Exploring the nexus between environment, emotion and spatial cognition: a test using Melomys cervinipes (Old ID 22683)

Supervisor

The loss of environmental complexity in tropical rainforests due to anthropogenic deforestation is a major threat to mammals. How an animal copes with these changes may be dependent on integrated physiological, behavioural and cognitive responses to environmental stimuli. The aim of this study is to investigate whether environmental complexity influences these responses of Malomys cervinipes. I predict that animals from complex habitats will demonstrate lowered anxiety and stress and will show enhanced learning and performance in a cognitive behavioural task. This study is the first to investigate the links between environmental complexity, physiology, behaviour and cognition in an Australian mammal.

01 May 2016 - 30 Nov 2016

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