A brief view of known landmarks reorientates path integration in hamsters |
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Authors: | A S Etienne V Boulens R Maurer T Rowe C Siegrist |
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Institution: | (1) Laboratory of Ethology, University of Geneva, 54 route des Acacias, 1227 Geneva, Switzerland e-mail: ariane.etienne@pse.unige.ch, CH |
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Abstract: | In darkness, hamsters commute between their nest and a feeding site through path integration only, and therefore show cumulative
errors in the return direction to the nest. We examined whether a brief presentation of familiar room cues could reset the
path integrator. The hamsters could see the room cues either during, or at the end of, the outward journey to the food place,
in a conflict situation where motion cues and visual information were set at variance. In both conditions, the animals used
mainly visual information to return home. Thus, hamsters can determine their azimuth, and possibly their location, through
a visual fix, and can reset their path integrator through the fix. This allows them to update their position during further
locomotion in the dark and thus to compute a correct homing vector with respect to a visually induced reference frame. Taking
episodic positional fixes may greatly enhance the functional value of path integration.
Received: 17 May 2000 / Accepted in revised form: 11 September 2000 |
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