Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
In a changing environment, learning and memory are essential for an animals survival and repro-duction. The role played by the environment in shaping learning and memory is now attracting considerable attention. Until now, studies have tended to compare the behaviour of two, or at best a few species, but interspeci¢c comparisons can be misleading as many life history variables other than envir-onment may di¡er between species. Here we report on an experiment designed to determine how learning varies between di¡erent populations of the same species, the three-spined stickleback. We found di¡erences between the populations in their ability to solve a spatial task and also in the spatial strategies they used. A second simple learning task showed that these di¡erences were not the result of gross di¡erences in learning ability or adaptation to laboratory conditions. We discuss these results and suggest that the behavioural di¡erences may relate to features of the respective habitats from which the ¢sh were sampled.
Girvan et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: