Individual Differences in the Expression of a "General" Learning Ability in Mice (original) (raw)
2013
Human performance on diverse tests of intellect are impacted by a “general ” regulatory factor that accounts for up to 50 % of the variance between individuals on intelligence tests. Neurobiological determinants of general cognitive abilities are essentially unknown, owing in part to the paucity of animal research wherein neurobiological analyses are possible. We report a methodology with which we have assessed individual differences in the general learning abilities of laboratory mice. Abilities of mice on tests of associative fear conditioning, operant avoidance, path integration, discrimination, and spatial navigation were assessed. Tasks were designed so that each made unique sensory, motor, motivational, and information processing demands on the animals. A sample of 56 genetically diverse outbred mice (CD-1) was used to assess individuals ’ acquisition on each task. Indicative of a common source of variance, positive correlations were found between individuals ’ performance on ...