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At least 703 records · Page 39Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

A simple computer based system to analyze Morris water maze trials on-line.

The development of a system for the acquisition, analysis and storage of data from open-field water-maze procedures in which rats learn to escape from water onto a hidden platform is described. The use of an object-oriented programming language simplifies the programming of the application and provides scientists without formal training in computer programming the ability to create their own software application. The core hardware is an IBM-compatible AT 486 computer and a video capture board. The Microsoft Windows compatible software is written in G (LabVIEW) and presents the user a graphically based 'virtual instrument' thus simulating functions of real instruments which can be interactively accessed. The graphical approach allows the programmer to make fast and simple adaptations of the software to suit the specific experimental problem. Image analysis software tools (Concept V.i) were integrated into this system which has been used successfully for over 2 years in our lab.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

A battery of tests for quantitative examination of idiothetic and allothetic place navigation modes in humans.

Research into the neural mechanisms of place navigation in laboratory animals has led to the definition of allothetic and idiothetic navigation modes that can be examined by quantitative analysis of the generated tracks. In an attempt to use this approach in the study of human navigation behavior, 10 young subjects were examined in an enclosed arena (2.9 m in diameter, 3 m high) equipped with a computerized tracking system. Idiothetic navigation was studied in blindfolded subjects performing the following tasks-Simple Homing, Complex Homing and Idiothesis Supported by Floor-Related Signals. Allothetic navigation was examined in sighted subjects instructed to find in an empty arena the acoustically signaled unmarked goal region and later to retrieve its position using tasks (Natural Navigation, Cue-Controlled Navigation, Snapshot Memory, Map Reading) that evaluated different aspects of allothesis. The results indicate that allothetic navigation is more accurate than idiothetic, that the poor accuracy of idiothesis is due to angular rather than to distance errors, and that navigation performance is best when both allothetic and idiothetic modes contribute to the solution of the task. The proposed test battery may contribute to better understanding of the navigation disturbances accompanying various neurological disorders and to objective evaluation of the results of drug therapy and of rehabilitation procedures.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Performance of pigeons (Columba livia) on maze problems presented on the LCD screen: in search for preplanning ability in an avian species.

The authors examined how pigeons (Columba livia) perform on 2-dimensional maze tasks on the LCD monitor and whether the pigeons preplan the solution before starting to solve the maze. After training 4 pigeons to move a red square (the target) to a blue square (the goal) by pecking, the authors exposed them to a variety of detour tasks having lines as a barrier. A preview phase was introduced, during which the pigeons were not allowed to peck at the monitor. Results of a set of experiments suggest that our pigeons successfully learned to solve these tasks, that they came to take an efficient strategy as the barriers became complex, and that they possibly preplan its solution, at least on familiar, well-practiced tasks.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Genetic evidence for sex-biased dispersal in resident bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus).

In most mammals males usually disperse before breeding, while females remain in their natal group or area. However, in odontocete cetaceans behavioural and/or genetic evidence from populations of four species indicate that both males and females remain in their natal group or site. For coastal resident bottlenose dolphins field data suggest that both sexes are philopatric to their natal site. Assignment tests and analyses of relatedness based on microsatellite markers were used to investigate this hypothesis in resident bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops aduncus, from two small coastal populations of southeastern Australia. Mean corrected assignment and mean relatedness were higher for resident females than for resident males. Only 8% of resident females had a lower probability than average of being born locally compared to 33% of resident males. Our genetic data contradict the hypothesis of bisexual philopatry to natal site and suggest that these bottlenose dolphins are not unusual amongst mammals, with females being the more philopatric and males the more dispersing sex.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Ranks and relationships in Highland ponies and Highland Cows.

Recent studies of primates have questioned the importance of dominance hierarchies in groups living under natural conditions. In a herd of Highland ponies and one of Highland cattle grazing under free-range conditions on the Isle of Rhum (Inner Hebrides) well defined hierarchies were present. The provision of food produced a marked increase in the frequency of agonistic interactions but had no effect on the rank systems of the two herds. While rank was clearly important in affecting the distribution of agonistic interactions, it was poorly related to behaviour in non-agonistic situations.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed2006

Dimensions of cognition in an insect, the honeybee.

This review provides evidence for the enormous richness of insect behavior, its high flexibility, and the cross-talk between different behavioral routines. The memory structure established by multiple forms of learning represents sensory inputs and relates behaviors in such a way that representations of complex environmental conditions are formed. Navigation and communication in social hymenoptera are particularly telling examples in this respect, but it is fair to conclude that similar integrated forms of dealing with the environment will be found in other insects when they are studied more closely. In this sense, research addressing behavioral complexity and its underlying neural substrates is necessary to characterize the real potential of insect learning and memory. Usually, such an approach has been used to characterize behavioral simplicity rather than complexity. It seems therefore timely to focus on the latter by studying problem solving alongside and in addition to elemental forms of learning.

Animal Communication↗
PubMed2002

Landmark use and development of navigation behaviour in the weakly electric fish Gnathonemus petersii (Mormyridae; Teleostei).

African mormyrids, such as Gnathonemus petersii, migrate: nocturnally, from daytime shelters to find food and return by morning, and seasonally, spawning in swamps flooded during the rainy season. The present study examined whether the fish use landmarks detected via electrolocation to locate an aperture, whether they detect changes in landmark size and respond appropriately, whether landmarks or hydrostatic pressure are the primary cues for navigation and whether fish of different developmental stages behave differently with respect to landmarks and navigation. The fish's task was to locate and swim through a circular aperture in a wall dividing an aquarium into two compartments. Two groups of fish were trained to find the aperture with a landmark present, while a control group had no such landmark. The water level remained constant throughout training. At the end of training, the fish's task was to locate the aperture after the landmark size had changed or the water level had increased. The results show that G. petersii use landmarks to orient and navigate. They can detect changes in landmark size and will modify their locomotor behaviour to integrate the change into an internal representation. If the water level changes, increasing hydrostatic pressure, the fish orient to a landmark, if present. If no landmark is present, the fish rely on an internal representation oriented to hydrostatic pressure. Larger, early-adult G. petersii located the aperture faster than smaller, sub-adult fish.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Autoshaped head poking in the mouse: a quantitative analysis of the learning curve.

In autoshaping experiments, we quantified the acquisition of anticipatory head poking in individual mice, using an algorithm that finds changes in the slope of a cumulative record. In most mice, upward changes in the amount of anticipatory poking per trial were abrupt, and tended to occur at session boundaries, suggesting that the session is as significant a unit of experience as the trial. There were large individual differences in the latency to the onset of vigorous responding. "Asymptotic" performance was unstable; large, bidirectional, and relatively enduring changes were common. Given the characteristics of the individual learning curves, it is unlikely that physiologically meaningful estimates of rate of learning can be extracted from group-average learning curves.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Fitness consequences of allorecognition-mediated agonistic interactions in the colonial hydroid Hydractinia [GM].

In sessile and sedentary organisms, competition for space may have fitness consequences that depend strongly on ecological context. Colonial hydroids in the genus Hydractinia use an inducible defense when encountering conspecifics, and intraspecific competition is common in natural populations, often resulting in complete overgrowth of subordinate competitors. My goal in this study was to quantify the impacts of agonistic interactions in Hydractinia [GM] (an undescribed species from the Gulf of Mexico) in terms of three primary fitness components: colony survival, growth rate, and immature gonozooid production. The results demonstrate that the fitness consequences of intraspecific competition depend on the size at which competitive encounters are initiated and the growth form (an indicator of competitive ability) of the competitors. Moreover, some competing colonies consistently produced more immature gonozooids than the controls without competition, and they exhibited extremely low mortality even after 90 days of growth. These results have several ramifications. First, agonistic interactions do not always proceed to competitive elimination. Second, the increase in production of immature gonozooids--an investment in future reproduction--in response to intraspecific competition supports the hypothesis that indeterminately growing organisms increase sexual reproductive effort when growth becomes limiting. Lastly, in light of known ontogenetic variation in the ability of Hydractinia to differentiate among genetically related colonies, strongly size-dependent fitness consequences are consistent with an adaptive, kin-discriminating allorecognition system.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed2003

Reasoning, models, and images: behavioral measures and cortical activity.

The goal of this study was to investigate the neurocognitive processes of mental imagery in deductive reasoning. Behavioral studies yielded four sorts of verbal relations: (1) visuospatial relations that are easy to envisage both visually and spatially; (2) visual relations that are easy to envisage visually but hard to envisage spatially; (3) spatial relations that are hard to envisage visually but easy to envisage spatially; and (4) control relations that are hard to envisage both visually and spatially. In three experiments, visual relations slowed the process of reasoning in comparison with control relations, whereas visuospatial and spatial relations yielded inferences comparable to those of control relations. An experiment using functional magnetic resonance imaging showed that in the absence of any correlated visual input (problems were presented acoustically via headphones), all types of reasoning problems evoked activity in the left middle temporal gyrus, in the right superior parietal cortex, and bilaterally in the precuneus. In the prefrontal cortex, increased activity was found in the middle and inferior frontal gyri. However, only the problems based on visual relations also activated areas of the visual association cortex corresponding to V2. The results indicate that cortical activity during reasoning depends on the nature of verbal relations. All relations elicit mental models that underlie reasoning, but visual relations in addition elicit visual images. This account resolves inconsistencies in the previous literature.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1999

Behavioral effects of ivermectin in mice.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Ivermectin is a common anthelmintic drug, widely used in laboratory rodents for treatment of pinworm and mite infestations. We evaluated the action of ivermectin on sensitive behavioral tasks in mice during treatment for mites within a barrier facility. METHODS: A total of 21 (5 males, 16 females) mice (129/SvEv) were used for measuring body weight, open field locomotor activity, and rotarod motor coordination. For acoustic startle and prepulse inhibition, 20 C57BL/6J and 29 AKR/J mice were studied. For the Morris water task, the same 20 C57BL/6J mice were studied. Ivermectin (0.08% sheep drench) was administered in the drinking water of the home cage for 8 weeks. Control groups received normal tap water in identical bottles. RESULTS: Ivermectin did not affect general health, body weight, motor coordination, swimming behavior, or spatial learning in several inbred strains of mice. However, it induced a small but significant effect on some sensitive behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: A cautious approach to initiating ivermectin treatment in mice should be used for sensitive behavioral experiments.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1982

Laboratory observations of aggregative behavior of garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis: roles of the visual, olfactory, and vomeronasal senses.

Two experiments were conducted to determine (a) whether male garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) require a functional vomeronasal or olfactory system to return to previously preferred shelter locations and (b) the sensory modalities used by snakes to aggregate in the absence of previously deposited chemical cues. In Experiment 1, snakes with vomeronasal nerve lesions did not return to previously preferred shelter locations when tested individually. However, when tested with a group that included "control" animals, they returned to previously preferred shelters. The shelter-selection behavior of snakes with olfactory nerve lesions improved postoperatively, whereas the behavior of animals with sham lesions was unchanged. In Experiment 2, snakes were tested for aggregation in aquaria in which the substrate and other contents were cleaned between trials. After blindfolding or after olfactory nerve cuts, snakes aggregated at normal levels. When the snakes' vomeronasal ducts were sutured closed, aggregation scores were significantly depressed, although two of the three groups with vomeronasal duct sutures did aggregate just above chance levels. These studies indicate that use of chemical signals by garter snakes in shelter selection and aggregation is mediated by the vomeronasal system and that neither the olfactory nor the visual system is critical for these behaviors.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

The impact of consumer-resource cycles on the coexistence of competing consumers.

This article seeks to determine the extent to which endogenous consumer-resource cycles can contribute to the coexistence of competing consumer species. It begins with a numerical analysis of a simple model proposed by Armstrong and McGehee. This model has a single resource and two consumers, one with a linear functional response and one with a saturating response. Coexistence of the two consumer species can occur when the species with a saturating response generates population cycles of the resource, and also has a lower resource requirement for zero population growth. Coexistence can be achieved over a wide range of relative efficiencies of the two consumers provided that the functional response of the saturating consumer reaches its half-saturation value when the resource population is a small fraction of its carrying capacity. In this case, the range of efficiencies allowing coexistence is comparable to that when two competitors have stable dynamics and a high degree of resource partitioning. A variety of modifications of this basic model are analyzed to investigate the consequences for coexistence of different resource growth equations, different functional and numerical response shapes, and other factors. Large differences in functional response shape appear to be the most important factor in producing robust coexistence via resource cycles. If the unstable species has a concave numerical response, this greatly expands the conditions allowing coexistence. If the stable consumer species has a convex (accelerating) functional and/or numerical response, the range of conditions allowing coexistence is also expanded. We argue that large between-species differences in functional response form can often be produced by between-consumer differences in the adaptive adjustments of foraging effort to food density. Consumer-resource cycles can also expand the conditions allowing coexistence when there is resource partitioning, but do so primarily when resource partitioning is relatively slight; this makes the ease of coexistence relatively independent of consumer similarity.

Ecosystem↗
PubMed2005

Amines and motivated behaviors: a simpler systems approach to complex behavioral phenomena.

Recent investigations in invertebrate neurobiology have opened up new lines of research into the basic roles of behavioral, neurochemical, and physiological effects in complex behavioral phenomena, such as aggression and drug-sensitive reward. This review summarizes a body of quantitative work, which identifies biogenic amines as a pharmacological substrate for motivated behaviors in the crayfish, Orconectes rusticus. Specifically, this paper details progress that has (1) explored links between serotonin and an individual's aggressive state, and (2) demonstrated the existence of crayfish reward systems that are sensitive to human drugs of abuse, such as psychostimulants. First, we summarize a set of experimental approaches that explore aggression in crayfish and the significance of aminergic systems in its control. Agonistic behavior in crustaceans can be characterized within a quantitative framework; different types of behavioral plasticity in aggressive behavior are in need of physiological explanation, and pharmacological intervention involving serotonergic systems bring about characteristic changes in behavior. A second set of experiments demonstrates that psychostimulants (cocaine and D: -amphetamine) serve as rewards when an intra-circulatory infusion is coupled to a distinct visual environment. Work in novel model systems such as crayfish constitutes a useful comparative approach to the study of aggression and drug addiction.

Agonistic Behavior↗