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PubMed2005

GABA receptor agonists in the medial preoptic area and maternal behavior in lactating rats.

We studied the effects of injecting agonists of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) muscimol (GABA-A receptor agonist) and baclofen (GABA-B receptor agonist) in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) and neighboring brain regions, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), and lateral preoptic area (LPO) on maternal behavior. Lactating female rats were implanted with bilateral cannulae in the MPOA/BNST on day 1 postpartum. On day 5, a maternal behavior test was conducted in the home cage after females received injections of muscimol or baclofen (0, 12.5, 50 or 200 ng per side). On day 7, after MPOA/BNST injections, a second maternal behavior test was conducted with pups placed at the end of a T-runway projecting from the home cage. Finally, after injections on day 9 maternal aggression, olfaction, and locomotor behavior were tested. The GABA receptor agonists injected in the MPOA/BNST produced dose-dependent deficits in all components of maternal behavior, including maternal aggression, except licking. Muscimol produced deficits in the active component, nest building at lower doses than baclofen, both agonists produced deficits in retrieving, while baclofen produced deficits in passive components (hovering and crouching over pups) at lower doses than muscimol. Both GABA receptor agonists increased locomotor activity and reduced olfactory responsiveness but these were only correlated with deficits in retrieving and crouching in baclofen-treated females.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1997

Effects of environmental and social factors on incubation behavior, endocrinological parameters, and production traits in turkey hens (Meleagris gallopavo).

Hens raised in three different environments were assessed for changes in egg production performance, the rate of incubation behavior expression, and plasma levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and prolactin for 20 wk following the laying of the first egg. The environments were individual (IFP) or collective floor pens (CFP) and individual battery cages (Cp and Cnp). The hens from three experimental groups (IFP, CFP, and Cp) were transferred from a short (6 h) to a long (14 h) photoperiod, whereas the ones from the remnant (Cnp) were left under a short one. Increase of the photoperiod induced significant increases (P < 0.05) in levels of prolactin and LH after 1 d, and resulted in the onset of egg laying in a delay of 14 d in all groups. However, the overall egg laying performance was highest for the IFP hens. The CFP and IFP hens laid 98 and 24% of their eggs inside the nest boxes, respectively. The hens raised in battery cages did not express incubation behavior, whereas 50 and 33%, respectively, of the CFP and IFP hens did. During the 1st wk of egg laying, levels of prolactin increased for all photostimulated hens but to a greater extent for CFP hens. Higher increases in levels of prolactin were associated with the expression of incubation behavior; however, prolactin levels of nonincubating laying hens were also higher under the CFP treatment. It appears that the rate of expression of incubation behavior, as well as changes in the plasma levels of prolactin and LH throughout an egg production period, are dependent upon rearing conditions in turkey hens.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2004

Neonatal anesthesia for studies of hamster parental behavior when infanticidal aggression is a possibility.

Experiments involving investigation of the neuroendocrine basis for paternal care in rodents risk activation of aggressive behavior toward pups. To minimize pain and suffering during tests of parental responsiveness requiring retrieval of a displaced pup to its nest, a method of anesthetizing the pup was developed in Djungarian hamsters, Phodopus campbelli. A surgical plane of anesthesia, as measured by criteria, such as respiratory depression, loss of the pedal reflex, and failure to increase respiratory rate or to vocalize in response to handling, was achieved by use of intraperitoneal administration of a combination of ketamine and xylazine. Both parents (tested separately) expressed normal behavior toward anesthetized pups. In random order, a saline-injected or anesthetized pup was displaced from its nest in the home cage. There were no differences in pick-up or retrieval rates between saline and anesthetized pups for either parent. A third test using an unmanipulated pup confirmed that parental behavior was not reduced toward an anesthetized pup. However, if anesthetized pups were tested first among littermates, retrieval by males was less likely. This method will, therefore, underestimate retrieval behavior in males, but not females. Adult male hamsters that had never been parents also expressed expected behavior by attacking the pup in 45% of cases. This method provides an efficient and effective means of protecting pups while allowing adults to express a wide range of parental and infanticidal behaviors. It also has application in behavioral screening of transgenic strains toward unrelated young.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1983

Sex differences in prolactin secretion in parental male and female rats.

The present series of experiments report the behavioral and endocrine responses of male and female rats to rat young. In the first experiment, the behavioral responses of intact male and ovariectomized female rats to foster young were measured. While both of these groups exhibited most components of parental behavior after four to six days of exposure to rat young, males failed to build good nests and to crouch over the young. In addition significantly more males killed young than did ovariectomized females. In the second experiment, treatment of male and virgin female rats with a 21-day hormone regimen of estradiol and progesterone stimulated an equally rapid onset of parental behavior in both sexes. Latencies to exhibit parental responses were approx. two days for both males and females. Pup killing was virtually eliminated in males by hormone treatment. Although the behavioral responses of hormone-primed males and females were similar, their prolactin responses to the presentation of rat young differed. Pup presentation stimulated an increase in plasma prolactin content in hormone-primed parental virgin females similar, but not identical, to that found in lactating control rats, while plasma prolactin levels in hormone-primed parental males did not rise in response to the presentation of young. These data indicate that a sex difference in neuroendocrine, but not behavioral, responsiveness to young exists between parental males and females.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Distribution of substance P reveals a novel subdivision in the hippocampus of parasitic South American cowbirds.

Parasitic cowbirds monitor potential hosts' nests and return to lay when appropriate, a task that is likely to involve spatial recall. Seasonal and sexual behavioral variations in the cowbirds correlate with anatomical changes in the hippocampal formation. During the breeding season, parasites have larger hippocampal formations than nonparasites. In parasitic species in which females alone perform nest bookkeeping, females have larger hippocampal formations than males. We investigated the distribution of the neuropeptide substance P (SP) in three sympatric cowbirds: two obligate parasites (shiny cowbird and screaming cowbird) and one nonparasite (bay-winged cowbird). Distribution of SP was similar to that in other songbirds, except for a previously undescribed field of dense SP-rich terminals within the hippocampus that we call the hippocampal SP terminal field (SPh). We found robust species differences in the volume of this new area, measured relative to the remainder of the telencephalon. SPh was largest in the generalist parasite (shiny cowbird) and smallest in the nonparasitic species (bay-winged cowbird). In the specialist parasite (screaming cowbird), SPh was smaller than in the generalist parasite but larger than in the nonparasitic species. SPh overlaps with two subdivisions described in the pigeon that have been related to the mammalian dentate gyrus and subiculum. The area containing SPh receives a major input from the lateral mammillary nucleus, which is probably the avian equivalent of the mammalian supramammillary nucleus (SUM), the main source of extrinsic SP input to mammalian hippocampus. SPh may be the termination of a pathway homologous to the SP-rich projection from SUM to the hippocampus in mammals.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Rapid effects of corticosterone on cache recovery in mountain chickadees (Parus gambeli).

Environmental perturbations increase adrenal activity in several vertebrates. Increases in corticosterone may serve as a proximate trigger whereby organisms can rapidly adapt their behavior to survive environmental fluctuations. In food-caching songbirds, inclement weather may present the need to alter caching and/or retrieval behaviors to ensure food supplies. We hypothesized that corticosterone may increase the rate of caching and/or retrieval behaviors in the mountain chickadee, a food-storing songbird, and tested if these potential effects were mediated by alterations in appetite, activity, or memory for cache sites. Corticosterone or vehicle was administered to subjects 5 min prior to either caching or recovery in a naturalistic laboratory paradigm during which we recorded the number of caching events, sites visited, and seeds eaten (caching) or caches recovered, total sites visited, cache-related visits, and non-cache-related visits (recovery). Data were analyzed using nested ANOVA for treatment within sequential trial. There was no effect on any caching behaviors following treatment. However, birds treated with corticosterone during retrieval recovered more seeds and tended to visit more cache-related sites than did controls. Since groups did not differ in the number of seeds eaten or the total number of sites visited, it seems unlikely that corticosterone affected appetite or activity. Rapid surges in corticosterone may increase the efficacy of an underlying memory process for cache sites which is reflected in higher cache recovery in corticosterone-treated birds than in controls. Thus, rapid alterations in plasma corticosterone following environmental change may alter memory-reliant behaviors which promote survival in the food-caching mountain chickadee.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Modulation of prolactin but not corticosterone responses to stress in relation to parental effort in a long-lived bird.

We tested the hypothesis that parental effort modulates the magnitude of corticosterone and prolactin responses to stress in a long-lived bird, the Black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla). To do so, we compared corticosterone and prolactin responses to capture/restraint stress between chick-rearing birds and failed breeders (no parental effort). We predicted that (1) the increase in plasma corticosterone levels in response to stress should be lower in chick-rearing birds, (2) the decrease in plasma prolactin levels in response to stress should be lower in chick-rearing birds, and (3) as both sexes care for the chick, there should be no sex difference in the hormonal response to stress. Baseline plasma corticosterone and prolactin levels were higher in chick-rearing birds and were not influenced by body condition. Failed breeders were in better condition than chick-rearing individuals. Corticosterone response to stress was unaffected by parental effort as both chick-rearing and failed birds exhibited a robust corticosterone increase. Prolactin response to stress was however clearly influenced by parental effort: chick-rearing birds showed a modest 9% prolactin decrease whereas in failed birds prolactin concentrations fell by 41%. Body condition did not influence hormonal responses to stress. When facing stressful condition, breeding kittiwakes attenuate their prolactin response to stress while enhancing their secretion of corticosterone. Increasing corticosterone secretion triggers foraging efforts and diminishes nest attendance whereas an attenuation of prolactin response to stress maintains parental behavior. We suggest that this hormonal mechanism facilitates a flexible time-budget that has been interpreted as a buffer against environmental variability.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1980

Alternative male life histories in bluegill sunfish.

MALE BLUEGILL SUNFISH ARE SHOWN TO HAVE TWO ALTERNATIVE MATING STRATEGIES: cuckoldry or parental care. Cuckolder males first mature at age 2. They follow a developmental sequence of sneaking and then mimicking female behavior to deceptively gain access to spawnings. Males who become parentals (construct nests, attract females, provide brood care) delay maturation until age 7. The parental investment of these males is parasitized by the cuckolders. This system is an example of a truly parasitically dependent mating strategy in vertebrates. A natural selection model is developed to predict the equilibrium frequencies of the two male types. A preliminary test of the model provides qualitative agreement.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Genetic structure of an Apis dorsata population: the significance of migration and colony aggregation.

Eight microsatellite loci were used to investigate the genetic structure of the giant honeybee (Apis dorsata) population in northeast India. This species migrates seasonally between summer and winter nesting sites, and queens appear to return to their previously occupied site. Furthermore, there is a strong tendency for colonies of this species to aggregate at perennially utilized nesting sites that may be shared by more than 150 colonies. These behavioral features suggest that colonies within aggregations should be more related than random colonies, but that the long-distance migration could act to minimize genetic differentiation both between geographical areas and within aggregations. Our genetic study supports these conjectures arising from natural history. A. dorsata aggregations are comprised of colonies that share more alleles than expected by chance. Although queens heading neighboring colonies are not close relatives, fixation indices show significant genetic differentiation among aggregation sites. However, there appears to be sufficient gene flow among aggregations to prevent high degrees of relatedness developing between colonies within aggregations. The results also suggest that there is significant population structuring between geographical regions, although the level of structuring caused by aggregation exceeds the differentiation attributable to geographic region.

Animal Migration↗
PubMed2002

Prevalence of common infections among employees in different work schedules.

This study examined the prevalence of common infections among employees in different work schedules. Self-administered questionnaire data from the Maastricht Cohort Study on "Fatigue at Work" (n = 12,140) were used. Job title was used as a matching variable between day and shift workers to control for their different work environment. We used a multilevel analysis of a two-level structure, in which the individual employees (level 1) were nested within job titles (level 2), adjusted for demographics, longstanding disease, health behavior, work-related factors, fatigue and sleep quality. Results from the multilevel analyses showed that, compared to day work, shift work was associated with a higher risk for common infections, with the highest risk in three-shift workers. Compared to day work, shift work was further associated with differences in health, health behavior, sleep, fatigue and perceived job characteristics, factors that may influence the occurrence of infections and should be taken into account in future studies as well.

Adult↗
PubMed1971

Homing in the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex badius.

During homing, the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex badius orients both to the sun and to chemical cues. Visual patterns are generally the less important. Trails laid from the secretion of Dufour's gland comprise the main chemical homing signal. This orientation mechanism assists foraging workers to return precisely to their own nests even when the nest populations are dense.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Development of behaviour in a young aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) in captivity.

This paper provides descriptive and quantitative information on the development of a young aye-aye in captivity during its first 10 months of life. The mother's behaviour was observed to provide an adult standard against which to evaluate the young male's development. Early development of the young aye-aye (including early vocalizations, locomotion and manipulation, acquisition of independence from the mother, threat/defence and alarm) is described in qualitative terms. Quantitative data on a number of other behaviours were collected using focal-animal sampling. Overall, this study indicated that the young aye-aye is relatively poorly developed during the 2-month nest phase but shows rapid development in comparison to other primates once it has left the nest.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Role of catecholamines in the courtship behavior of male ring doves.

The role of catecholamines in the expression of male courtship behavior in ring doves was examined using central administration of pharmacological agents. Males treated with 6-hydroxydopamine or U-14,624, which depleted norepinephrine (NE) levels in the preoptic-hypothalamic area, showed increased levels of bow-coo and nest-coo displays. Conversely, males treated with tyramine or desipramine, which elevated NE levels in the preoptic-hypothalamic area, showed decreased levels of bow-coo and nest-coo displays. Drug-induced changes in dopamine levels were not consistent with any changes in behavior. This suggests that in the male ring dove NE in the preoptic-hypothalamic area is important in the expression of courtship displays.

Animals↗