Context-dependent modulation of natural approach behaviour in mice

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Animal Behavior
• Visual Perception

Background:

• Animals exhibit innate approach responses to visual stimuli signaling reward.
• Visual attention and stimulus salience are influenced by context and internal states.
• How expectations modify visual perception and orienting responses remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how prey capture experience modifies innate visual approach behaviors in mice.
• To quantify the conditional expression of visual stimulus-evoked innate approaches.
• To understand the interplay between visual features, internal states, and orienting responses.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a virtual stimulus orienting paradigm based on prey capture.
• Employed freely moving mice to observe naturalistic behaviors.
• Quantified approach and freezing responses to parameterized visual stimuli.

Main Results:

• Specific visual features evoked innate approach or freezing responses when stimuli were unexpected.
• Prey capture experience selectively altered the frequency of approach behaviors.
• Experience modified the specific visual features that elicited approach responses.

Conclusions:

• Mice display robust and selective orienting responses to visual stimuli.
• Natural experiences, like prey capture, can significantly modify these innate behaviors.
• Both visual motion features and internal states critically influence appetitive behaviors.