The Proustian madielene wrorks equallys well in monkeys

The Proustian madeliene works equally well in monkeys
Memory elephant, they say. But exactly what kind of memory are non-human animals? This environment can be little doubt that includes the recognition of places, routes or members of the social group. But things get tough when it comes to highlight what is called episodic memory, that personal acts, the "particular day, I made ​​this special. " The memory of the autobiography of sorts. Zoologists have long connected the memory capacity to elaborate language, thus reserving the de facto  human and considering a way that the animals were prisoners of the present, unable to dive in the past and projection into the future.
In recent years  the concept cracks and the work just completed three researchers from the University of Aarhus (Denmark) and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany) could give him the coup de grace . In a study published July 18 in the journal  Current Biology ,  they show an amazing ability to long-term memory of chimpanzees and orangutans, species such as  Homo sapiens are part of the family of hominids. The protocol that these scientists have used is both complex and clear. It all started in 2009 at the zoo in Leipzig by an individual test the ability of these animals to be used as a tool. Before the exercise itself begins, each monkey was watching one of the signatories of the study, Gema Martin-Ordas hide in opaque plastic boxes two sticks, one 10 inches long, the other 30 cm. Then the "guinea pig" entered the experimental room. There, on the other side of a fence, a piece of banana was placed on a shelf, out of reach. One suspects, chimpanzees and orangutans had to fetch the big stick (the other being too short) in the box and use it through the fence to bring reward. Each subject effected exercise four times and the research team went on to other tests.
The days, weeks, months and years passed. In 2012, reflecting an experiment to demonstrate (or not) the episodic memory of their tenants, the authors of the study had the idea to put them in the context of this test, but  not show them in advance as chopsticks were hidden. And now, researchers were amazed. Just Gema Martin-Ordas accompanied it apes inside the room where the device was installed they sped straight boxes to seek the wand. On average, only 5 seconds enough for them to move towards them. Only one of the eleven individuals tested did not pass the test. To ensure that chimpanzees and orangutans did not find the sticks by chance, researchers renewed experience with eight monkeys were not tested in 2009. None had the idea to explore the room (they were familiar to work daily) looking for a tool to help them catch the piece of banana.
For researchers , there is no doubt that the monkeys remembered what they had done three years ago and especially where the tool was hidden. "I was really surprised that they can remember the event and they do so quickly " , recognized Gema Martin-Ordas. In general, work on memorizing the animals are for much shorter periods, the order of the week, the study said. In addition, we can not talk about packaging, since the participants in the experiment were performed four times before. Finally, it should be added that in 2009, there was no anticipation that the propose again someday, the researchers themselves are not having then thought.
The result may seem trivial to us, but it is far from being to non-human animals. Never had highlighted the resurgence of a personal memory to three years away. Importantly, the researchers were struck by the speed with which the chimpanzees and orangutans have remembered things. This speed makes them suggest that the memory involved in this experiment could be unintentional. Involuntary memory is the capacity of the memory, in certain circumstances, to instantly return to the surface without the one he sought. In general, we unconsciously receive clues from the context, which, by association, trigger the emergence of memory. This is the phenomenon that illuminates the narrator of In Search of Lost Time  by Marcel Proust with the taste of the famous madeleine dipped in a little tea , which brings back memories of the same cake dipped in tea to Aunt Léonie of his house and Sundays at Combray. It is also carrying Marcel in Venice when the uneven pavement of the courtyard of the Hôtel de Guermantes reminds him slabs of the Baptistery of St. Mark.

Une mémoire d'éléphant, dit-on. Mais quel genre de mémoire exactement ont les animaux non humains ? Celle de l'environnement ne fait guère de doute, qui englobe la reconnaissance des lieux, des itinéraires ou des membres du groupe social. Mais les choses se corsent dès qu'il s'agit de mettre en évidence ce que l'on appelle la mémoire épisodique, celle des actes personnels, le "tel jour, j'ai fait ceci de particulier". La mémoire de l'autobiographie en quelque sorte. Les zoologues ont longtemps relié cette capacité mémorielle au langage élaboré, la réservant donc de facto aux humains et considérant d'une certaine manière que les animaux étaient prisonniers du présent, inaptes à la plongée dans le passé et à la projection dans le future.