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At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1978

Effect of increased space on the social behavior of institutionalized profoundly retarded male adults.

The social behavior of a group of institutionalized profoundly mentally retarded male adults was observed under conditions of increased space. The findings demonstrated that an increase in space of 29 percent significantly reduced the frequency of aggressive acts occurring within the group. Also observed was the effect of increased space on the residents' mobility and nonaggressive interactions. Results were discussed in relation to the residents' need for space.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Patterns of maternal care in lemurs. III. Lemur variegatus.

Lemur fulvus, L. catta, and L. variegatus differ markedly in the details of mother-infant relations. Do these differences account for those seen in adult life? We hope to determine this through interspecific cross-fostering. Here we describe the normal pattern of rearing of 5 infants among two groups of 2 and 5 adult L. variegatus, reared in the laboratory. The descriptions cover the first 7 months of life, and include the effects of maternal separation at 150 days of age, when estrus normally disrupts maternal care. The principal finding is that in the mother's absence young turn more to other adults than to their siblings, who are, apparently, not adequate social substitutes for adults.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Spatial cognition and behavior in young and elderly adults: implications for learning new environments.

Young and elderly women's performances on scene-recognition, distance-ranking, route-execution, and map-placement tasks were compared in familiar and novel supermarkets to seek evidence of an age-related deficit in spatial cognitive performance, a benefit of environmental familiarity, and an age-related decrement in the efficiency of spatial learning. Results suggested that younger adults acquired spatial information in a novel environment more quickly than did elderly adults, but findings indicated neither an age-related deficit in spatial cognitive performance nor a benefit of environmental familiarity. Scores from psychometric tests produced low correlations with cognitive task performance. Of the behaviors observed during exploration and route execution, only 1 was significantly correlated with cognitive task performance. Standing without scanning was negatively correlated with performance on 3 tasks for elderly adults only.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Amygdala kindling-induced seizures selectively impair spatial memory. 1. Behavioral characteristics and effects on hippocampal neuronal protein kinase C isoforms.

Protein kinase C (PKC) comprises a family of kinases consisting of nine subspecies that are differentially distributed in the central nervous system. This implies distinct functions. Its involvement is suggested in cellular and molecular mechanisms by which the hippocampus exerts influence on information processing. In this study, it was questioned whether abnormal activity in the neuronal substrate, particularly the hippocampal formation, induced by amygdala kindling indeed impairs spatial memory performance and correlated alpha, beta I/II, and gamma PKC subspecies expression. Rats were trained in a spatial discrimination task (SDT) and simultaneously kindled in the amygdala to induce abnormal, epileptiform activity. Control rats were only trained in the holeboard, a "free choice" maze, in which working (WM) and reference memory (RM) were simultaneously examined. Halfway through and at the end of the experiments the influence of kindling and SDT training on the immunoreactivity for PKC subspecies alpha, beta I/II, and gamma was evaluated in the hippocampal formation. Kindling resulted in a gradual increase in afterdischarge duration and motor seizure (MS) severity. Repeated SDT training ultimately resulted in an asymptotic level of WM and RM performance. As soon as generalized MSs developed, kindled rats failed to improve RM, whereas WM was not influenced. Compared to untrained rats, in trained controls PKC gamma but not PKC alpha beta I/II immunoreactivity was elevated in CA1 pyramidal and dentate gyrus granular cells. Generalized but not partial MSs abolished these alterations in PKC gamma immunoreactivity. The present data indicate that repeated training in a SDT affects the expression of PKC subspecies gamma but not of alpha or beta in the rat hippocampus. Generalized epileptiform activity impair both acquisition of new spatial RM information and PKC gamma expression. It is argued that PKC gamma plays a role in cellular mechanisms through which pathological brain activity impairs certain aspects of spatial memory.

Amygdala↗
PubMed1992

[A quantitative analysis of primate motor activity in a situation of delayed spatial choice. The individual behavioral reactions].

Speed of movements in food getting responses of baboons, total time of the response, trajectories of the movements and other parameters revealed obvious changes during formation of conditioned activity. The data obtained suggest that many quantitative characteristics of the primate motor activity are specifically related to various aspects of complex behavioral responses.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Lead-induced behavioral impairment on a spatial discrimination reversal task in monkeys exposed during different periods of development.

A total of 52 monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were dosed orally with vehicle or 1.5 mg/kg/day of lead on one of four dosing regimens (13 monkeys/group): Group 1, vehicle only; Group 2, dosed with lead from birth onward; Group 3, dosed with lead from birth to 400 days of age and vehicle thereafter; Group 4, dosed with vehicle from birth to 300 days of age and lead thereafter. Blood lead concentrations averaged 3-6 micrograms/dl when monkeys were not being dosed with lead, 32-36 micrograms/dl when being dosed with lead and having access to infant formula, and 19-26 micrograms/dl when being dosed with lead after weaning from infant formula. When monkeys were 7-8 years old, they were tested on three spatial discrimination reversal tasks: no irrelevant cues, irrelevant form cues, and irrelevant form and color cues. Fifteen reversals were run for each task. Only Group 2 was impaired in the absence of irrelevant cues, while all three treated groups were impaired in the presence of irrelevant cues. These results are in contrast to results from a series of nonspatial discrimination reversal tasks in these monkeys in which Groups 2 and 4 were impaired and Group 3 was unimpaired. The present results are in agreement with results from another spatial task, delayed alternation, in which all three treated groups were impaired.

Aging↗
PubMed1988

Spatial gradients of visual attention: behavioral and electrophysiological evidence.

The spatial distribution of visual attention was investigated by measuring target detectability (d') and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to stimuli at varying distances from an attended locus. Vertical bars were flashed rapidly in random order to 1 of 3 locations: one in each of the lateral visual fields and one on the vertical meridian above the fixation point. Subjects maintained eye fixation while directing their attention to 1 of the 3 locations for the duration of each 1.75 min run. Their primary task was to detect infrequent, shorter target bars at the attended location. A secondary task was to respond to shorter target bars at either of the 2 unattended locations if they 'happened to notice them' (without trying to detect them). ERPs and d' scores were obtained to the lateral field stimuli both when they were specifically attended (primary task), as well as when attention was focused upon midline or opposite-field flashes (secondary task). Both d' scores and the amplitudes of the P135 and N190 waves decreased progressively as attention was directed to locations increasingly distant from a given lateral stimulus. These results support 'gradient' models of the spatial distribution of visual attention.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Disturbances in exploratory behavior and functional recovery in the Y and radial mazes following dopamine depletion of the lateral septum.

The effects of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) injected into the lateral septum in rats were investigated for spontaneous alternation behavior in a Y maze and for spatially oriented behavior in an 8-arm radial maze. The performance of the animals in these tests was assessed under two physiological states, food-satiated and food-deprived. The selective depletion of septal dopaminergic concentrations leads to behavioral disturbances in both the Y and the radial mazes. These deficits disappeared when the animals with 6-OHDA lesions were food-deprived. These results confirm other studies from our laboratory and support two conclusions. First, lesions of dopaminergic neurons lead to behavioral impairments which resemble those found after the total lesion of the structure they innervate. Second, these behavioral impairments are responsive to therapeutic treatments, manipulations of the internal or external environment, or the level of arousal, since under certain conditions a recovery of function can occur in the absence of dopaminergic neurons. These two points provide additional support for a nonspecific role for the dopaminergic neurons originating in the ventral tegmental area. These neurons could have a permissive role in the functioning of the forebrain structures they innervate.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Long term changes in nest condition and pup grouping following handling of rat litters.

Observation of rat litters over the entire preweaning period revealed long term changes to result from handling pups. Handled litters had fewer good nests and were less likely to be found in a single group than control litters. These differences are not attributable to the disturbances per se, as litters where the mother was removed did not differ significantly from undisturbed controls. The differences occurred predominantly in the daytime when maternal activity was at its lowest.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

The association of population density, reduced space, and uncomfortable temperatures with misconduct in a prison community.

This study investigated the relation of population size, amount of personal space, and population density to the incidence of disruptive behavior over a 3-year period in a correctional institution for male youthful offenders. Population size was significantly correlated with the number but not the rate of disciplinary violations. The total amount of personal space and the index of population density were significantly correlated with both the number and the rate of violations. A post hoc analysis showed that the incidence of uncomfortably hot days had no relation to disruptive behavior. These results are contrasted with laboratory data on human crowding reporting no relation between population density and behavior pathology. It is suggested that the chronic high density explored in the present field study differs from temporarily crowded conditions produced in laboratory research on human crowding.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Behavioral changes induced by the thyrotropin-releasing hormone analogue, RGH 2202.

The behavioral activity of the thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) analogue, L-6-ketopiperidine-2- carbonyl-leucyl-L-prolinamide (RGH 2202), has been studied in the rat. The number of errors in a radial maze test was reduced after acute intraperitoneal (IP) injection of RGH 2202 at the dose of 5 or 10 mg/kg. Grooming activity was increased with a lower dose, 1 mg/kg. Hypoxia-induced amnesia, as assessed with active and passive avoidance behavior tests, was reversed in rats treated with 5 or 10 mg/kg of the drug. The loss of learning and memory capacity shown by aged rats in the same behavioral tests was also reduced after injection of RGH 2202. In a test for sexual activity of male rats, the higher dose of the drug induced a facilitation of mounting and ejaculations, while smaller doses were ineffective. The rotorod test revealed a decreased number of falls in animals treated with 5 or 10 mg/kg of RGH 2202. In all behavioral tests, the same doses of natural thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) were less effective, indicating that this analogue may be qualified as a potentially active drug in human pathologies.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Electric activity in the neocortex of freely moving young and aged rats.

Electroencephalographic activity of the neocortex was evaluated in young (5-7 months) and aged (26-28 months) rats. All animals in the aged group showed behavioral impairment in a spatial task (water maze). A neocortical electroencephalogram was derived simultaneously from 16 different neocortical locations and was subjected to spectral analysis. The frequency of occurrence and duration of high-voltage spindles was determined in two sessions, each involving a total of 30 min alert immobility. Changes in spectral characteristics and high-voltage spindles in response to scopolamine administration were also evaluated. The power of high-frequency activity (8-20 Hz) was significantly reduced in the aged subjects. This was greatest in the temporo-occipital regions, while no significant changes were seen in the mediofrontal region. Scopolamine resulted in a large power increase in all frequency bands, but the increase in the higher-frequency range (8-20 Hz) was significantly less in the aged group. The incidence of high-voltage spindles was 6 times higher and their total duration was 9 times longer in aged rats, with virtually no overlap with the young group. In young rats, scopolamine increased the incidence and total duration of high-voltage spindles, while it decreased both parameters in the aged subjects. Cholinergic neurons in the nucleus basalis appeared shrunken in the aged animals. These findings demonstrate that reliable electroencephalographic changes are present in the neocortex of the aged rat, and that some of the physiological alterations may be due to the pathological changes in the cholinergic nucleus basalis.

Aging↗
PubMed1976

Hormonal control of female sexual attractiveness proceptivity, and receptivity in rhesus monkeys.

The sexual behavior of 18 female and 11 male rhesus monkeys was observed in pair tests, in two experiments. In one experiment the females controlled the occurrence of pair tests. The females were ovariectomized and treated with estradiol, two dosages of testosterone, estradiol plus testosterone, estradiol plus dexamethasone, or no hormone; and the effects of the treatment on female attractiveness, proceptivity, and receptivity were examined. Sexual attractiveness of females to males (the effectiveness of the female as a sexual stimulus) was affected by estrogen and androgen. Estrogen enhanced attractiveness, but the effect of androgen depended on the dose. Female sexual proceptivity (the extent to which the female seeks out the male and elicits sexual behavior) was heightened by estrogen and androgen. Female sexual receptivity (willingness to receive a male in copulation was somewhat stimulated by estradiol, but not by testosterone. Both estradiol and testosterone had a greater effect on attractiveness and proceptivity than on receptivity. The hypothesis that testosterone is the "libidinal hormone" in female primates was not supported.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Intrahippocampal grafts of fetal basal forebrain tissue alter place fields in the hippocampus of rats with fimbria-fornix lesions.

Intrahippocampal grafts of fetal basal forebrain tissue have been shown to restore several aspects of neural function, including some degree of behavioral recovery in spatial memory tasks, in rats with fimbria-fornix lesions. Place fields, the behavioral correlates of complex-spike unit activity recorded in the hippocampus of rats, are altered by fimbria-fornix lesions, and provide an important measure of the functioning circuitry of the hippocampus after grafts. To investigate the effects of grafts on hippocampal circuitry, complex-spike units were recorded while the rats traversed a radial maze. Quantitative analyses of spatial activity showed that units in normal rats had spatially clustered, reliable place fields that were stable despite alterations of the maze. In contrast, units in rats with fimbria-fornix lesions had more dispersed, less reliable place fields that were disrupted when the maze was covered or rotated. Compared to rats with fimbria-fornix lesions, rats with grafts and units with more tightly clustered, more reliable, and more stable place fields when the maze was altered. The results suggest that: (1) fimbria-fornix lesions disrupt some aspects of complex-spike place field activity; (2) the functioning of hippocampal circuitry is influenced by fetal basal forebrain grafts; and (3) the grafts may ameliorate the effects of lesions on spatial behaviors by influencing critical aspects of place field activity in the hippocampus.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1990

Behavioral determination of the spatial selectivity of contrast adaptation in cats: some evidence for a common plan in the mammalian visual system.

An aftereffects paradigm was used to behaviorally measure contrast sensitivity of cats to gratings of three different test spatial frequencies after adaptation to gratings of various spatial frequencies, contrasts, and durations. Post-adaptation reductions in sensitivity occurred even after short periods of adaptation (less than 7 s) and could be as large as 1.0 log unit under some conditions. The magnitude of the adaptation effect varied monotonically with (1) adaptation grating contrast, (2) duration, and (3) the contrast sensitivity for the test grating. Average half-width (at half-height) of the spatial-frequency tuning curves constructed from the data was 1.4 octaves, and was not dependent upon the level of adaptation or the spatial frequency of the test grating. Post-adaptation psychometric functions of the cats showed reduced slopes and maxima suggesting that, unlike humans, in cats apparent contrast grows more slowly with increases in physical contrast after contrast adaptation. All of the characteristics observed are in excellent agreement with electrophysiologically measured properties of neurons in striate cortex of cats. In addition, there was a remarkable similarity of the cat tuning functions, both in shape and bandpass, to those measured in man with a similar paradigm suggesting that (1) the two visual systems are sufficiently similar to make the cat a useful spatial vision model and (2) there is a common functional plan to all mammalian visual systems despite significant anatomical differences between species.

Adaptation, Ocular↗
PubMed1975

Origins of anthropoid intelligence.

The development of the extrastriate visual system relative to the striate system was estimated indirectly by measuring the volumes of the lateral posteriorpulvinar complex and lateral geniculate nucleus in six varieties of mammals selected on the basis of their propinquity with Anthropoidea [oppossums, hedgehogs, rats, squirrels, tree shrews and bushbabies]. The same animals were tested on two related behavioral tasks [spatial and visual reversal learning] whose successful achievement requires a simple sort of abstraction. The results show that the ability to learn visual reversal, but not spatial reversal, corresponds closely to the relative degree of development of the extrastriate system. Since the variation in both these behavioral and morphological characteristics also parallels the phylogenetic dimension, the recency of common ancestry to anthropoids, the evolutionary origin of the anthropoid capacity for visual abstraction is suggested.

Animals↗