Bases Of Tool Use Research Articles

The comparative approach and brain–behaviour relationships: A tool for understanding tool use.

The comparative method is widely used to understand brain-behaviour relationships in comparative psychology. Such studies have demonstrated functional relationships between the brain and behaviour as well as how the brain and behaviour evolve in concert with one another. Here, the authors illustrate with their data on tool use and cerebellar morphology in birds that such comparisons can be further extended to (a) relate the morphology of a brain region to a behaviour, and (b) provide insight into the function of an often overlooked brain region in comparative cognitive studies, the cerebellum. Their results indicate that tool-using species have a significantly more folded cerebellar cortex, but not a larger cerebellum than non-tool-using species. This marks the first demonstration of an empirical relationship between the folding of a neural structure and a cognitive behaviour and in so doing, provides critical insight into the neural basis of tool use and the role of the cerebellum in cognitive processes.

The neural basis of tool use

Misuse of tools and objects by patients with left brain damage is generally recognized as a manifestation of apraxia, caused by parietal lobe damage. The use of tools and objects can, however, be subdivided in several components. The purpose of our study was to find out which of these are dependent on parietal lobe function. Thirty-eight patients with left brain damage and aphasia were examined using tests to assess the retrieval of functional knowledge from semantic memory (Functional Associations), mechanical problem solving (Novel Tools) and use of everyday tools and objects (Common Tools). Voxel-wise analysis of magnetic resonance images revealed two regions where lesions had a significant impact on the test results. One extended rostrally from the central region and ventrally through the middle frontal cortex to the dorsal margin of the inferior frontal gyrus. The other reached dorsally and caudally from the supramarginal gyrus, through the inferior, to superior parietal lobe. Whereas the frontal lesions had an adverse influence on all experimental tests as well as on the subtests of the Aachen Aphasia test, parietal lesions impaired Novel and Common Tools, but did not have an adverse effect on the Functional Associates. An association between Functional Associations and temporal lesions became apparent when patients with only a selective deficit in the test were considered, but did not show up in the whole group analysis. The parietal influence was as strong for the selection as for the use of either novel or common tools, although choice of appropriate manual configuration and movements was more important for use than for selection. We conclude that the contribution of the parietal lobe to tool use concerns general principles of tool use rather than knowledge about the prototypical use of common tools and objects, and the comprehension of mechanical interactions of the tool with other tools, recipients or material rather than the selection of grip formation and manual movements.

Tool-Use Training in a Species of Rodent: The Emergence of an Optimal Motor Strategy and Functional Understanding

BackgroundTool use is defined as the manipulation of an inanimate object to change the position or form of a separate object. The expansion of cognitive niches and tool-use capabilities probably stimulated each other in hominid evolution. To understand the causes of cognitive expansion in humans, we need to know the behavioral and neural basis of tool use. Although a wide range of animals exhibit tool use in nature, most studies have focused on primates and birds on behavioral or psychological levels and did not directly address questions of which neural modifications contributed to the emergence of tool use. To investigate such questions, an animal model suitable for cellular and molecular manipulations is needed.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe demonstrated for the first time that rodents can be trained to use tools. Through a step-by-step training procedure, we trained degus (Octodon degus) to use a rake-like tool with their forelimbs to retrieve otherwise out-of-reach rewards. Eventually, they mastered effective use of the tool, moving it in an elegant trajectory. After the degus were well trained, probe tests that examined whether they showed functional understanding of the tool were performed. Degus did not hesitate to use tools of different size, colors, and shapes, but were reluctant to use the tool with a raised nonfunctional blade. Thus, degus understood the functional and physical properties of the tool after extensive training.Conclusions/SignificanceOur findings suggest that tool use is not a specific faculty resulting from higher intelligence, but is a specific combination of more general cognitive faculties. Studying the brains and behaviors of trained rodents can provide insights into how higher cognitive functions might be broken down into more general faculties, and also what cellular and molecular mechanisms are involved in the emergence of such cognitive functions.

The use of a tool requires its incorporation into the movement: Evidence from stick-pointing in apraxia

When using a tool, the agent has to control the movement of this implement to perform an efficient action. While perceptual assimilation of a tool has been shown to occur during its use, the incorporation of an implement into the control of movements has received little attention. Here, we investigated the relation between the ability to integrate an object into motor coordination, and tool use. Apraxic patients impaired for familiar tool use were asked to point at targets located at various distances using either their finger, or two sticks of different lengths (23 and 53 cm). Left-brain damaged patients without apraxia participated as controls. Movement kinematics were analysed, with a particular focus on the working point (WP) of the action, defined as the tip of the finger or stick. Control patients produced movements with similar kinematic characteristics in all conditions, and were slightly less accurate with the sticks than with their finger. In contrast, more than half of the apraxics (6/10) showed various degrees of impairment when pointing with the sticks, manifested by deviant and inefficient motor strategies and abnormally large errors. In light of previous work in motor control and kinematics, it is argued that this reflects a deficit in anticipatively controlling a WP located in the stick, that is, in integrating the stick into the movement. We propose that this impairment might be related to dysfunction of the processes involved in dynamic body representation, which needs to be extended to include the tool to be used. Future directions are discussed to further characterize the relation between object incorporation and tool use, and its relevance for understanding apraxia and the neural bases of tool use.

What do we know about the cognitive basis of tool use in primates? Review of the use of tools by human and non‐human primates, edited by Arlette Berthelet and Jean Chavaillon. New York, Oxford University Press, 1993, + 424 pp, 56 figures, 23 tables, $83.00

What do we know about the cognitive basis of tool use in primates? Review of the use of tools by human and non‐human primates, edited by Arlette Berthelet and Jean Chavaillon. New York, Oxford University Press, 1993, + 424 pp, 56 figures, 23 tables, $83.00

Tools, Grammar and the Archaeology of Cognition

Use of archaeological evidence in discussions of the origin and evolution of grammar has proved unconvincing largely because of undeveloped theoretical assumptions about the cognitive connection between language and tool behaviour. This paper examines the cognitive basis of tool use and tool making and concludes that there is no sound theoretical basis for inferring grammatical abilities from prehistoric stone tools. Our knowledge concerning the cognitive basis of tool behaviour can, however, be used to document evolutionary developments in hominid cognition. Analysis of early biface culture, for example, reveals a cognitive complexity greater than that demonstrable for the earlier Oldowan or for modern apes.

Generative aspects of manipulation in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella).

Evaluating the cognitive and ontogenetic bases of tool use in primates requires comparative data on the generative nature of manipulation, including the frequency and variety of combinations of actions and objects. Thirty-one tufted capuchins (Cebus apella) of 3 age groups devoted significant proportions of time to interaction with objects and substrates. Activity that combined an object with a substrate occurred often; activities that combined 2 portable objects were less frequent. Predictions drawn from neo-Piagetian theory of an ontogenetic link between combinatorial behaviors and the onset of tool use were not supported. The frequency and generative nature of capuchins' manipulative activity, particularly acts combining objects and substrates, could account for their proclivity to use tools. The use of tools by capuchins need not involve the representational abilities proposed by neo-Piagetian theory.