A novel paradigm for operant social learning in rats

The ability to learn by observing the behavior of others is both energy efficient and brings high survival value, making it an important learning tool for many species in the animal kingdom. As such, several forms of observational learning have been documented in a myriad of species. In the laboratory, rodents have proven useful models for studying different forms of observational learning, however, the most robust learning paradigms typically rely on aversive stimuli, like foot shocks, to drive the social acquisition of fear. Non-fear-based tasks have also been developed, but these rarely succeed in having observer animals perform a new behavior de novo. Consequently, much less is known regarding the cellular mechanisms supporting non-fear-based types of learning, such as visuomotor skill acquisition. To address this we developed a reward-based social learning paradigm in adult rats, in which observer animals learn to tap lit spheres in a specific sequence by watching skilled demonstrators, with successful trials leading to rewarding intracranial stimulation in both observers and performers. Following three days of observation and a 24-hour delay, observer animals outperformed control animals on several metrics of task performance and efficiency, with a subset of observers demonstrating correct performance immediately when tested. This paradigm thus introduces a novel tool to investigate the neural circuits supporting observational learning and memory for visuomotor behavior, a phenomenon about which little is understood, particularly in rodents.