Do rats (Rattus norvegicus) perceive biological motion

It is unknown whether the rodent visual system can perceive biological motion, an ability present in primates, cats, and several bird species. Using a water-maze visual discrimination task, we find that rats can be trained to distinguish between left- and rightward motion of abstract point-light dis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental brain research 2010-09, Vol.205 (4), p.571-576
Main Authors: MacKinnon, Laura M, Troje, Nikolaus F, Dringenberg, Hans C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Biological motion
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Cats
Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human mechanics
Humans
Male
Maze Learning - physiology
Motion perception (Vision)
Motion Perception - physiology
Motor Activity - physiology
Motor control and motor pathways. Reflexes. Control centers of vegetative functions. Vestibular system and equilibration
Neurology
Neurosciences
Photic Stimulation - methods
Physiological aspects
Primates
Rats
Rats, Long-Evans
Rattus norvegicus
Research Note
Species Specificity
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
vision
Visual perception
Water maze
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Summary:It is unknown whether the rodent visual system can perceive biological motion, an ability present in primates, cats, and several bird species. Using a water-maze visual discrimination task, we find that rats can be trained to distinguish between left- and rightward motion of abstract point-light displays of walking humans. However, rats were unable to generalize to a novel point-light display (a walking cat), or to a display of a backward walking human, where overall body configuration and local, ballistic foot motion provide directly opposing cues regarding movement direction. Together, these experiments provide the first demonstration of the ability of rodents to extract motion direction cues from abstract, point-light displays. However, when isolated, neither the overall body configuration nor the local motion of the feet appears to provide sufficient information for rats to reliably extract movement direction in biological motion displays.
ISSN:0014-4819
1432-1106
DOI:10.1007/s00221-010-2378-0