Volumetric spatial behaviour in rats reveals the anisotropic organisation of navigation.

ABSTRACT: We investigated how access to the vertical dimension influences the natural exploratory and foraging behaviour of rats. Using high-accuracy three-dimensional tracking of position in two- and three-dimensional environments, we sought to determine (i) how rats navigated through the environments with respect to gravity, (ii) where rats chose to form their home bases in volumetric space, and (iii) how they navigated to and from these home bases. To evaluate how horizontal biases may affect these behaviours, we compared a 3D maze where animals preferred to move horizontally to a different 3D configuration where all axes were equally energetically costly to traverse. Additionally, we compared home base formation in two-dimensional arenas with and without walls to the three-dimensional climbing m

SUBMITTER: Jedidi-Ayoub S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7829245 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature