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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Shuttle Box Assay as an Associative Learning Tool for Cognitive Assessment in Learning and Memory Studies using Adult Zebrafish

Shuttle Box Assay as an Associative Learning Tool for Cognitive Assessment in Learning and Memory Studies using Adult Zebrafish

Published on: July 12, 2021

Environmental change enhances cognitive abilities in fish.

Alexander Kotrschal¹, Barbara Taborsky

¹Behavioral Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. alexander.kotrschal@iee.unibe.ch

|April 14, 2010

Summary

Early life environmental changes, specifically in food availability, enhance fish learning abilities throughout their lives. This suggests that developmental plasticity can permanently improve cognitive functions in response to environmental unpredictability.

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Area of Science:

Behavioral Ecology
Neuroscience
Developmental Biology

Background:

Flexible behavior is crucial for animals facing unpredictable environmental changes.
Cognitive abilities may evolve to meet the demands of dynamic environments.
Environmental changes during development can induce adaptive plasticity, enhancing learning capacity.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how experimental variations in environmental quality during ontogeny affect fish learning abilities.
To determine if early life exposure to changing conditions permanently enhances cognitive performance.
To explore the long-term impact of developmental plasticity on learning capacity.

Main Methods:

The study utilized the cichlid fish Simochromis pleurospilus.
Fish were exposed to either constant or changing food rations during their early development (ontogeny).
Learning abilities were assessed using a standardized learning task at different life stages.

Main Results:

Individuals experiencing a change in food ration early in life demonstrated superior learning performance compared to those on constant rations.
This enhanced learning ability persisted from juvenile to adult stages, even a year later.
The effect was independent of the direction or mean level of the food ration change.

Conclusions:

A single environmental perturbation early in life can permanently enhance an animal's learning abilities.
This suggests a mechanism where early life experiences signal the need for increased cognitive flexibility in a changing world.
Developmental plasticity provides a pathway for adapting cognitive traits to environmental dynamics.