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Sex differences in object location memory and spatial navigation in Long-Evans rats

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Abstract

In both humans and rodents, males typically excel on a number of tasks requiring spatial ability. However, human females exhibit advantages in memory for the spatial location of objects. This study investigated whether rats would exhibit similar sex differences on a task of object location memory (OLM) and on the watermaze (WM). We predicted that females should outperform males on the OLM task and that males should outperform females on the WM. To control for possible effects of housing environment, rats were housed in either complex environments or in standard shoebox housing. Eighty Long-Evans rats (40 males and 40 females) were housed in either complex (Complex rats) or standard shoebox housing (Control rats). Results indicated that males had superior performance on the WM, whereas females outperformed males on the OLM task, regardless of housing environment. As these sex differences cannot be easily attributed to differences in cognitive style related to linguistic processing of environmental features or to selection pressures related to the hunting gathering evolutionary prehistory of humans, these data suggest that sex differences in spatial ability may be related to traits selected for by polygynous mating strategies.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a discovery grant from NSERC and the Canada Research Chairs program to DMS, and scholarships from NSERC to SRS and AJK. This research was performed in compliance with the laws of Canada regarding animal care and research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Dr., Lethbridge, AB, Canada, T1K 3M4

    D. M. Saucier & C. M. Cook

  2. Neuroscience Program, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    S. R. Shultz

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    A. J. Keller

  4. College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    G. Binsted

Authors
  1. D. M. Saucier
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  2. S. R. Shultz
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  3. A. J. Keller
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  4. C. M. Cook
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  5. G. Binsted
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Correspondence to D. M. Saucier.

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Saucier, D.M., Shultz, S.R., Keller, A.J. et al. Sex differences in object location memory and spatial navigation in Long-Evans rats. Anim Cogn 11, 129–137 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-007-0096-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-007-0096-1

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