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PubMed1993

[Relations with nursing home residents with dementia: an exploratory study of behavior and behavioral determinants of caregiving personnel].

The number of demented old people in residential homes is increasing. The majority of the staff of these homes is not or insufficiently trained in dealing with demented people which may cause problems in daily practice. Staff behaviour and determinants of that behaviour associated with the management of demented old people, were examined with a questionnaire. The research took place in Maastricht and its surrounding area in July 1990 in eight residential homes with a total number of 136 responding attendants. The results give insight into changes that are necessary in order to align the staff's behaviour with recommendations for dealing with demented people. The behaviour of the respondents fits rather well with recommendations to activate demented people, to communicate with them and not to change anything around them. Respondents' behaviour that is not in agreement with the recommendations is correcting and testing of the demented elderly. Moreover, there is more correcting and testing when knowledge about the effects is less and when there is less support from colleagues on the inappropriateness of correcting or testing. Training the attending staff in dealing with dementia has a positive influence on knowledge about dementia and increases the provision of recommended care. A specific training in dealing with demented old people is recommended during and after the professional training of the staff.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

The circadian Clock mutation increases exploratory activity and escape-seeking behavior.

Disturbances of circadian rhythms are associated with many types of mood disorders; however, it is unknown whether a dysfunctional circadian pacemaker can be the primary cause of altered emotional behavior. To test this hypothesis, male and female mice carrying a mutation of the circadian gene, Clock, were compared to wild-type mice in an array of behavioral tests used to measure exploratory activity, anxiety, and behavioral despair. Female Clock mutant mice exhibited significantly greater activity and rearing in an open field and a greater number of total arm entries in the elevated plus maze. In addition, female Clock mutant mice spent significantly more time swimming in the forced swim test than wild-type mice on both days of a 2-day test. Male Clock mutant mice also exhibited increased exploration of the open field and increased swimming in the forced swim test; however, behavioral changes were less robust in Clock mutant males compared to Clock mutant females. These changes in behavior were not dependent on the expression of a lengthened free-running period but were more or less striking depending on the testing conditions. These data indicate that the Clock mutation leads to increased exploratory behavior and increased escape-seeking behavior, and, conversely, does not result in increased anxiety or depressive-like behavior. These results suggest that the Clock gene is involved in regulating behavioral arousal, and that Clock may interact with sex hormones to produce these behavioral changes.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

NF-kappaB p50-deficient mice show reduced anxiety-like behaviors in tests of exploratory drive and anxiety.

The ubiquitous transcription factor nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB plays a prominent role in regulation of inflammatory immune responses and in cell survival. Recently, it has been found to be active in neurons, and mice lacking NF-kappaB subunits p50 or p65 show deficits in specific cognitive tasks. Here we demonstrate a strikingly low level of anxiety-like behavior in the p50(-/-) mouse. In an open field, the mutant mice showed significantly less defecation, more rearing, and more time spent in the center compartment relative to wild type control mice. The p50(-/-) mice also spent more time investigating a novel object placed in the open field. On the elevated plus maze, p50(-/-) mice spent more time on the open arms and had increased numbers of open arm entries relative to wild type. In group housing conditions, they did not establish dominant-subordinate hierarchies, whereas wild type control animals did so, in part, by whisker barbering and conspecific allogrooming. In tests of general health, sensorimotor function, and daily activity on a circadian rhythm, p50(-/-) mice were normal. Thus, absence of the p50 subunit of the NF-kappaB transcription factor, which results in altered NF-kappaB transcriptional activity in cells throughout the body and brain, alters neuronal circuitry underlying manifestation of emotional behavior. The p50 subunit appears to play a role in normal expression of certain forms of anxiety.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Alarm pheromone increases defensive and risk assessment behaviors in male rats.

Previously, we reported that alarm pheromone released from the perianal region of male rats aggravated stress-induced hyperthermia and increased Fos expression in the vomeronasal pathway and stress-related nuclei in pheromone-recipient rats. However, the alarm property of this pheromone in terms of behavior modification is still unclear. We recently found that this alarm pheromone could be trapped in water. Based on this finding, we developed an experimental paradigm to assess the effect of alarm pheromone on recipient behavior. Male Wistar rats were acclimatized for 5 min to an open field, where two pieces of filter paper soaked with 750 microl of either pheromone-containing water or vehicle water were attached to the wall. Then, a small "hiding box" was placed in one corner of the field and the behavioral responses of the subject rat were recorded for 10 subsequent minutes. Exposure to alarm pheromone significantly increased defensive and risk assessment behaviors and decreased exploratory and grooming behaviors compared to the vehicle control group, indicating the alarm property of the pheromone. In addition, the comparison with previous results suggests that the alarm pheromone released from the perianal region of the male rat increases anxiety in recipients, rather than evoking a stereotyped autonomic response.

Aggression↗
PubMed2001

Prior exposure to methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) induces serotonergic loss and changes in spontaneous exploratory and amphetamine-induced behaviors in rats.

The substituted amphetamine 3,4 methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) is a popular recreational drug of abuse. Administration of MDA to experimental animals has been shown to induce damage to serotonergic axons and nerve terminals. However, there is a lack of information on whether these treatments can produce any long-term changes in behavioural performance particularly under stressful conditions. In the present study, MDA (7.5 mg/kg; i.p.) was administered twice daily to adult male Sprague Dawley rats for four days. Four weeks following the last dose, spontaneous behaviors of these animals were tracked and scored in a novel "open field" environment using an automated video registration and computer interpretation system. Changes in behavior were observed in MDA treated animals including reductions in exploratory oriented behaviors (locomotion and rearing) and increases in grooming behavior when compared to vehicle treated controls. MDA-treated animals also displayed an enhanced locomotor and stereotyped response to d-amphetamine (12 mg/kg; i.p.). Significant reductions in 5-HT concentrations (20-30%) were observed in the frontal cortex, amygdala, striatum, and hypothalamus as a result of MDA treatment. In addition, [3H] paroxetine binding was reduced by (40%) in the cortex of MDA treated rats indicating that the decrease in 5-HT concentrations were accompanied by a reduction in intact presynaptic 5-HT nerve terminals. Changes in behavioural performance in a novel "open field" environment and following d-amphetamine challenge might be considered as a behavioural model of serotonergic deficit induced by MDA. The findings of this study also suggest that MDA use may increase both the abuse potential, and the propensity to develop psychosis as a result of abusing other psychostimulants such as d-amphetamine.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Family-interactional therapy in the management of cardiac-related high-risk behaviors.

This exploratory study examined the role of family interaction in structuring and maintaining high-risk behaviors in difficult-to-manage patients with heart disease and the use of time-limited, social systems-oriented therapy to modify such behaviors. The study was based on the assumption that "difficult to manage" patients with heart disease, ie, those who failed to modify their high-risk behavior patterns following a cardiac event--and their families, in their attempts to deal with the threat of heart attack, would interact with one another in a manner which would maintain, however unintentionally, the patient's high-risk behavior pattern. Nine such "difficult heart families" were referred to the project. In each case the patient's wife was seen individually for a maximum of five clinical interviews for the purpose of modifying her method of dealing with, and presumably maintaining, her husband's high-risk behaviors. Contact with the patient with heart disease was minimal and used for information-gathering only. In each case, when the wife made the prescribed changes in dealing with her husband, a desirable change in one or more of his high-risk behaviors followed.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Twenty-four hour activity budgets and patterns of behavior in captive ocelots (Leopardus pardalis).

Activity budgets of captive ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) were assessed from over 547h of observational data obtained from six ocelots; two females at the Dallas Zoo (Dallas, TX), two females at the Caldwell Zoo (Tyler, TX) and a male and female at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (Glen Rose, TX). Data were examined for the percentage of active behaviors exhibited during the day and nighttime hours; temporal patterns of active, pace, exploratory and marking behavior, and for significance in pacing behavior between pre- and post-feeding times. The captive cats had a bimodal pattern of active behavior similar to field studies of wild ocelots, except that the timing of the active peaks were closer to the diurnal hours for the captive cats. The captive ocelots were less active than wild ocelots, and more diurnal. Also, the captive cats exhibited stereotypic pacing. When the percentage of time of active behavior was assessed for each cat, a strong variation between individuals and institution was not seen. Pacing behavior was highest prior to the feeding times for the cats. In assessing patterns of behavior, peaks in marking and exploratory behavior in the cats did not occur at the same time as the peaks in active behavior. However, we did see institutional differences in the pattern of exploratory and marking behavior, which may have been influenced by differing management practices.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Cognitive modulation of the endocrine stress response to a pharmacological challenge in normal and panic disorder subjects.

CONTEXT: The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis may mediate the deleterious effects of stress on health. It is sensitive to cognitive and emotional aspects of organism-environment interactions, such as familiarity, control, and social support. Scientific study of how such factors moderate human HPA axis activity has been limited. Their relevance to HPA axis disturbances in psychiatric patients is largely unexplored. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether cognitive manipulation can alter HPA axis activity in laboratory studies and whether patients with panic disorder are differentially sensitive to the manipulated factors. DESIGN: Pharmacological activation paradigm (cholecystokinin-B agonist pentagastrin) by which we examined symptom and endocrine effects on subjects randomly assigned to a standard introduction or a cognitive intervention. SETTING: Clinical research center. PARTICIPANTS: Recruited from university clinic and newspaper advertisements. Fourteen patients with panic disorder and 14 controls, individually matched for age and sex. Intervention Half of each group received a 9-minute cognitive intervention designed to reduce novelty, increase cognitive coping, and provide a sense of control. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Corticotropin (ACTH) and cortisol levels. RESULTS: The cognitive intervention significantly reduced cortisol (P = .02) and ACTH (P = .01) levels, despite pentagastrin's robust stimulation of both hormones (P<.001). The intervention effect was evident in patients and controls, who did not differ in basal HPA axis activity or response to pentagastrin. They did differ in panic symptom responses, which were unaffected by the intervention, and in ACTH effects of the intervention. Patients' exaggerated anxiety responses to pentagastrin were normalized by the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive/emotional manipulation can substantially modulate HPA axis responses to pharmacological activation in humans, and HPA disturbances in panic disorder may be secondary to manipulable cognitive/emotional sensitivities. Further study of such factors as novelty, control, and coping may help clarify the origins of HPA axis disturbance in psychiatric disorders and the mediators linking psychosocial stress to disease.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

Neonatal aspiration lesions of the hippocampal formation impair visual recognition memory when assessed by paired-comparison task but not by delayed nonmatching-to-sample task.

Previous experiments showed that neonatal aspiration lesions of the hippocampal formation in monkeys yield no visual recognition loss at delays up to 10 min, when recognition memory was assessed by a trial-unique delayed nonmatching-to-sample (DNMS) task. The present study examined whether neonatal hippocampal lesions also have no effect on visual recognition when assessed by a visual paired-comparison (VPC) task. In the VPC task, animals are looking at visual stimuli and their preference for viewing new stimuli is measured. Normal adult monkeys showed strong preference for looking at the novel stimuli at all delays tested. By contrast, adult monkeys with neonatal hippocampal lesions, which included the dentate gyrus, cornus ammon (CA) fields, subicular complex, and portions of parahippocampal areas TH/TF, showed preference for novelty at short delays of 10 s but not at longer delays of 30 s to 24 h. This visual recognition loss contrasts with the normal performance of the same operated animals when tested in the DNMS task. The discrepancy between the results obtained in the two recognition tasks suggests that, to perform normally on the DNMS task, the operated monkeys may have used behavioral strategies that do not depend on the integrity of the hippocampal formation. In this respect, VPC appears to be a more sensitive task than DNMS to detect damage to the hippocampal region in primates.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) fail to show mirror-guided self-exploration.

To investigate the problem of inter- and intraspecific differences on the mirror test, we conducted two experiments on cotton-top tamarins. Experiment 1 employed a technique similar to one used recently on chimpanzees, and provided no evidence of mirror-mediated touching of the marked area. In a control condition, involving colored dye applied to one arm, two subjects also failed to show self-directed touching, even though they clearly looked at their newly dyed arm. Under these test conditions, cotton-top tamarins fail to show mirror-guided self-exploration. Experiment 2 examined whether this failure was due to insufficient mirror exposure, as well as other details of the testing conditions. In particular, we replicated the design of a previously successful experiment on mirror-mediated recognition in tamarins [Hauser et al., 1995], providing four new animals with a protracted period (three weeks) of mirror exposure prior to dying their hair. In parallel with results from Experiment 1, we observed no evidence of mirror-mediated behavior (recognition) in Experiment 2.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Reliability of a method to measure novelty-seeking in nonhuman primates.

The objective of this study was to create a reliable method to measure novelty-seeking (NS) temperament in stumptailed macaques. We correlated two behavioral indexes (risk-taking and curiosity) with the NS index. Cochran's concordance index yielded ethogram reliability (risk: alpha = 0.88; curiosity: alpha = 0.79). Risk and curiosity indexes were obtained with a synthetic index obtainment approach. Intraclass correlation of the instrument yielded a value of 0.88. Temperament index was established from the average score given by each judge. The instrument presented 92% specificity and 70% sensitivity, with a 56-point score taken as the cuttoff point to classify individuals. The results of a Spearman's analysis of the three indexes were significant (temperament-risk, n = 32, P<0.01; temperament-curiosity, n = 29, P<0.05; risk curiosity, n = 29, P<0.05). We conclude that the method we developed is reliable.

Animals↗