Document Detail


Behavior-based assessment of the auditory abilities of brushtail possums.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  21765549     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) were trained to press a right lever when a tone was presented (a tone-on trial) and a left lever when a tone was not presented (a tone-off trial) to gain access to food. During training the tone was set at 80 dB(A), with a frequency of 0.88 kH for 3 possums and of 4 kH for the other 2. Once accuracy was over 90% correct across five consecutive sessions, a test session was conducted where the intensity of the tone was reduced by 8 dB(A) over blocks of 20 trials until accuracy over a block fell below 60%. After each test session, training sessions were reintroduced and continued until accuracy was again over 90%, when another test session was conducted. This process continued until there were at least five test sessions at that tone frequency. The same procedure was then used with frequencies of 0.20, 0.88, 2, 4, 10, 12.5, 15, 20, 30, and 35 kHz. Percentage correct and d' decreased approximately linearly for all possums as tone intensity reduced. Both sets of lines were shallowest at the higher frequencies and steepest at the lower frequencies. Hit and false alarm rates mirrored each other at high frequencies but were asymmetric at lower frequencies. Equal d' contours showed that sensitivity increased from 2 to 15 kHz and continued to be high over 20 to 35 kHz. The possums remained sensitive to the 20 to 35 kHz tones even at low intensities. The present study is the first to report the abilities of possum to detect tones over this range of frequencies and its results support the findings of a microelectrode mapping survey of possums' auditory cortex.
Authors:
Mizuho Osugi; T Mary Foster; William Temple; Alan Poling
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior     Volume:  96     ISSN:  1938-3711     ISO Abbreviation:  J Exp Anal Behav     Publication Date:  2011 Jul 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2011-07-18     Completed Date:  2011-12-06     Revised Date:  2012-01-31    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0203727     Medline TA:  J Exp Anal Behav     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  123-38     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
University of Waikato, Hamilton, NZ.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Acoustic Stimulation / methods
Animals
Choice Behavior*
Cues*
Female
Food
Hearing*
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Noise
Reinforcement (Psychology)*
Reinforcement Schedule
Reward*
Trichosurus

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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