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Related Experiment Videos

Place memory in crickets.

Jan Wessnitzer1, Michael Mangan, Barbara Webb

  • 1Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, UK. jwessnit@inf.ed.ac.uk

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|January 31, 2008
PubMed
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Crickets can learn to find a hidden cool spot using visual landmarks, demonstrating spatial memory. This insect spatial learning is adaptable to new starting points and cue rotations, even without an internal map.

Area of Science:

  • Animal Behavior
  • Neuroethology
  • Insect Cognition

Background:

  • Some insects use landmarks for navigation, but their spatial memory capabilities in novel tasks are poorly understood.
  • The generality of landmark-based navigation and place memory across insect species remains an open question.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the spatial memory and landmark-based navigation abilities of crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus).
  • To test if crickets can use visual cues to locate a hidden target in a novel task setting, analogous to rodent spatial memory tests.

Main Methods:

  • Crickets were trained in a heated arena with a hidden cool spot, similar to a Morris water maze paradigm.
  • Visual cues (natural scenes) were presented on arena walls to assess their role in spatial learning.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Performance was evaluated by measuring the time to locate the target from various starting points and after scene rotation.

    • Main Results:

    • Crickets significantly reduced the time to find the cool spot over 10 trials, indicating learning.
    • Performance was enhanced when a natural scene was present on the arena walls.
    • Crickets could relocate the target from novel starting positions and responded to scene rotations, suggesting cue-based navigation.

    Conclusions:

    • Crickets exhibit robust spatial learning and memory using visual landmarks.
    • This navigational capability can be applied in novel settings and is sensitive to changes in environmental cues.
    • The findings suggest a sophisticated use of external cues for spatial orientation in insects, without necessarily implying an internal spatial representation.