Presenter(s): John Francis
Faculty Mentor(s): Paul Steffan & David McCormick
Poster 37
Session: Sciences
An animal’s ability to interpret and respond to environmental stimuli is highly variable, depending on factors such as the reward the animal receives for correctly responding to said stimuli. Using a more favorable reward is expected to positively influence motivation and performance of these animals in a specific behavioral task. The present study examined the effects of using a highly palatable caloric reward in lieu of standard water reward. It was hypothesized that a highly caloric reward solution would facilitate a faster rate of learning on animals completing a behavioral task involving detecting and responding to a correct auditory stimulus embedded within a series of distractor auditory stimuli. Mice were water-restricted and subjected to one of two reward treatment conditions upon correct licking behaviors during a target auditory tone. While the present study determined that a 10% sucrose solution has the capacity to act as a stimulus that promotes correct behavior due to its positive reinforcement properties, (d’ = 2.02), further experiments and larger sample sizes are required to fully quantify the efficacy of sucrose solution compared to traditional water rewards. By examining the effects of alternative reward treatments on performance in an auditory tone discrimination task, we can determine optimal treatment conditions in which mice learn most efficiently. These results could further elucidate the relationship between caloric intake, nutrition, and learning at large.