The Scientist has had a lengthy dialogue with Ronen Segev, a specialist in cognitive neuroscience, about teaching Segev the goldfish how to drive an overground vehicle towards a visible target.
In 2014, engineers from Ben Gurion University in Israel developed a method called "fish on wheels", to teach the control fish in an automated vehicle over the ground, or for a minute, to convey that it is a transparent four-wheel basin, following the movements and direction of the fish inside.
Scientists tried the previous technique to test the ability of the goldfish (Carassius auratus) to live in a water-free environment, relocating its spatial representation system and water skills to the Earth's world.
Segev and his colleagues applied the former regime to six goldfish, then transported them with their vehicles one by one to a fenced basin, The fish gets rewarding food when it reaches the pink board hanging on one of the walls of the sink In each round, the team records the number of times the fish reaches the target, The time it takes to get to the board, and the distance it travels in the process.
The team noted the ability of the fish to achieve the goal even when changing the starting point, or when setting deceptive targets to mislead them, by moving the pink board to another wall, where the fish first reaches the first wall and then heads to the right wall, inferring from previous experiments the ability of fish to learn and their ability to drive vehicles.
The Scientist interacted with Segev about his research and the benefit of learning more about fish and their navigational capabilities:
What's the point of my study?
Segev: "For many years I have worked on the project, studying the cognitive abilities of fish, especially navigation and how to find their way, but I have always felt the fear and frustration of not being able to balance what I can provide for fish conditions in the laboratory with the real life that they live, as fish move around the oceans and lakes while putting them in the lab in a water tank of limited dimensions."
"We went through many experiences that struck us and increased our insistence on following up, including that mouse capable of driving the car, as I became sure there was a way to give the fish mobility on land. Then we started doing experiments that were not limited to the little water tank in the lab.
During our study, we found two main problems faced by fish subject to this system:
First, the effort to move the car. It is difficult to teach the fish to drive the car, as everything moves, and the driver must control his body and move it in a certain way to go in the direction to be desired.
Second: The difficulty of adapting to a new environment is completely different from the usual environment, as they no longer fish in a purely aquatic environment, given the aquarium the fish appear to be surrounded by three different circles - water, plastic, air - light breakdown varies and the field of vision of the fish is distorted.
Here fish are forced to adapt to the odds so that they can navigate the Earth, and our role is to demonstrate the ability of the fish to overcome those odds "
Why did you choose goldfish to represent your experiences?
Segev: "It is a perfect model for the application of research, it is a powerful fish that holds up even in the absence of ideal conditions, and it is available as it can be obtained from any pet store, and the right size for your experience"
Talk about how a fish-driven vehicle works
Segev: "The experiment is based on a water basin with the fish inside, a computer on top of it, and a camera to record the location and direction of the fish inside the basin. An order is sent to the car's engine and wheels to go in a particular direction. The trick here is to use special wheels that make the vehicle capable of traveling in all directions with the same efficiency ".
What about how to train and test fish navigational capabilities in different experiments?
Segev: "We carried out several experiments in which the carriage sets off from the center of the basin, and we put a large plastic sign on one of its walls showing that it was the target of the fish coming into contact with it. To confirm that the fish is driving the vehicle, we changed the starting point and moved it from the center of the basin to different locations or to the opposite side of the basin, and tried to put deceptive targets to mislead the fish.
Thirty minutes into the one round, the fish is required to get as much food as possible, after ten to fifteen rounds, the amount of food consumed increases markedly, as fish are able to know their exact destination and arrive unimpeded. "
What challenges did you face during the experiment?
Segev: "We needed to work on several points and adjust them for the desired benefit of the experiment, for example, the computer must interact with the fish approaching the target point before the vehicle starts moving, and the vehicle controls must be placed at a suitable point for the vehicle's behavior to be obvious to the fish. Some questions must be answered in order to reach our goals, such as the reaction of the fish and the carriage driving it ".
What was most surprising during the experiment?
Segev: "We saw the ability of the fish to learn during the experiment, at one stage of the experiment we moved the point of purpose from its original place to the opposite side of the basin, and the reaction of the fish in was the direction from the center of the basin towards the first wall, but once it arrived and did not find the target again around it until it saw the target on the opposite wall, it went towards it."
What are you waiting to achieve from this scientific research?
Segev: "The next step made the experiment harder, we have now proven the fish's ability to drive the vehicle, but the question is: will you be able to reach a hidden target when placed in an open space and a wider geographical area? This type of question is interesting, as it relates to issues of spatial learning and spatial memory. There are more questions of this kind, and I hope that more researchers will be interested in this kind of experiment. "
What do you expect the reader to draw from this study?
Segev: "Most of us believe that fish are primitive organisms with limited capabilities, but this is a misconception. In this experiment, we have proven fish intelligence and learning, but they have their own development in their three-dimensional water world, it is a high-risk world, so fish solve knowledge problems and deal with environmental challenges in different ways than us.
They are really smart beings, and we have to appreciate their efforts to overcome the obstacles of their lives in a world that is completely different from ours. "