Researchers from Ben Gurion University, located in the Negev desert (southern Israel), created a device that allows a red fish swimming in a aquarium, placed on a robotic dolly, claims a study published in the February issue of the journal Behavioral Brain Research.
Vehicle controlled by a fish
The researchers attached cameras that track the movement of the fish and connected them to a computer that guided the vehicle.
When the fish went to the front of the aquarium, the vehicle moved forward and when the fish stayed in the rear, the vehicle remained motionless, specify the researchers, who published a video of this unique “vehicle controlled by a fish”.
To complete their investigation, the Israeli scientists placed a target on the outside of the vehicle. When the fish managed to reach the goal, it received in its aquarium 0.002 grams of granules food as a reward, specifies the study financed with public funds and that followed the local protocol regarding respect for animals.
After a few days, the fish managed to reach the target without getting lost, “regardless of its starting point” and “avoiding dead ends”, highlights the study, which concludes that the red fish has the “ability to transfer its spatial representation and navigation capabilities to a terrestrial environment completely different from its own “.
Cognitive capacity for complex tasks
“The study insinuates that the ability to navigate is universal and not specific to the environment
. Second, it shows that goldfish have the cognitive ability to learn a complex task in a completely different environment than the one in which they evolved. As anyone who has tried to learn to ride a bike or drive a car knows, it is challenging at first,” said Shachar Givon, PhD student in the Department of Life Sciences in the College of Natural Sciences.
The study was conducted by Givon, Matan Samina, Master’s student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Professor Ohad Ben Shahar, Department of Computer Science and Director of the School of Brain Sciences and Cognition, and Professor Ronen Segev, from the Departments of Life Sciences and Biomedical Engineering.
(With information from DW)
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