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 Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Hierarchy and ranking in fencing and tennis.

Scientific reports·2026
Same author

Nasal microbiota profiles are similar at two swabbing depths in healthy awake dogs.

Frontiers in veterinary science·2026
Same author

Canine Cognitive Dysfunction from the Perspective of Dog Owners: Recognition, Care, and Emotional Challenges.

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI·2026
Same author

Dogs' reactions to motivations and emotions in conspecific and heterospecific vocalizations.

Scientific reports·2026
Same author

WildDrone: autonomous drone technology for monitoring wildlife populations.

Frontiers in robotics and AI·2026
Same author

The Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome Working Group guidelines for diagnosis and monitoring of canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome.

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 7, 2025

A Complex Diving-For-Food Task to Investigate Social Organization and Interactions in Rats
10:29

A Complex Diving-For-Food Task to Investigate Social Organization and Interactions in Rats

Published on: May 8, 2021

4.5K

Synergistic Benefits of Group Search in Rats.

Máté Nagy1, Attila Horicsányi2, Enikő Kubinyi3

  • 1Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Universitätsstraße 10, Konstanz 78457, Germany; Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, Konstanz 78457, Germany; Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, Konstanz 78457, Germany; MTA-ELTE Statistical and Biological Physics Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Pázmány P. stny. 1A, Budapest 1117, Hungary; MTA-ELTE "Lendület" Collective Behaviour Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Pázmány P. stny. 1A, Budapest 1117, Hungary; Department of Biological Physics, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány P. stny. 1A, Budapest 1117, Hungary.

Current Biology : CB
|September 25, 2020
PubMed
Summary

Rats (Rattus norvegicus) exhibit systematic search behavior individually and in groups. Collective search in rats enhances efficiency through integrated social and exploratory strategies, offering insights for robotic exploration.

Keywords:
collective animal behaviordecision makinggroup searchrats in a maze

More Related Videos

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats
08:30

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats

Published on: February 15, 2015

21.4K
Gathering Self-Initiated Rat Behavioral Data to Characterize Post-Stroke Deficits
05:08

Gathering Self-Initiated Rat Behavioral Data to Characterize Post-Stroke Deficits

Published on: March 15, 2024

1.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 7, 2025

A Complex Diving-For-Food Task to Investigate Social Organization and Interactions in Rats
10:29

A Complex Diving-For-Food Task to Investigate Social Organization and Interactions in Rats

Published on: May 8, 2021

4.5K
Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats
08:30

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats

Published on: February 15, 2015

21.4K
Gathering Self-Initiated Rat Behavioral Data to Characterize Post-Stroke Deficits
05:08

Gathering Self-Initiated Rat Behavioral Data to Characterize Post-Stroke Deficits

Published on: March 15, 2024

1.4K

Area of Science:

  • Animal behavior
  • Cognitive science
  • Robotics

Background:

  • Mobile animals must locate essential resources for survival and reproduction.
  • Previous research on search strategies primarily focused on solitary individuals.
  • Rats (Rattus norvegicus), known for social behavior, have not been studied for group search dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate decision-making in rats searching individually and in groups for a reward in a complex maze.
  • To understand the influence of social and asocial cues on collective search strategies.
  • To develop a computational model for analyzing group search efficiency.

Main Methods:

  • Automated video tracking of rats (Rattus norvegicus) in a maze environment.
  • Comparative analysis of individual versus group search behavior.
  • Development and validation of a computational model for collective search.

Main Results:

  • Rats demonstrate a partially systematic search strategy, even when alone, increasing reward discovery probability.
  • Group search in rats yields synergistic advantages by integrating individual exploratory and social behaviors.
  • Collective search strategy involves a hierarchy of preferences responding to social and asocial cues, enhancing search efficiency.

Conclusions:

  • Rats exhibit sophisticated individual and collective search strategies in complex environments.
  • Group search significantly improves search efficiency compared to individual efforts.
  • Findings can inform the design of autonomous robot groups for exploration tasks.