Experience-dependent refinement of natural appetitive visual behavior in mice

Specific features of visual objects innately draw orienting and approach responses in animals, and provide natural signals of potential reward. In addition, the rapid refinement of innate approach responses enhances the ability of an animal to effectively and conditionally forage, capture prey or initiate a rewarding social experience. However, the neural mechanisms underlying how the brain encodes naturally appetitive stimuli and conditionally transforms stimuli into approach behavior remain unclear. As a first step towards this goal, we have developed a behavioral assay to quantify innate, visually-evoked approach behaviors in freely moving mice presented with simple, computer generated stimuli of varying sizes and speeds in the lower visual field. We found that specific combinations of stimulus features selectively evoked innate approach versus freezing behavioral responses. Surprisingly, we also discovered that prey capture experience selectively modified a range of visually-guided appetitive behaviors, including increasing the probability of approach and pursuit of moving stimuli, as well as altering those visual features that evoked approach. These findings will enable the use of sophisticated genetic strategies to uncover novel neural mechanisms underlying predictive coding, innate behavioral choice, and flexible, state-dependent processing of stimuli in the mouse visual system. HighlightsO_LINovel stimuli with specific visual features reliably elicit an approach in C57BL/6J mice. C_LIO_LIIntroduction of motion to stimuli makes freezing the most probable behavioral response. C_LIO_LISpontaneous behavioral responses are tuned to size, speed and visual field location. C_LIO_LIPrey capture experience selectively refines natural, visually-evoked approach behaviors. C_LI