Biomedical subjects

Kim G T Pulman

Publications and source records attributed to Kim G T Pulman.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Evolutionary background for stress-coping styles: relationships between physiological, behavioral, and cognitive traits in non-mammalian vertebrates.

Reactions to stress vary between individuals, and physiological and behavioral responses tend to be associated in distinct suites of correlated traits, often termed stress-coping styles. In mammals, individuals exhibiting divergent stress-coping styles also appear to exhibit intrinsic differences in cognitive processing. A connection between physiology, behavior, and cognition was also recently demonstrated in strains of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) selected for consistently high or low cortisol responses to stress. The low-responsive (LR) strain display longer retention of a conditioned response, and tend to show proactive behaviors such as enhanced aggression, social dominance, and rapid resumption of feed intake after stress. Differences in brain monoamine neurochemistry have also been reported in these lines. In comparative studies, experiments with the lizard Anolis carolinensis reveal connections between monoaminergic activity in limbic structures, proactive behavior in novel environments, and the establishment of social status via agonistic behavior. Together these observations suggest that within-species diversity of physiological, behavioral and cognitive correlates of stress responsiveness is maintained by natural selection throughout the vertebrate sub-phylum.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

Divergence in behavioural responses to stress in two strains of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) with contrasting stress responsiveness.

The aim of this study was to establish whether two lines of rainbow trout divergent for their plasma cortisol response to a standardized stressor would show consistent differences in their behavioural response to a range of challenging situations. Our results show that the high- and low-responding (HR and LR) lines of rainbow trout did not differ in the aggression shown towards an intruder or in their response to the introduction of a novel object to their home environment. However, there was a difference in behaviour between the two selection lines when they were exposed to two unfamiliar environments. These results suggest that the behaviour of the HR and LR fish differs when they are challenged in unfamiliar environments, while their behaviour does not differ when they are challenged in their home environment. These observations are in agreement with studies on mammals that show that individuals with reactive coping styles perform similarly to proactive animals when they are challenged in a familiar environment, while they show different behaviour when they are challenged in unfamiliar environments. Thus, these results provide further evidence that the HR and LR selection lines of rainbow trout exemplify the two different coping styles described in mammals.

Aggression↗