Learning-Induced Shifts in Mice Navigational Strategies Are Unveiled by a Minimal Behavioral Model of Spatial Exploration.

ABSTRACT: Shifts in spatial patterns produced during the execution of a navigational task can be used to track the effects of the accumulation of knowledge and the acquisition of structured information about the environment. Here, we provide a quantitative analysis of mice behavior while performing a novel goal localization task in a large, modular arena, the HexMaze. To demonstrate the effects of different forms of previous knowledge we first obtain a precise statistical characterization of animals' paths with sub-trial resolution and over different phases of learning. The emergence of a flexible representation of the task is accompanied by a progressive improvement of performance, mediated by multiple, multiplexed time scales. We then use a generative mathematical model of the animal behavior to i

SUBMITTER: Vallianatou CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8489025 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep-Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature