Excellence Strategy "Science of Intelligence": Mouse Lock Box - Are mice considered intelligent?

Funded by: German Research Foundation (DFG)

Funding period: 2019 - 2022

Project website: 

External Link:https://www.scienceofintelligence.de/ 

External Link:https://www.scienceofintelligence.de/research/researchprojects/project_03/

Cognitive enrichment and understanding individual intelligent behavior. For this purpose, mice are presented with learning tasks in which a reward (oat flake) is hidden in a locked box. The Box can only be opened if various mechanisms that block each other are released in the correct order. In this way, the mice learn to use already gained experience sequentially and thus to solve complex tasks.

The developed boxes are suitable as cognitive enrichment in animal care and counteract boredom (refinement).