spontaneous Pain Following Administration of Gabapentin and the Cannabinoid CB<sub>2</sub> agonist LY2828360 in a Rat Model of Spared Nerve Injury.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

Episodic memory in non-humans: an approach to understand an evolutionary function of consciousness.

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences·2025
Same author

Correction: Replay of incidentally encoded novel odors in the rat.

Animal cognition·2025
Same journal

Pitch selectivity in ferret auditory cortex.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same journal

A cell size-dependent competition between geometry and polarity governs nuclear and spindle positioning in early embryos.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same journal

Trophic cascades drive sustainability in the agricultural heritage rice-fish coculture system.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same journal

Tracking Satb2-positive retinal ganglion cells in zebrafish unveils developmental functional reorganization.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same journal

RhoGAP54D promotes cell size asymmetry and inhibits pulsatile myosin activity in Drosophila neural stem cells.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same journal

Increased rates of hybridization in swordtails are associated with water pollution.

Current biology : CB·2026
See all related articles

Rats demonstrate episodic-like memory by selectively recalling and acting upon specific past food experiences. This finding challenges the notion that only humans possess detailed memories of unique events.

Area of Science:

  • Comparative Cognition
  • Neuroscience
  • Animal Behavior

Background:

  • The capacity for episodic memory, recalling unique personal past experiences, has been debated as a uniquely human trait.
  • Previous research suggested episodic-like memory in food-storing birds, using behavioral criteria to infer memory capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether rats exhibit detailed representations of remembered events and meet behavioral criteria for episodic-like memory.
  • To determine if rats can selectively encode the content of their memories.

Main Methods:

  • Rats were trained to associate distinctive (e.g., grape, raspberry) or nondistinctive (chow) flavors with specific locations.
  • One distinctive flavor's location was devalued (via satiation or taste aversion) after learning, while the other remained non-devalued.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Subsequent revisits to devalued versus non-devalued flavor locations were monitored.

    • Main Results:

    • Rats selectively reduced revisits to the devalued distinctive flavor location.
    • No significant change in revisits was observed for the non-devalued distinctive flavor or nondistinctive flavor locations.
    • Behavioral evidence suggests rats differentiate between memory contents.

    Conclusions:

    • Rats possess a detailed representation of remembered events, meeting behavioral criteria for episodic-like memory.
    • The findings demonstrate that rats selectively encode the content of their episodic-like memories.
    • This research contributes to understanding the evolution and nature of memory across species.