Sex differences in spatial search and pattern learning in the rat

Male and female rats searched in a 5 × 5 matrix of 15.5-cm-tall wooden poles for reward pellets hidden on top of the poles. The baited poles always formed a square pattern, but were otherwise unpredictable. Measures developed by Brown and Terrinoni (1996) were used to determine choice efficiency and the extent to which choices were determined by the spatial pattern. Male rats were controlled by the spatial pattern in which poles were baited to a greater extent than female rats, whereas female rats were more efficient at searching for baited poles when no information about their location was available.