Citation

Miller HC, Bender C. Behav. Processes 2012; 91(3): 313-317.

Affiliation

Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambrésis. Electronic address: hcmiller1661@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.beproc.2012.09.012

PMID

23032958

Abstract

We investigated whether the consumption of a morning meal (breakfast) by dogs (Canis familiaris) would affect search accuracy on a working memory task following the exertion of self-control. Dogs were tested either 30 or 90min after consuming half of their daily resting energy requirements (RER). During testing dogs were initially required to sit still for 10min before searching for hidden food in a visible displacement task. We found that 30min following the consumption of breakfast, and 10min after the behavioral inhibition task, dogs searched more accurately than they did in a fasted state. Similar differences were not observed when dogs were tested 90min after meal consumption. This pattern of behavior suggests that breakfast enhanced search accuracy following a behavioral inhibition task by providing energy for cognitive processes, and that search accuracy decreased as a function of energy depletion.

Language: en