Animal Models of General Cognitive Ability for Genetic Research into Cognitive Functioning

Species-level research on animal behavior is decades old and very well described, but individual differences in cognition has only gained momentum much more recently. Although there have been some studies of individual differences in cognition in primates, the new research has mainly focused on general cognitive ability (g) in mice. Fortunately, the timing is right for combining our understanding of the genetics and neuroscience of intelligence in humans with genetic manipulation models of learning and memory in mice. This will help forge deeper understanding of human intelligence and mental cognitive disorders such as retardation and Alzheimer Disease. In this chapter, we survey the academic literature associated with g in animals, with discussions of links with genetics, cross-species comparisons and neuroscience. We then focus on mice to describe the rapidly-growing genetic manipulation models of learning, memory and cognitive dysfunction. Ultimately, we believe that cognitive test batteries for mice, in combination with exploring the structure of cognition from the individual differences perspective, creates a useful framework for describing the effects of cognition-related genes and extrapolating these up to the human brain and experience.