[The activity of rat frontal cortex neurons as reflection of brain prognostic activity].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
SEARCH · PubMed Health
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.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
There are approximately 75 species of American opossums (didelphids). Systematic behavioral research has been reported for only a small number of species, namely, Monodelphis domestica and Didelphis virginiana. Observational studies and field reports on several other didelphid species have also been published. The current review covers behavioral studies on didelphids including research on territoriality, reproductive behaviors, parturition, maternal behaviors, nest-building, vocalizations, scent-marking, circadian rhythms, swimming, locomotion, discrimination learning, maze learning, operant learning, problem box learning, exploration, death-feigning, predatory behavior, and prey manipulation. Didelphid behavior is compared in several contexts with eutherian mammals. Other than death-feigning, which has only been reported for one or two didelphid species, the behaviors observed in didelphids are qualitatively similar to those of eutherian mammals. Nevertheless, differences can be seen in prey manipulation and spatial maze behavior. Social interactions appear to be sparser in opossums than in most eutherian mammals. However, the scarcity of systematic research on didelphid behavior still prevents firm conclusions regarding these ancient and interesting mammals. Futher research on didelphids is warranted, particularly since they provide a natural comparison group for small generalist eutherians.
Cardiac motion analysis enables to identify pathologies related to myocardial anomalies or coronary arteries circulation deficiencies. Conventionally, bi-dimensional (2D) left ventricle contour images have been extensively used, to perform quantitative measurements and qualitative evaluations of the cardiac function. Nevertheless, there are other cardiac anatomical structures, the coronary arteries, imaged on routine procedures, upon which complementary motion interpretation can be conducted. This paper presents an experimental methodology to perform dynamic cardiac scenes interpretation, studying three-dimensional (3D) coronary arteries spatial-temporal behavior. Being an alternative way to approach computer assisted cardiac motion interpretation, it reveals a wide range of rarely explored spatial-temporal situations and proposes how to address them. Considering the challenges to achieve dynamic scene interpretation, it is explained how spatial and temporal knowledge, are connected to specialist knowledge and measured parameters, to obtain a dynamic scene interpretation. Global and local motion features are modeled according to cardiac motion and geometrical knowledge, before its transformation into symbols. Anatomical knowledge and spatial-temporal knowledge are applied, along with spatial-temporal reasoning schemes, to access symbols meaning. Experimental results obtained using real data are presented. Complexity of interpretation envisioning is discussed, taking the given results as an example.
A variety of psychoactive substances (amphetamine, nicotine, scopolamine, apomorphine, lisuride, and MDMA) were tested to examine whether a proposed scaling hypothesis is appropriate for the description of the amount and the structure of rat locomotor paths recorded in the Behavioral Pattern Monitor (BPM). The analytical approach was based on the assumption that the scaling behavior of a few collective variables may characterize sufficiently changes in the animal's behavior induced by different drugs. The temporal scaling exponent alpha, describing the ratio of fast to slow responses in the BPM, sensitively reflected the different stimulant properties of the substances. The spatial scaling exponent d, which relates the average path length to the resolution used to measure consecutive responses, was found to discriminate substances that had been separated previously via qualitative descriptions. Several behavioral response categories emerged from comparisons of the locations of different drugs on a two-dimensional d-a plane. Scopolamine, MDMA, lisuride, and high doses of apomorphine increased a while decreasing d, whereas amphetamine, nicotine, and caffeine produced an increased a with no change or an increase in d. Stereotypies could be identified on the opposite ends of the spatial scaling exponent scale and were interpreted as reflecting two kinds of perseveration. These results suggest that scaling approaches can be used to assess quantitatively the state of the animal based on its locomotor behavior and that the exponents can serve as collective variables providing a macroscopic description based on the microscopic elements of behavior.
The responses of 16 young (10-12 month and 19-20 month) hand-reared rhesus monkeys to rhesus vocalizations heard for the first time were recorded. The vocal stimuli were: (1) a "clear call" of a noncolony adult; (2) a "bark" of a noncolony adult; (3) a "bark" of a noncolony juvenile; and (4) a "bark" of a colony juvenile. Behavior was video-tape recorded for 5-min periods preceding and following the calls and scored according to standard categories. The characteristic response to the stimuli was a sharp reduction in overt behavior. Reaction to the adult sounds was greater than to the juvenile sounds.
RATIONALE: Repeated treatment with the cholinergic agonist nicotine can sensitise rats to its psychomotor stimulant effects, which is largely due to changes within the mesolimbic and mesostriatal dopamine system. Since this brain system also plays a critical role in motivational processes, changes of motivational functions may also be expected with repeated nicotine experiences. OBJECTIVE: Our previous work has shown that normal male Wistar rats can differ systematically with respect to rearing activity in a novel open field: animals with high rearing activity (HRA) differed from those with low rearing activity (LRA) with respect to dopaminergic and cholinergic brain activity. In this study, we asked whether HRA and LRA rats might respond differentially to repeated nicotine treatment, which we tested in terms of behavioural sensitisation and place preference. METHODS: Nicotine hydrogen tartrate (0.4 mg/kg) or saline was administered on eight alternate days (drug treatment). After each injection, the rats had access to one specific quadrant of a circular unbiased place preference apparatus. Sensitisation to nicotine was assessed by measuring locomotion and rearing during drug treatment. On the days after each drug treatment, rats had free access to the entire apparatus without prior drug treatment. Here, we tested for preference for the previously drug-paired quadrant. One week after this procedure, all animals were tested again for sensitisation and place preference after injection of saline or nicotine. RESULTS: Overall, sensitisation occurred earlier during locomotor than rearing activity. Both, HRA and LRA rats treated with nicotine showed sensitisation, but with different profiles. Rearing sensitised earlier in HRA than LRA rats, and a sensitised locomotor response to nicotine was observed only in HRA rats when compared with baseline. When re-tested again 1 week later, expression of sensitisation to nicotine was detected in rearing and locomotor activity in both HRA and in LRA rats. In the place preference tests, nicotine-treated and saline-treated rats spent more time in the treatment quadrant, but nicotine did not lead to place preference compared to saline. Furthermore, there was no substantial evidence that nicotine might lead to place preference in only HRA or LRA rats. However, we obtained other evidence that HRA versus LRA rats responded differently to the procedure of place preference testing. CONCLUSIONS: These data supplement previous findings that different levels of psychomotor activity can affect the reactivity to psychostimulant drugs and add new evidence with respect to nicotine.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Serotonin (5-HT) can either increase or decrease anxiety-like behaviour in animals, actions that depend upon neuroanatomical site of action and 5-HT receptor subtype. Although systemic studies with 5-HT(2) receptor agonists and antagonists suggest a facilitatory role for this receptor subtype in anxiety, somewhat inconsistent results have been obtained when such compounds have been directly applied to limbic targets such as the hippocampus and amygdala. The present study investigated the effects of the 5-HT(2B/2C) receptor agonist mCPP bilaterally microinjected into the dorsal hippocampus (DH: 0, 0.3, 1.0 or 3.0nmol/0.2microl), the ventral hippocampus (VH: 0, 0.3, 1.0 or 3.0nmol/0.2microl) or the amygdaloid complex (0, 0.15, 0.5, 1.0 or 3.0nmol/0.1microl) in mice exposed to the elevated plus-maze (EPM). Test sessions were videotaped and subsequently scored for conventional indices of anxiety (percentage of open arm entries and percentage of open arm time) and locomotor activity (closed arm entries). Results showed that mCPP microinfusions into the DH or VH failed to affect any behavioural measure in the EPM. However, when injected into the amygdaloid complex, the dose of 1.0nmol of this 5HT(2B/2C) receptor agonist increased behavioural indices of anxiety without significantly altering general activity levels. This anxiogenic-like effect of mCPP was selectively and completely blocked by local injection of a behaviourally-inactive dose of SDZ SER-082 (10nmol/0.1microl), a preferential 5-HT(2C) receptor antagonist. These data suggest that 5HT(2C) receptors located within the amygdaloid complex (but not the dorsal or ventral hippocampus) play a facilitatory role in plus-maze anxiety in mice.