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PubMed2003

Juvenile hormone accelerates ovarian development and does not affect age polyethism in the primitively eusocial wasp, Ropalidia marginata.

Juvenile hormone modulates post-imaginal reproductive division of labor in primitively eusocial species and promotes the production of queens (e.g., Polistes) while it modulates age polyethism and promotes the production of foragers in highly eusocial species (e.g., the honey bee). Ropalidia marginata is a primitively eusocial wasp that shows both post-imaginal regulation of reproductive division of labor as well as age polyethism. Hence, R.marginata is a particularly interesting model system to study the effect of juvenile hormone. We demonstrate here that a single, topical application of 100 micro g of juvenile hormone-III per female wasp accelerates ovarian development of wasps held in isolation. Similar application to wasps released back on to their natal nests has no effect on their rate of behavioral development as witnessed from the age of first performance of feed larva, build, bring pulp and bring food. We conclude therefore that in R.marginata, juvenile hormone has retained its function of modulating reproductive division of labor and has not acquired the function of modulating age polyethism.

Aging↗

PubMed1993

A longitudinal investigation of alcohol use and aggression in adolescence.

Data from a prospective, longitudinal study of males and females tested at age 12, 15 and 18 years are used to study the relationship between alcohol use and aggression. Prevalence rates for alcohol use are similar for males and females. However, prevalence rates for aggressive behavior and alcohol-related aggression among females are lower than those for males and too low to permit meaningful analysis. Two series of nested structural equation models examine the interrelationships between alcohol use and aggressive behavior over time for all males in the sample and for male alcohol users only. The findings indicate that early aggressive behavior leads to increases in alcohol use and alcohol-related aggression, but that levels of alcohol use are not significantly related to later aggressive behavior. Thus, the data suggest that alcohol-related aggression is engaged in by aggressive people who drink. These data lend support to other research that indicates that early aggressive and antisocial behavior is predictive of later alcohol-related problems.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Teratogenic effect of broad-band electromagnetic field on neonatal mice (Mus musculus).

Pregnant mice (Mus musculus), strain Swiss Webster, were exposed to a continuous electromagnetic field (12.8V/m) beginning in the third week of pregnancy. Histological and hematological analysis showed gender specific responses in 21 day-old mice after in-utero and post-natal continuous exposure. Automated lymphocyte percentage and total white blood cell counts were significantly elevated in exposed 21 day-old female mice compared to control mice. Lymphoma-like cells were seen in higher numbers in exposed 21 day-old male mice. Megaloblastic changes, such as hypersegmented neutrophils, were observed in exposed mice. The blood from control neonatal mice was more viscous than that of exposed mice, enough to interfere with making a blood smear. The adult female mice showed no significant differences in the above hematologic parameters between exposed and control groups. Histological study showed the following pathological changes in the adrenal cortex: degeneration/necrosis in the zona glomerulosa; hypertrophy in zona reticularis; degeneration/necrosis, intracytoplasmic inclusions and inflammation in the zona fasciculata/reticularis, more prominent in exposed female neonates; and lipidosis in the zona fasciculata. In the adrenal medulla: atrophy was more common in exposed female neonates; and intracytoplasmic inclusions and vacuolation were more common in exposed male neonates. Cystic proliferations were found in the cortical area of the thymus. In the medulla of the thymus, there was vacuolation, inflammation, or eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusions in exposed adults. Behavioral differences occurred in both neonates and adult females. Control neonates were able to manipulate through a maze more quickly than exposed neonates; and control adult females displayed more thorough grooming behavior than exposed mothers, and maintained more distance between the nest and dropping location than did the exposed group.

Adrenal Glands↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Mutual influence of marital conflict and children's behavior problems: shared and nonshared family risks.

This within-family, longitudinal study including biological and stepfamilies investigated mutual influences between marital conflict and children's behavior problems. Children (4 to 17 years; N=296) residing in 127 families drawn from a general population study were investigated at Time 1 and again 2 years later. These nested data were analyzed using multilevel modeling, controlling for previous child behavior or marital conflict. Marital conflict about children predicted change in children's behavior. Children's behavior also predicted an increase in marital conflict, particularly in stepfamilies. Differences between siblings in exposure to conflict and the extent to which siblings were a source of argument increased more in stepfamilies than in biological families. Boys were exposed to more conflict over time than were girls.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1980

Developmental, behavioral, and pharmacological characteristics of rat offspring from mothers receiving ethanol during gestation or lactation.

Ethanol solution (10 or 20% v/v) sweetened with .4% saccharin was given to female rats as the only source of fluid. In the 1st experiment the administration was throughout the gestation period. Developmental, behavioral, and pharmacological tests were performed with the offspring. Litters born from females of the experimental group showed a decrease in the mortality rate induced by pentylenetetrazol, in comparison with either pair-fed controls or an ad libitum control group. No other differences were detected. In the 2nd experiment the administration was throughout the lactation period. Pups raised by lactating mothers receiving ethanol showed a significant decrease in weight gain. Also, the maternal behavior of the ethanol-treated mothers, measured by nest-building and retrieval activities, showed a significant decrease when compared to pair-fed controls.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed2006

Chimpanzee tool technology in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo.

With the exception of humans, chimpanzees show the most diverse and complex tool-using repertoires of all extant species. Specific tool repertoires differ between wild chimpanzee populations, but no apparent genetic or environmental factors have emerged as definitive forces shaping variation between populations. However, identification of such patterns has likely been hindered by a lack of information from chimpanzee taxa residing in central Africa. We report our observations of the technological system of chimpanzees in the Goualougo Triangle, located in the Republic of Congo, which is the first study to compile a complete tool repertoire from the Lower Guinean subspecies of chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes troglodytes). Between 1999 and 2006, we documented the tool use of chimpanzees by direct observations, remote video monitoring, and collections of tool assemblages. We observed 22 different types of tool behavior, almost half of which were habitual (shown repeatedly by several individuals) or customary (shown by most members of at least one age-sex class). Several behaviors considered universals among chimpanzees were confirmed in this population, but we also report the first observations of known individuals using tools to perforate termite nests, puncture termite nests, pound for honey, and use leafy twigs for rain cover. Tool behavior in this chimpanzee population ranged from simple tasks to hierarchical sequences. We report three different tool sets and a high degree of tool-material selectivity for particular tasks, which are otherwise rare in wild chimpanzees. Chimpanzees in the Goualougo Triangle are shown to have one of the largest and most complex tool repertoires reported in wild chimpanzee populations. We highlight new insights from this chimpanzee population to our understanding of ape technological systems and evolutionary models of tool-using behavior.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Repeated confidence intervals in self-designing clinical trials and switching between noninferiority and superiority.

In self-designing clinical trials, repeated confidence intervals are derived for the parameter of interest where the results of the independent study stages are combined using the generalized inverse chi-square-method. The confidence intervals can be calculated at each interim analysis and always hold the predefined overall nominal confidence level. Moreover, the confidence intervals calculated during the course of the trial are nested in the sense that a calculated interval is completely contained in all the previously calculated intervals. During the course of the self-designing trial the sample sizes as well as the number of study stages can be determined simultaneously in a completely adaptive way. The adaptive procedure allows an early stop for significance. The clinical trial may be originally designed either to show noninferiority or superiority. However, in each interim analysis, it is possible to change the planning from showing superiority to showing noninferiority or vice versa. Since the repeated confidence intervals are nested, there is no risk to loose the noninferiority once showed when, after an interim analysis, the trial is continued in an attempt to reach superiority. A simulation study investigates the behavior of the considered confidence intervals. The performance of the derived nested repeated confidence intervals is also demonstrated in examples showing both kinds of switching during an ongoing trial.

Biometry↗

PubMed2003

Lipid-lowering drugs and the risk of depression and suicidal behavior.

BACKGROUND: A possible association between lipid-lowering drug therapy and psychological well-being remains an issue of debate. To provide more information, we performed a nested case-control study to evaluate the effect of lipid-lowering drugs on depression and suicidal behavior. METHODS: Within the United Kingdom General Practice Research Database, we identified all cases with newly treated depression needing a referral or hospitalization and all cases with first-recorded diagnosis of suicidal behavior between January 1, 1991, and December 31, 1999, from a study base that comprised all patients who were aged between 40 and 79 years and who had various exposures of interest. Each case was matched with up to 4 controls, randomly selected from the study base, on age, sex, medical practice, calendar time, and years since enrollment in the General Practice Research Database. RESULTS: A nested case-control analysis comprised 458 newly diagnosed cases of depression with 1830 controls, and 105 cases of suicidal behavior with 420 controls. The adjusted odds ratio of depression was 0.4 (95% confidence interval, 0.2-0.9) for current statin use, compared with hyperlipidemic nonuse. The adjusted odds ratios for other exposures were all around 1.0. None of the adjusted odds ratios for suicidal behavior were significantly different from unity. CONCLUSIONS: The use of statins and other lipid-lowering drugs is not associated with an increased risk of depression or suicide. On the contrary, individuals with current statin use may have a lower risk of developing depression, an effect that could be explained by improved quality of life due to decreased risk of cardiovascular events or more health consciousness in patients receiving long-term treatment.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Repeated isolation in the neonatal rat produces alterations in behavior and ventral striatal dopamine release in the juvenile after amphetamine challenge.

Rat pups were isolated from the mother and nest for 1 hr per day from Postnatal Day (PN) 2 to 9 At PN 27, rats were tested for behavioral responsiveness to 2.0 or 7.5 mg/kg amphetamine. Only isolated rats receiving the 7.5 mg/kg dose displayed increased activity scores, compared with nonisolated and nonhandled controls. Their increased activity is attributed to a slower latency to enter into stereotypy. In a second experiment, similarly treated groups were challenged by the 7.5 mg/kg dose during a session in which a microdialysis probe implanted in the ventral striatum was being perfused. The challenge drug elicited a much greater increase in dialysate dopamine in isolated vs. nonisolated groups. Results are discussed with regard to dissociation between sensitized and subsensitized responses.

Amphetamine↗

PubMed1999

Heterogeneity of risk aggregation for alcohol problems between early and middle childhood: nesting structure variations.

We examined how family and child risk factors jointly affected stability and change in externalizing behavior over time in a prospective study of eventual alcohol use disorder. Study participants were community-recruited alcoholic and control families, and their initially preschool-aged male and female children (N = 335). Family risk varied as a function of both parental alcoholism (ALC) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and was evaluated for both parents. Child risk was characterized by a set of risky temperament attributes pertaining to high activity, high reactivity, and low attention span. Externalizing behavior was used as the proxy indicator for later alcohol problems. For children in the high family risk group (involving current ALC in both parents or current ALC + ASPD comorbidity or both), child risk when children were 3-5 years old (Wave 1) directly predicted externalizing behavior when children were 6-8 years old (Wave 2), even when Wave 1 child risk was controlled for. In addition, parents' negative interaction with children at Wave 1 mediated the effect of child risky temperament on Wave 2 externalizing behavior. No such pattern was observed in the low family risk group, where only autostability effects were predictive of outcomes at Wave 2. The importance of nesting structure as an ingredient in the epigenesis of risk was discussed. Its particular relevance in understanding the process of risk transmission among offspring from antisocial alcoholic families was emphasized.

Adult↗

PubMed1980

Hormonal interaction with stimulus and situational factors in the initiation of maternal behavior in nonpregnant rats.

Previous hormonal studies have identified the hormonal and stimulus factors mediating the initiation of maternal behavior but have failed to reduce hormone-induced latencies of nonpregnant females to less than 1-2 days of continuous pup exposure. For the purpose of testing whether this delay is due to an olfactory-vomeronasal-mediated aversive reaction to pups like that found in untreated virgins, estrogen-injected hysterectomized-ovariectomized (HO-EB) nonpregnant females were subjected to olfactory-vomeronasal deafferentation. Median latencies were reduced to 0 and 1.5 hr compared with 72 hr for HO-EB nondeafferented females, which indicates that normally after HO-EB treatment, tendencies to initially avoid pup contact remain strong. Next, the hypothesis was explored that experiences during late pregnancy and/or parturition interact with hormonal priming to modify pup avoidance. Nonpregnant HO-EB females that had been exposed to pregnant-parturient females for 2 wk were tested under conditions simulating parturition. A high percentage rapidly initiated maternal behavior, but conditions during testing proved more important than prior exposure to pregnancy/parturition. The contributions of three stimulus/situation factors were analyzed: pup age--newborn versus 3-8 day; method of pup presentation--four at once versus staggered introduction; and time of day--lights versus dark phase. Hormonally treated but not sham-treated females initiated maternal behavior most rapidly when first exposed to one newborn in the nest during the light phase (76% within 1.5 hr). Prepartum caesarean-delivered females, however, responded maternally to four 3-8-day-old pups outside the nest, which indicates that additional factors operate at parturition.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

Expansion of the neuropil of the mushroom bodies in male honey bees is coincident with initiation of flight.

The mushroom bodies (MB), the insect brain structures most often associated with learning, have previously been shown to exhibit structural plasticity during the adult behavioral development of female worker and queen honey bees. We now show that comparable morphological changes occur in the brains of male honey bees (drones). The volume of the MB in the brains of drones was estimated from tissue sections using the Cavalieri method. Brains were obtained from six groups of drones that differed in age and flight experience. Circulating levels of juvenile hormone (JH) in these drones were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA). There was an expansion of the neuropil of the MB that was temporally associated with drone behavioral development, as in female queens and workers. The observed changes in drones were maintained in the presence of low levels of JH, also as in females. These results suggest that expansion of the neuropil of the MB in honey bees is associated with learning the location of the nest, because this learning is the most prominent aspect of behavioral development common to all members (workers, drones, queen) of the honey bee colony.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2001

Peripheral encoding of behaviorally relevant acoustic signals in a vocal fish: harmonic and beat stimuli.

Nesting male midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, emit simple, long-duration sounds known as hums, which are attractive to gravid females. While hums share the multi-harmonic structure typical of many vertebrate communication sounds, their lack of amplitude modulation gives individual hums unusually simple temporal envelopes. However, hums often overlap, producing beats in the summed acoustic waveform. This study presents responses of individual saccular afferent fibers to two-tone harmonic and beat stimuli presented via an underwater loudspeaker. Spike activity was quantified as vector strength of synchronization and average spike rate. Responses to harmonic stimuli depended on harmonic phase; these effects apparently resulted primarily from variation in waveform fine temporal structure rather than auditory non-linearities. At most phases, addition of the harmonic enhanced afferent synchronization compared to the fundamental alone. Two-tone beat stimuli evoked stronger synchronization to the component frequencies than to the beat modulation rate. Vector strength tended to be higher to the lower frequency component, and this pattern appeared to derive from afferent tuning. Midshipman saccular afferents encoded both the temporal envelope and waveform fine structure of these naturalistic signals, information that may be important in conspecific communication.

Acoustics↗

PubMed2003

Neurochemical correlates of male polymorphism and alternative reproductive tactics in the Azorean rock-pool blenny, Parablennius parvicornis.

In the common Azorean rock-pool blenny, Parablennius parvicornis, males exhibit alternative reproductive morphologies: (1) larger males defend nest sites, provide parental care, have anal glands (involved in pheromone release), testicular glands, and low gonad:body weight ratio (GSI) and (2) smaller, younger, males do not defend nests, have reduced glands and high GSI. These smaller non-nesting males behave as satellites (associated with nests) or sneakers (moving among nests), attempting to achieve parasitic fertilizations via sperm competition. In non-mammals, arginine vasotocin (AVT) is a key hypothalamic peptide involved in the control of reproductive behavior and physiology, and several fish species that exhibit alternative male reproductive morphs show polymorphism in AVT brain chemistry. We conducted an immunocytochemical study to generate comparative data on this intertidal blenny. Our analysis showed no difference in AVT-immunoreactive cell number or size between the male morphs, which is consistent with studies on other fish, including blennies. The number of AVT cells was positively correlated to fish body mass, while cell size showed no such relation. If corrected for body mass, the smaller non-nesting males have significantly more cells than the large nesting males. Our data suggest that the size and number of forebrain AVT cells develops initially to allow for reproduction in the young non-nesting males and this pattern does not appear to change when males take on the nesting morphotype later in life. This result appears to be consistent in many fishes with alternative male morphotypes.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Behavioral alterations in rats prenatally exposed to valproic acid: animal model of autism.

Autism is a severe behavioral disorder characterized by pervasive impairments in social interactions, deficits in verbal and nonverbal communication, and stereotyped, repetitive patterns of behaviors and interests. Recently, a new rodent model of autism was created by exposure of rat fetuses to valproic acid (VPA) on the 12.5th day of gestation (VPA rats). The model has striking anatomical, pathological, and etiological similarities to human data; however, it has not been characterized behaviorally. In order to determine if VPA rats present behavioral aberrations observed in autism, their behavior was extensively evaluated in a battery of tests. The results of the present experiments demonstrate that VPA rats exhibit: (1) lower sensitivity to pain and higher sensitivity to nonpainful stimuli, (2) diminished acoustic prepulse inhibition, (3) locomotor and repetitive/stereotypic-like hyperactivity combined with lower exploratory activity, and (4) decreased number of social behaviors and increased latency to social behaviors. In addition, VPA rats showed delayed maturation, lower body weight, delayed motor development, and attenuated integration of a coordinated series of reflexes, delayed nest-seeking response mediated by olfactory system, and normal negative geotaxis. Interestingly, all behavioral aberrations described in this paper appear before puberty, which could distinguish the VPA rat model of autism from other animal models of neurodevelopmental disorders, especially rodent models of schizophrenia. Our results bring further support to validity of the proposed VPA animal model of autism, suggesting similarities between the observed pattern of behavioral alterations in VPA rats and features of disturbed behavior in autistic patients.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed2007

Mother rabbits and their offspring: timing is everything.

Mother rabbits nurse once every 24 hr for ca. 3 min. The contribution of pup stimulation to the regulation of this process was investigated by: reducing litter size to one pup, covering all the mother's nipples, or taping the mouths of an eight-pup litter. Time inside the nest box with the young significantly increased under all these conditions. Yet, eight pups sucking on a single nipple allowed a normal time in the nest box. Bringing the litter to the mother earlier than usual promoted maternal behavior expression twice in 24 hr; the proportion of responsive females and the time at which they responded depended on the size of the litter suckled. These findings indicate that: (a) suckling determines the time inside the nest box and prevents mothers from responding to further pup stimulation for a variable time; (b) pup exposure promotes maternal behavior, even "out of phase" with circadian rhythmicity.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

The effects of an aromatization inhibitor on the reproductive behavior of male zebra finches.

Recent evidence indicates that aromatizable androgens are more effective than nonaromatizable androgens in restoring normal levels of sexual behavior in castrated male zebra finches (Poephila guttata). To determine whether the efficacy of treatment with aromatizable androgens, is in part due to their conversion to estrogens, castrated male finches were treated with androstenedione (AE), an aromatizable androgen, and their sexual and aggressive behavior was compared with that of castrates treated with AE plus 1,4,6-androstatriene-3,17-dione (ATD), an aromatization inhibitor. Males treated with AE + ATD showed less courtship activity and less copulatory behavior than AE-treated males, and were unlikely to have nests. Estradiol (E), when given concurrently with AE + ATD, reversed the inhibitory effects of ATD and restored levels of courtship and copulation to those observed in AE-treated males. Only AE- and AE + ATD + E-treated males displayed aggressive behaviors, but the frequency of such behaviors was so low that there were no significant differences across groups. These data affirm the importance of estrogen in the control of reproductive activities in male zebra finches and indicate that aromatization may be an obligatory step for maintaining normal levels of sexual and aggressive behavior.

Aggression↗

PubMed2003

Vasopressin and the transmission of paternal behavior across generations in mated, cross-fostered Peromyscus mice.

The role of arginine vasopressin (AVP) in the nongenomic transfer of paternal behavior from fathers to offspring was examined in Peromyscus. Male California mice (P. californicus) exposed to fewer retrievals by white-footed mouse (P. leucopus) foster parents displayed fewer retrievals of biological offspring. In contrast, white-footed mice were retrieved equally rarely by California mouse foster parents and by biological parents and displayed no changes in pup retrieval behavior. AVP-immunoreactive staining in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis may predict paternal behavior because it correlated positively with retrievals and with a score consisting of huddling, grooming, and time inside the nest. The authors discuss AVP as a possible mechanism by which early experience shapes adult paternal behavior.

Animals↗