TY - JOUR T1 - Divergent Solutions to Visual Problem Solving across Mammalian Species JF - eneuro JO - eNeuro DO - 10.1523/ENEURO.0167-18.2018 SP - ENEURO.0167-18.2018 AU - Faiz Mustafar AU - Michael A. Harvey AU - Abbas Khani AU - József Arató AU - Gregor Rainer Y1 - 2018/07/09 UR - http://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2018/07/09/ENEURO.0167-18.2018.abstract N2 - Our understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of learning and behavior relies on the use of invasive techniques, which necessitate the use of animal models. However when different species learn the same task, to what degree are they actually producing the same behavior and engaging homologous neural circuitry? This question has received virtually no recent attention, even as the most powerful new methodologies for measuring and perturbing the nervous system have become increasingly dependent on the use of murine species. Here we test Humans, Rats, Monkeys, and an evolutionarily intermediate species, Tree Shrews, on a three alternative, forced choice, visual contrast discrimination task. As anticipated, learning rate, peak performance and transfer across contrasts was lower in the rat compared to the other species. More interestingly, Rats exhibited two major behavioral peculiarities: While Monkeys and Tree Shrews based their choices largely on visual information, Rats tended to base their choices on past reward history. Furthermore, as the task became more difficult, Rats largely disengaged from the visual stimulus, reverting to innate spatial predispositions in order to collect rewards near chance probability. Our findings highlight the limitation of muridae as models for translational research, at least in the area of visually based decision-making.Significance Statement Research into the biology of cognition and behavior increasingly relies on studies performed in murine species (mice and rats). This is due to the explosion of powerful new, murine specific, genetic tools allowing for unprecedented control in imaging and manipulation of neural circuit elements. Lacking, are concomitant comparative behavioral studies necessary toward translating these exciting results to other species, particularly humans. We show here that, unlike primates, muridae incorporate species-specific predispositions and bias into their behavioral strategy toward the solution of a simple visual task, and are therefore engaging specific circuits not used by primates during task performance. This contradicts the long held idea that learning abolishes species-specific predispositions, and highlights the importance of comparative behavioral studies in translational neuroscience. ER -