PubMed HealthSearch

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Exploratory Behavior”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

[Application of group psychology of animals into pharmacological studies. 12. Specificities of actions of psychotropic drugs on emotional and exploratory behaviors of a single mouse or groups of 2 or 3 animals].

The exploratory movement recorder of Tokyo University of Education type was utilized to assess the exploratory motor activity of groups of 1, 2 and 3 mice of the dd-strain. As the animals were observed during 15 min periods to move spontaneously, psychotropic drugs were administered and the specific actions of these agents were determined. Each drug was given i.p. in a dose which proved non-effective in a single mouse. Observations were as follows: The ratio of exploratory motor activity of each pair of mice as compared to a single mouse was not always different from that of control animals. When a 3rd mouse was added to the pair, the motor activity either increased or decreased considerably. The rate of increase in motor activity was calculated 45 min after caffeine, pentetrazol, ephedrine and DL-amphetamine and was found to be less than in the control animals. After administration of chlordiazepoxide, diazepam, imipramine, chlorpromaxine or mescaline, the rate of increase in motor activity was considerably greater than in the controls. With dimorphoramine or hexobarbital, the rate was much the same as control. After beta-oxy gamma-aminobutyric acid, the rate was slightly increased and with diphenhydramine the rate was slightly less than control. Thus the exploratory motor activity of 3 mice as compared to that of 2, decreased considerably after administration of psychotropic stimulants, while after psychotropic depressants, an even greater increase was observed. We have already reported on the mutual relation of mice in fighting episodes and E1-mice convulsions. Those relations were, however, responses elicited by the physical stimulation. In contrast, the mutual relation in this paper is more of a natural nature. In view of observations in this paper, it is considered that CNS stimulants increase the mutual, emotional, checking behavior in groups of 3 animals while CNS depressants decrease the checking behavior. Such behavior is one example of the emotional conduct when a 3rd party is added to a 2 member group.

Animals

Effects of Aspiculuris tetraptera dn Syphacia obvelata on exploratory behavior of an inbred mouse strain.

Sixty C57BL/6 male mice were treated with an anthelmintic for 2 weeks to free them of pinworms. They were then divided into six groups. Two groups were infected with Aspiculuris tetraptera, two groups with Syphacia obvelata, and two groups were left uninfected as controls. At intervals of 2 and 4 weeks after infection, the mice were tested for exploratory activity in a barriered field apparatus. Following the second test, each mouse was necropsied to determine presence of nematodes and to estimate worm burdens. Statistical analysis showed significant depression of exploratory activity in mice harboring S obvelata. No significant depression was found in those harboring A tetraptera.

Animals

[The exploratory behavior in an open field and in a burrowing chamber of rats with different predispositions to stress].

The peculiarities of oriental research behavior and correlation between activities of catecholaminergic and serotoninergic brain systems dependently on their stress resistance degree were investigated in Wistar rats. The experiments showed that resistant (R) to a sound stimulus rats differed from nonresistant (NR) ones by increased research activity under moderate stress in the open field test and by decreased research behavior level in the cell chamber test. The biochemical analysis of biogenic amines in different brain structures revealed increased norepinephrine levels in stress R rats, and increased dopamine and serotonin levels in NR ones. The findings suggest that inborn behavior regulation in animals with different stress resistance is determined by different correlations between serotonin-dopamine and norepinephrine brain systems activities.

Animals

[Effect of psychotropic substances on orienting-exploratory behavior after startling caused by acoustic stimulation].

Frightening sound stimulation induced alarm and alertness which resulted in weakening of attention to novel environment and increasing of orienting response to the source of the frightening sound. Defense motivation occurring under these conditions failed to alter with the increase of sound loudness. Tranquilizers (diazepam, chlordiazepoxide, benatyzine), antidepressants (amytriptiline, imipramine) and some neuroleptics (trifluoperazine, haloperidol) in a low doze prevented these disturbances. High doses of pentobarbital, chlorpromazine, as well as trifluoperazine and haloperidol did not prevent the mentioned consequences of emotional excitation.

Acoustic Stimulation

Rat exploratory behavior controlled by intracranial self-stimulation improves the study of place cell activity.

This report is limited to the description of a procedure that should help to resolve the question whether firing fields of hippocampal place cells are relatively stable or modifiable by learning. Rats implanted with lateral hypothalamic electrodes for rewarding intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) were trained to explore a circular open field (100 cm in diameter) while their locomotion was tracked by a computerized video system which also delivers ICSS whenever the animal's exploration has met certain experimenter defined criteria. The 3 following conditions were examined. (1) Homogeneous exploration of the entire field: ICSS was delivered after the animal repeatedly visited 5 equal segments of the field (central annulus and remainders of the 4 quadrants), entered randomly located circular areas of the field, and/or traveled a criterion distance. (2) Place field contingent reward or non-reward: ICSS was delivered when the animal entered a circular area (23 cm in diameter) corresponding to the place field after a previous visit to a similar area outside the place field. These conditions were reversed in the following task. (3) Delayed reward: ICSS was delivered when the animal entered the circular area and remained in it for 2 s. Each condition was tested for 600 s or until 50 ICSS were delivered. The behavioral procedures described make it possible to propose an experimental protocol that allows examination of the same place cell under conditions of homogeneous exploration with a segment condition or randomly distributed reward and under conditions with the place field signaling reward or non-reward. The delayed reward condition increases the accuracy of the target location and allows assessment of the phasic versus tonic nature of the place cell firing.

Animals

[Effect of mescaline on cerebral cholinesterases and on exploratory behavior in rats].

In this study the Authors had the purpose to evaluate the action of a psychotomimetic substance (mescaline) on behavior (exploring behaviour and spontaneous motility) and on cerebral biochemistry (cholinesterase activity) of rat. The mescaline has shown to be active both on behaviour (increasing the spontaneous motility) and on biochemistry (decreasing the total cholinesterase activity). From the examination of the results of this work it could be cautiously assumed the hypothesis that the behavioural effects of mescaline are related (at least partially) to modifications of the cholinergic system at the cerebral level.

Acetylcholinesterase

[Effect of scopolamine on the memory of exploratory behavior in the mouse].

In the present work it has been evaluated the action of scopolamine on the extent of exploration in mice, whose exploring behaviour had been already earlier examined. Such behaviour has been evaluated using a hole-board. The goal has been to detect the influence of the substance on the short-term memory of mice. The method used has shown to be effective. By the exam of the results of this work it can be concluded that the scopolamine at a dose of 1 mg/kg has an evidence effect of short-time memory in mice by causing a hypomnesia.

Animals

[A comparative analysis of learning and exploratory behavior in rats with different resistances to stress exposures and to the brain monoamine level].

Wistar rats stable (S) to sound stimulus differed from the unstable (NS) ones by a heightened investigatory activity in condition of moderate stress in the open field test, by heightened reactivity to sensory stimuli of various modalities (somatosensory, visual and olfactory), lowered level of investigatory behaviour in the test of burrow chamber. S-rats differed from NS-animals by a higher ability to learning of goal-directed reaction and a lower ability to discrimination of different emotional influences. The results of biochemical analysis of the content of biogenic amines in various brain structures revealed in stable rats an increase of noradrenaline level and in non-stable ones--a higher level of dopamine and serotonin.

Animals

Effect of postnatal dietary protein and energy restriction on exploratory behavior in young pigs.

Three-week-old pigs were subjected to dietary energy or protein restriction so as to prevent weight gain over a period of 8 weeks. During the last week of restriction their responses to a novel object introduced into an exploratory test situation were measured. The malnourished pigs exhibited indifference to the object, taking longer to make contact with it, spending less time playing with it, but not showing evidence of fear or avoidance of the object or the area in which it was located. Following 6 weeks of nutritional rehabilitation, the previously malnourished pigs again displayed less approach behavior to the novel object than controls, but the effect was substantially reduced. These observations are interpreted to support our hypothesis that a major mechanism through which early malnutrition produces long-term effects on behavior is by disturbing those behaviors required for gathering information from the environment.

Animals

Protein and calorie malnutrition in infant cebus monkeys: growth and behavioral development during deprivation and rehabilitation.

The growth and development of 32 cebus monkeys were studied during a period of insult in nutritional or rearing conditions and after rehabilitation. Eight experimental groups of four animals each were subjected to one of four diets--control, protein restricted, calorie restricted, and protein-calorie restricted, and one of two rearing conditions-partial isolation or a comparatively enriched condition-in a 4 x 2 factorial design. The period of insult from 2 to 6 months of age was followed by 6 months of rehabilitation in both diet and rearing conditions. It was found that only diet affected physical growth, but both diet and rearing affected behavioral development and exploratory behavior. Whereas calorie deficiency produced a direct effect on behavior independent of rearing conditions, protein deficiency produced an effect only in combination with rearing restriction. The effect of protein-calorie deficiency had some characteristics in common with each of the other deficiencies. Retardation in rate of behavioral development was less severe than retardation in growth, most notably in the protein-restricted, enriched-rearing group, producing animals who were behaviorally mature for their size. All groups caught up in physical growth during rehabilitation but the protein-calorie restricted groups failed to recuperate completely in exploratory behavior.

Animals

Effects of amphetamine and haloperidol on avoidance behavior and exploratory activity.

The effect of graded doses of D-amphetamine and haloperidol were tested on retention of a one trial learning passive avoidance response, on extinction of pole-jumping active avoidance behavior and on open-field activity. Low doses of amphetamine (10 microgram/animal) increased passive avoidance latency when given s.c. 1 h prior to the retention test. Higher doses (20 and 1000 microgram/animal) caused a bimodal distribution of avoidance latencies. Haloperidol (0.03 or 1.0 microgram/animal) significantly attenuated passive avoidance behavior. Amphetamine caused a delay of extinction of pole-jumping avoidance behavior in a dose-dependent manner (10, 30 or 90 microgram per rat). Conversely, haloperidol induced a dose-dependent facilitation of extinction (0.03 or 0.1 microgram per rat). Open-field activity was not significantly affected by 30 microgram amphetamine or 0.03 microgram haloperidol; 90 microgram amphetamine significantly increased rearing activity and 0.1 microgram haloperidol decreased ambulation. The data show that passive and active avoidance behavior are sensitive measures to test the activity of psychomotor stimulant and neuroleptic drugs. Exploratory behavior allows more specific behavioral effects to be dissociated from locomotor influences.

Animals

Opiate stimulation increases exploration in the mouse.

Adult male Swiss-Webster mice were injected with a low dose of morphine sulfate or vehicle and placed in an apparatus which allowed the assessment of exploratory behavior. Two measures of exploration (rearing, nose poking) were recorded during a single brief exposure. Both exploratory behaviors increased after drug treatment. This suggests opiate involvement in behavioral arousal, and more specifically, in exploratory behavior.

Animals

Effects of a histamine synthesis inhibitor and antihistamines on the sexual behavior of female rats.

Intraventricular administration of alpha-hydrazinohistidine, a histamine synthesis inhibitor, at different doses and times before testing produced a significant decrease of lordotic responses and sexual receptivity in ovariectomized estrogen plus progesterone-primed female rats. The H1-antihistamines pyrilamine and chlorfeniramine and the H2-antihistamine metiamide, injected in the lateral ventricle, significantly decreased the lordosis quotient but did not modify receptivity; antihistamine-injected rats showed no soliciting behavior. Exploratory activity was decreased by both alpha-hydrazinohistidine and metiamide but not by the H1-antihistamines. It is concluded that treatments which either deplete histamine or block their receptors can alter female copulatory responsiveness. The mechanism of this antihistamine effect appears to be unrelated to that of other side effects, such as motor impairment, sedation, or local anesthesia.

Animals