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The Ecology of Spatial Cognition

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The Ecology of Spatial Cognition See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/227000621 The Ecology of Spatial Cognition CHAPTER · DECEMBER 1994 DOI: 10.1007/978-94-011-0091-5_16 CITATIONS READS 2 8 1 AUTHOR: Lucia F Jacobs University of California, Berkeley 49 PUBLICATIONS 1,991 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Available from: Lucia F Jacobs Retrieved on: 03 November 2015 300 64. Scltcnk.F(l9tl9)Ahottringptrrcutlurcfi)rsludyingsputillrnorrroryinirrrrurlurcanrlarlulltrdcnts,J Neuntst:i. M cth.2(>, 249-258. 6.5.Scht:nk,lr.,Cotttltrtt,l|.,irnrl(ilolfly,M.C,(1990)Alglc;rnrldircctiorlrlitylrlltctrirl'sorganizirtiorr6l visit scqucnccsand spatial lcarning in rrrodularnraz.cs, Leurn. Motiv. Zl,164-189. 6(r. Schcnk,F.,Contant,ll.,andWcrffcli,l'.(1990)lntrahippocarnpalcholincrgicgraftsinagcdratsconrpcns:rlc impairmcntsin a radialrnazc and in a placelcarning task., Exp. Bnin Res.E2, 64 l -650. THD ECOLOGYOF SPATIALCOGNITION 67. Schenk,F. and Gafner,M. (1992) Spatiallearning under limited accessto visual landmarks,Z)r ./. Neurosci.,Suppl. 5, 23 15. Adaptivepatterns of spaceuse and hippocantpal size in wild rodents 68. Schenk,F.andCafner,M.(1993)Placelearningintheabsenceofvisualcues,Ear.J.Neurosci.,Supp!.6, 69. Schenk,F.andMorris,R.C.M.(1985)Dissociationbetwcencomponentsofspatialmemoryinr^rsafrcr rccoveryfrom theeffects ofretrohippocampal lesions, Exp. Brain Res.58 I l-2g, 70. Sharp,P.E.,Kubie,J.L.,andMuller,R.U.(1990)Firingpropertiesofhippocampalneuronsinavisually L.F. JACOBS symmetricalenvironment: contributions ofmultiple sensory cucs and mnemonic processe s,J. Neurosci.ld, 3093-3105. Dept. of Psychology,Universitl- of California ?l' SindenJ.D.,Hodges,H.,andGray,J.A.(inpress)Neuraltransplantandrecoveryofcognitivefunction, Berkeley,Califurnia 94720, USA Behav.Brain Sci. 72.Squire,L.R. ( 1992) Memory and the hippocampus: a synthesis from findingswith ratsand humans, P.ryclal, Ilev.99, 195-231. Strijkstra,A.M. and Bolhuis,J.J. (1987) Mernory persislancc of ratsin a radialrnazc varies wirh rrainins procedure,Behav. Neural Biol. 47, 158-166. humanbody represents a whole museum of organs,each with a longevolutionary 1A "Justas the Sutherland,R.J. and Dyck, R.H.( I 983)Hippocampal and neocortical contributions to spatiallearning and history,so we should expect to findthat the mind is organizedin a similarway. It canno more memory,Neurosci. Abstract I 13 89.9. bca productwithout history than is the body in whichit exists". 75.Suzuki,S.w, Augcrinos, C., and Black, A.H. ( t980)Stinrulus control of spatialbchavior on rhe cight-arrn mazein rats,Izarn, Motiv. ll. l-18. CarlJung, Man artd HisSymbols (1964) 76.Thinus-Blanc,C. (1987) Cognitive Processes ond Spatial Orientation in Animaland Man, NATO Scienrific Affairs Division,Dordrecht. 't't . Thinus-Blanc,C. (in press)A modelof animalsparial cognition, in H. Roitblatand J. A. Meycr (cds.), 1, Introduction ComparotiveApproach to CognitiveScience, MIT Press, (Mass.). Cambridge To understandthe brain and its function,it will benecessary to understandits evolutionary 78.Wilkie, D.M. andPalfrey, R. ( 1987)A computersimulation modei of rats'place navigation in the Morris watermaze, Behav. Res. Meth. lnstr.Conp.19,4ffi-403. history.It isthus not surprising that one of mostexciting developments in cognitive science Whishaw,l.Q. ( I99l) Localeor taxonsy.stems: no placefor neophrcnology?Hippocompus l,272-274. isthe interface between cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary biology. Certain areas of intersectionmay be more profitable than others, and in thepresent chapter, I will arguethat one of the most importantquestions is the ecologicaland evolutionarysignificance of spatialcognition. Spatialcognition is a majorfocus of cognitiveneuroscience. Yet in therush to understand spatialcognition in humans,more fundamental questions have often been left behind.For cxample,howdid spatial cognition evolve?Why did spatial cognitionevolve?Whatcurrent ccologicalvariables prcdict specializations in spatialcognition and its neuralbasis? A complereunderstanding of this ability will rcquiremultidisciplinary studies of theecology' mechanismand function of spatialcognition. Whatis the ecology of spatialcognition? Ironically, an animal's knowledge of thespatial distributionsofresources isthe cornerstone ofbehavioral ecology, the study ofthe "survival valucof behavior"[40]. Oneof its basictenets is thatthe spatial and temporal distribution of criticalresources, such as food, refuge or mates,will determinethe spatial dispersion and hencesocial organization behavior of animalscJnrpeting for suchresources [42]' This theoryhas predicted complex social and competitiveinteractions in a varietyof animal species,both vertebrateand invertebrate,terrestrial and aquatic [40]. ln short,an animal'sknowledge of spatialdistributions is criticalto its survivaland reproduction.To studythe evolution of thiscognitive trait requiresknowledge both of its phylogenetichistory and comparative studies of itscurrent function. Comparative studies iemanda diversityof speciesro bepowerful and it is a happycoincidence that we have clctailcclknowlcdgc ol'spatial cognition in a laboratoryspecies, the Norwegian rat, which, 301 E. Allevoet al.(eds.), Behavioural Brain Researchin Naturalisticand Semi-NaluralisticSettings,30l-322. @ 1995Kluwer AcademicPublishers. Printed in rheNetherlands. 303 asa rodcnt,bclongs to thc rnost divcrsc orderof mammals, thc ordcr Rodcntia. Iio<lcnts havc WeekI Wcek2 invadcdtltrlst ltabitats orr llrrth and slxrwan incrcdiblcdivcrsity ol'lil'cstylcs, both tcrrcstrial,such as burr<lwing, running, gliding and clirnhing spccics, and ar;uatic. Rorlcnts thusoccupy it vitstitrriry ol"'spltial nichcs". Howcvcr,n1osl. rodcnts arc solitaryand nocturnal,taking in inlbrmationlargcly via auditoryand olfact<lry channcls. What kind of spatialconrplcxity do they cxpcricncc'l How isthis rclatcd to thcir spatill lcarning ability an<l its ncural basis'/ llccausc tlrc ltborltqr.y lrt hasbccn thc prirnury anirrtal nrodcl for spatialcognition, it has also bccn thc prirnlry rnodcl for theneurophysi<llogy of this ability. Decades of researchon rhistopic has identifie<j thc importantrole of one forebrainstructure in particular,the hippocampalcomplcx or formation.Although thc precisc role of thchippocampus in spatialcomputations is hotly debated,its importanccin integratingsensory information about cues in theenvironment Week3 Week4 into a geometriccoordinate system, or cognitivemap, is norvwidely accepted (see: chapters by Nadel,and Schenk e/ a/.,presenr volume). Unfortunately,most of thework on spatiallearning in rodentshas been conductcd under artificial conditions.Despite a sophisticatedbody of theory and physiologicaldata on spatialcomputations in rodcnts,we arestill largelyignorant of thccontcxt in whichthis abilityhas evolved. The purpose ofthe present chapter is to addressthis gap between theory and real world rodents,by presentingdata on the ecologyof spaceuse, spatial learning ability and hippocampalsize in a varietyofrodent species. 2. Foraging and thc DcologyofSpatial Lcarning All mobileanimals must track the spatial distribution of resourcessuch as food, shelter and Week5 mates.However some speciesface greaterchallenges than others;for some species, resourcesmay be more unpredictablein spaceand/or time, increasingthe difficulty oi rememberingtheir locarion.For example,it is a robustfinding that in primatcs,a frugivorousdiet is associatedwith a largerbrain size than is a folivorousdiet [23]. At first, this makesintuitive sense: fruits are moresparsely and unpredictablydistributed than Ieaves.Yet researchon folivoryhas detailed the carc with whichfoliovorcs rnust balalcc thcirintake of plantsccondary chcrnicals, rcsulting in conrplcx l-ccding stratcgics [77l. Arrtl ifplantsshow individual dilfcrcnccs in thcirproduction ol'protcctivc chcnricals I l 6], thcn foliovorywould dcrttand that a singlc,unchanging spatial clistribution ol'trccs rnust bc learncd;in othcrwords, a "rcl'crcnccIncrnory" task [481. ln contrast,liugivorcs also lcarn the spatialdistribution of trccsbut lacc a hcavicrdcrnand on thcir"workirrg nrcrriory" I l]: 100m for manyfrugivorcs, fruit ripcns and cithcr rots, drops or is takcnby a compctitgr.Evcn if' solllctrccs charactcristically producc bcttcr liuit, thc importantknowlc<Jgc may bc rhc I;igure l. The spatiotemporaldistribution of hickory trcesshowing evidence of use.Each map showsthe spatiotcmporaldistribution: whcn werc thc fruitslast chcckcd, would morefruits havc cumulativeactivity ofone weekin 1984:each square represents a 25x25m quadrant.The square'sshading indicatesthe numberoftrees being used in thatquadrant during each week (open = zerotrees, light hatching ripenedby now, how manycompetitors have been in that area, - ctc. = I tree;medium hatching 2-3 treesisolid = 4-7 trees)(adapted from [26]). 2.r. THE CASEOF THE GRAY SQUIRREL Such foraging just decisionsare faced not by frugivorousprimates but also by their squirrel,spending its life on a few hectares[15], facesthe same reference memory task as temperatecounterpart, seed-eating tree squinels. on my field site in New Jersey,eastern thefoliovore or frugivore:learning the location ofthe best food trees. But because offeeding graysquirrefs (Sciaras carolinensis) foragcd lor sccdsfrom a varictyof trcespccics (three competition,thc actual spatial dispersion of seedsremains unpredictable. Figure I shows oaks(Quercus), three hickory (Carya) and one walnur (Juglans)). Hickory treesproduced thechange in spatialdispersion of foodtree use over time on a
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