Editorial: Zebrafish Cognition and Behavior

Abstract

Understanding animal cognition has been of interest to scientists for well over a century (e.g., Melrose, 1921). Cognition is broadly defined as the neural and behavioral processes associated with the acquisition, retention, and use of information (Dukas, 2004). Since the discovery of multiple memory systems and of the fundamental role of the hippocampus in relational learning and memory in humans (Penfield and Milner, 1958), one exciting focus of study has been to determine how animals encode, transform, compute and manipulate spatial, temporal, and contextual information from their environment, and how this information is utilized to organize behavioral responses (Cook, 1993). Initial studies used simple visual and acoustic stimuli, such as colored lights and distinct sounds. However, the use of such stimuli hindered the study of animal cognition because it did not allow the subjects to fully engage their full information processing capabilities. To address this issue, researchers started using more complex stimuli, such as objects, photos, and videos. These studies demonstrated a higher level of cognitive processing not previously attributed to animals (Dukas, 2004). As the field of learning and memory advanced, studies started to show remarkable similarities between the cognitive processes of animals and humans. Animals have been found to be even able to learn varied and sophisticated concepts, exhibit mental processes, such as symbol coding and organization, to form spatial, temporal, and numerical abstractions and perceive cause and effect relationships (Wynne, 2001).