Biomedical subjects

Tereza Nekovarova

Publications and source records attributed to Tereza Nekovarova.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Spatial choices of macaque monkeys based on abstract visual stimuli.

Our study investigates whether macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta) are able to make spatial choices in a real space according to abstract visual stimuli presented on a computer screen. We tested whether there was a difference in the processing of stimuli reflecting the configuration of a response space ("spatial stimuli") and stimuli of simple geometrical patterns lacking implicit spatial information. We trained two monkeys to choose one of nine touch-holes on a transparent panel attached to a computer monitor according to one of four visual stimuli successively displayed on the screen. The first monkey followed the visual stimuli designed as a representation of the response space ("configurations"), the second monkey observed geometrical patterns or pictures without information about the response space. In the first phase the position or the size of the stimuli varied but the shapes remained the same. In the second phase we changed the stimuli - "configurations" represented the response space in a similar way as in the previous phase, but marked different touch-holes - the patterns were changed entirely. The comparison of these two monkeys using different stimuli was expected to reveal potential differences between pattern discrimination and using configuration information included in the stimuli. The results of this experiment showed that both monkeys were able to use visual stimuli in phase 1 effectively (independently on their position on the screen), but only the monkey that obtained configuration information learnt an effective strategy after the change of stimuli in phase 2.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Spatial choices of rats based on abstract visual information: Pattern- or configuration-discrimination?

Animals demonstrate their ability to represent a geometric configuration of their environment and to use this information for spatial decisions in their response space in many situations. In presented experiment, we examined the ability of rats to interpret a configuration of abstract visual stimuli to make spatial decisions in a real response space. We tested whether they are able to interpret spatial configuration of abstract stimuli or whether they perceive such visual stimuli simply as geometric patterns associated to particular spatial choices. The rats were tested in a Skinner box with four nosing holes in the transparent front wall through which a computer screen was visible. According to the visual stimuli on the screen, the rats should choose the appropriate nosing hole to obtain a reward. We compared two groups of rats: the first group was exposed to the visual stimuli designed as a representation of the response space: the position of rewarded nosing hole was shown in relation to other nosing holes. The second group was exposed to one of four geometric patterns associated to one of the four nosing holes but without any implicit information about the response space. The results suggested that rats using the stimuli with information about configuration were significantly more successful than rats trained to respond to visual stimuli unrelated to the geometry of the environment.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Spatial decisions in rats based on the geometry of computer-generated patterns.

Animals often demonstrate the ability to use the geometric configuration of multiple landmarks for orientation in the environment. We developed a new behavioral task using a computer screen for presentation of visual stimuli allowing the rats to make navigational decisions in real space according to the geometric configuration of external virtual patterns (designed as a possible representation of this space). The rats were placed in a Skinner box with four nosing holes in the transparent front wall through which the computer screen was visible. They were trained in successive phases: first the visual stimulus displayed on the screen directly marked the rewarded nosing hole, then the displayed stimuli were reduced in size or displaced, thus disconnected from the response space. The results suggested that rats were able to use the geometric configuration of stimuli presented on the computer screen for navigational decisions in real space.

Animals↗