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Biomedical subjects

G G Gallup

Publications and source records attributed to G G Gallup.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

The fireside hypothesis: was there differential selection to tolerate air pollution during human evolution?

It is believed that sometime around 1.9 million years ago early hominid ancestors began to migrate out of Africa. Migration north and away from the equator would have forced early humans to encounter seasonal fluctuations in temperature. As a means of adapting to cold climates, the use of fire undoubtedly played an important role. We hypothesize that progressive exposure to toxic airborne particles produced from combustion created selective pressure to develop an adaptation to the inhalation of smoke. In this paper we test this hypothesis using archival data on the incidence of different cancers among geographically distinct human populations. As predicted from evolutionary theory, the incidence of lung cancer is inversely proportional to the ostensible reliance on fire of geographically different groups during human evolutionary history.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed2001

Sex differences in olfactory self-recognition.

This study investigated sex differences in the ability to recognize one's own body odor accompanied by an attempt to account for variance in this ability by comparing ratings of self-body odor and other odors on a visual analog scale (VAS). Whereas over half (59.4%) of the females were able to identify their own odor, only one out of 18 (5.6%) males were able to recognize their own odor. Females rated their own secretions as significantly lower on a pleasant-positive factor than males rated their own odors (axillary secretions), but there was no difference in ratings between those who could and those who could not identify their own odor. The dimensions tapped by the VAS used in this study do not seem to account for the ability to identify one's own body odors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

The frontal lobes are necessary for 'theory of mind'.

Patients with limited focal frontal and nonfrontal lesions were tested for visual perspective taking and detecting deception. Frontal lobe lesions impaired the ability to infer mental states in others, with dissociation of performance within the frontal lobes. Lesions throughout the frontal lobe, with some suggestion of a more important role for the right frontal lobe, were associated with impaired visual perspective taking. Medial frontal lesions, particularly right ventral, impaired detection of deception. The former may require cognitive processes of the lateral and superior medial frontal regions, the latter affective connections of the ventral medial frontal with amygdala and other limbic regions.

Brain Mapping↗
PubMed1999

Left hand advantage in a self-face recognition task.

Subjects were exposed to pictures of self and others (e.g., friend, stranger, and famous people) to determine if there was an advantage in reaction time and accuracy in identifying the self. It was found that upright and inverted self-faces were identified more rapidly than non-self faces when subjects responded with their left hand, which in other tasks has corresponded with contralateral hemispheric dominance. These data suggest that self-recognition may be correlated with neural activity in the right hemisphere, and that the differences observed may not be unique to self-face recognition. These results are in agreement with previous research indicating that self-directed awareness is correlated with right prefrontal activity.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Age differences in the ability of chimpanzees to distinguish mirror-images of self from video images of others.

To evaluate Heyes's (1994) claim that chimpanzees are incapable of using mirrored information to obtain otherwise unavailable information about the self, we exposed two different age groups of chimpanzees (3-year-olds and 7- to 10-year-olds) to mirrors and video images of conspecifics. Their reactions to these stimuli were videotaped and were later scored for behavioral indices of self-recognition by a trained observer who was blind to the purpose and conditions of the study. Some types of behavior (contingent facial and body movements) were clearly influenced by the type of stimulus that the chimpanzees were viewing but not by age; however, other behaviors (self-exploration) were affected by age in conjunction with the type of stimulus the animals were viewing. The results suggest that, unlike self-exploratory behavior, contingent facial and body movements may not, by themselves, be reliable indicators of self-recognition.

Aging↗
PubMed1991

Social responding to mirrors in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta): effects of temporary mirror removal.

As a result of a long-term, longitudinal project initiated in 1978, a pair of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) housed together in front of a mirror all their lives now exhibit relatively little interest in their reflection. Previous work has shown, however, that simply moving the mirror to a new location produces a short-term reinstatement of social responding to their images. As an extension of these findings, in this study the mirror was left in the same position but turned away from the cage. On turning the mirror back to face the cage 5 days later, both animals reacted as if confronted with another pair of monkeys and directed a burst of social responses at the mirror.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Thermal correlates of tonic immobility and social isolation in chickens.

Previous research has shown that core temperature in chickens drops following the induction of tonic immobility (TI), while hyperthermic trends emerge shortly after response termination. Other research has shown that birds placed in social isolation also become hyperthermic. Since testing for TI is usually carried out while animals are isolated, there is a question as to whether the hyperthermic reaction after the termination of TI has any relation to the episode of TI itself as opposed to being due to the effects of social isolation per se. The present series of studies found that although social isolation did produce significantly longer durations of TI and that the core temperature of isolated birds was affected, when core temperatures were independently raised or lowered, no significant differences were found in TI durations relative to controls. Additionally, in contrast to core temperature changes, shank temperature showed the opposite effect, while another peripheral temperature measure, wing temperature, remained stable.

Aging↗
PubMed1986

Face touching in primates: a closer look.

Dimond and Harries (Neuropsychologia 22, 227-233, 1984) claim that monkeys, unlike great apes and humans, rarely touch their faces. These authors reported the existence of a left-hand preference for face touching in great apes and humans. Using two species of macaques, we found an incidence of face touching by monkeys which was much higher than that reported by Dimond and Harries. Moreover, a re-analysis of their data failed to show any evidence for species differences in lateralization of face touching by primates.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Apparent analgesic effects of morphine in chickens may be confounded by motor deficits.

Three experiments were conducted with chickens to examine the effects of morphine on nociception and motor coordination. In Experiment 1, using shock-elicited vocalization as an index of pain, doses of 5, 20, and 30 mg/kg of morphine failed to affect vocalization thresholds. In the second experiment, 30 mg/kg of morphine failed to affect vocalization thresholds at varying times since injection. In Experiment 3, 30 mg/kg of morphine significantly impaired movement in response to nonaversive stimulation. These results show that previous evidence for an analgesic effect of morphine in chickens may have been due to morphine effects on motor initiation and/or coordination.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Chlordiazepoxide and tonic immobility: a paradoxical enhancement.

Four experiments were conducted with chickens to examine the effects of chlordiazepoxide on tonic immobility, which has been implicated as an innate fear response. Not only did chlordiazepoxide produce a paradoxical dose-dependent increase in the duration of tonic immobility, but birds treated with chlordiazepoxide showed significantly enhanced shock-termination thresholds. Using two separate tolerance paradigms, the enhancement due to chlordiazepoxide was shown to be independent of the sedative and/or muscle relaxant effects of the drug. These findings have interesting implications for the supposed anxiolytic effects of the benzodiazepines and the relationship between fear and serotonin in avian species.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Do minds exist in species other than our own?

An answer to the question of animal awareness depends on evidence, not intuition, anecdote, or debate. This paper examines some of the problems inherent in an analysis of animal awareness, and whether animals might be aware of being aware is offered as a more meaningful distinction. A framework is presented which can be used to make a determination about the extent to which other species have experiences similar to ours based on their ability to make inferences and attributions about mental states in others. The evidence from both humans and animals is consistent with the idea that the capacity to use experience to infer the experience of others is a byproduct of self-awareness.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

p-Chloroamphetamine: effects on tonic immobility, activity, and temperature in chickens.

The effects of p-chloramphetamine (PCA) on tonic immobility (TI) duration, activity, and temperature in chickens were examined in six experiments. In Experiment 1, intraperitoneal doses of 10 or 15 mg/kg PCA produced a significant attenuation of TI duration. The involvement of norepinephrine or dopamine in this effect is questionable since catecholamine synthesis inhibition with alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine in Experiment 2 did not alter the PCA attenuation of TI duration. However, in the third and fourth experiments, serotonin synthesis inhibition with p-chlorophenylalanine produced a blockade of the PCA effect on TI when subjects were tested at 60, but not 10, min after PCA injection. A competing response interpretation of the PCA effect in terms of enhanced motor activity was ruled out in Experiment 5 since, in contrast to the hyperactivity observed in mammals, PCA produced a decrease in both open-field and stabilimeter activity. A PCA-induced decrease in core temperature was observed in Experiment 6, and this effect also contrasts with the hyperthermia reported in rats following PCA injection. These results provide additional evidence that drug treatments that produce a serotonergic behavioral syndrome in rats result in attenuated TI duration in chickens, and they further document the existence of a curious mammalian-avian reversal in drug effects.

Amphetamines↗
PubMed1980

Failure to find self-recognition in mother-infant and infant-infant rhesus monkey pairs.

To date, chimpanzees, orangutans, and humans are the only species which have been shown capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors. In an attempt to make the identity of the reflection more explicit we report two experiments in which rhesus monkeys were given paired access to a common mirror over an extended period. While developmental differences in mirror behavior were obtained, signs of self-recognition failed to emerge. The results were discussed in terms of the absence in monkeys of an essential cognitive category for processing mirrored information about the self.

Animals↗