Selection of Laboratory Mice for the Cognitive Task Successful Solution and for the Inability to Solve It

Area of Science:

• Cognitive neuroscience
• Animal behavior genetics
• Evolutionary psychology

Background:

• Object permanence, the understanding that objects continue to exist when out of sight, is a key cognitive milestone.
• Executive functions, including planning and complex action, are crucial for advanced cognitive tasks.
• Selective breeding in mice has been used to study genetic influences on behavior, but selection for complex cognitive traits remains challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the genetic basis of object permanence and associated executive functions in mice.
• To establish distinct mouse sub-strains through selective breeding for differing levels of object permanence performance.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of selecting for complex cognitive traits in a mammalian model.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the EX mouse strain as the founding population, selected for extrapolation ability.
• Conducted three generations of selective breeding based on performance in an object permanence test.
• Established 'plus-sub-strain' (successful solution) and 'minus-sub-strain' (lack of solution) groups.
• Assessed performance requiring both object permanence rule operation and complex action (executive function).

Main Results:

• Successfully generated two distinct sub-strains of mice with significantly different object permanence abilities after three generations.
• The plus-sub-strain exhibited significantly higher performance in complex actions, indicative of enhanced executive function.
• Demonstrated that successful object permanence solution necessitates both rule operation and sophisticated executive functions.

Conclusions:

• Selective breeding is a viable method for isolating and enhancing complex cognitive traits like object permanence and executive function in mice.
• This study represents a unique instance of successful selection for a cognitive trait, providing a valuable model for future research.
• The findings underscore the interconnectedness of object permanence and executive functions in cognitive processing.