Mice learn from predator-attack experience to enhance flight behavior by optimizing environmental exploration strategy|动物行为学数据集|神经科学数据集

Successful avoidance of predators is critical for animal survival. However, little is known of how predator-attack experience may affect predator-defense behavior. Here, we caught mice by their tails to simulate a predator attack. We found that this led to a quicker flight response to visual threatening cues in experiences mice compared to naive mice. A single predator attack did not induce anxiety but increased activity in brain nuclei related to innate fear and learning. Predator-attack induced quickening of flight was partly rescued by pharmacological blockade of protein synthesis which is critical for learning. Experienced mice significantly reduced focused exploration of the floor during environmental exploration, which may facilitate the discovery of predators. These results suggest that mice can learn from experience of predator attacks to optimize their behavioral patterns for immediate detection of predator cues and a heightened response to these cues, thereby increasing the probability of survival.

动物成功规避捕食者的威胁对于其生存至关重要。然而，关于捕食攻击经历如何影响捕食者防御行为的知识尚显匮乏。在本研究中，我们通过捕捉老鼠的尾巴来模拟捕食者的攻击。研究发现，与未经攻击的老鼠相比，经历过捕食攻击的老鼠对视觉威胁信号的逃避反应更为迅速。单次捕食攻击并未引起焦虑，但增强了与先天恐惧和学习相关的脑核活动。通过药物阻断蛋白质合成（对于学习至关重要）可以部分恢复由捕食攻击引起的逃避反应加速。经历过捕食攻击的老鼠在环境探索过程中显著减少了地板的专注探索，这可能有助于发现捕食者。这些结果表明，老鼠可以从捕食攻击的经历中学习，以优化其行为模式，以便即时检测捕食者信号并增强对这些信号的响应，从而提高生存概率。