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PubMed1997

The behavior of the Japanese or domestic quail Coturnix japonica.

This paper reviews the literature pertaining to the behavior of the Japanese or domestic quail Coturnix japonica. Details are given of the classification, characteristics, domestication and the economic and research potential of the species. Further sections deal with sensation and perception (including taste and smell, vision and hearing), maintenance behavior (including feeding and drinking, dust bathing and thermoregulation), development and aging (including vocalization, filial imprinting, sexual imprinting, fear and avoidance responses, sexual maturation and aging), adult learning (including habituation, instrumental conditioning, Pavlovian conditioning and observational learning), photoperiodism, reproductive behavior (including courtship and mating, hormonal control and ontogeny of sexual differentiation, and male and female sexual behavior), parental behavior (including nest-site selection and nest building, incubation behavior and its hormonal control, and hen-chick relationships), and aggressive behavior and dominance (including agonistic behavior and the hormonal control of aggressive behavior).

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Behavioral profile of 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) in agonistic encounters between male mice.

1. The effects of acute administration of 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), a synthetic amphetamine derivative (0.5-20 mg/kg, i.p.) on agonistic behavior elicited by isolation in male mice were examined. 2. Individually housed mice were exposed to anosmic "standard opponents" 30 min after MDMA injection, and the encounters were videotaped and evaluated using an ethologically based analysis. 3. MDMA (5-20 mg/kg) exhibited a behavioral profile characterized by a reduction of aggression (threat and attack) without a concomitant increase of immobility, accompanied by a decrease of social investigation and a increment of exploration from a distance, avoidance/flee and defense/submission behaviors. 4. This ethopharmacological profile might suggest an anxiogenic-like activity of MDMA in albino male mice.

Aggression↗
PubMed2004

Galmic, a nonpeptide galanin receptor agonist, affects behaviors in seizure, pain, and forced-swim tests.

The pharmacological exploitation of the galanin receptors as drug targets for treatment of epilepsy, depression, and pain has been hampered by the lack of workable compounds for medicinal chemists from random screening of large chemical libraries. The present work uses the tripeptidomimetic galnon and displays its presumed pharmacophores on a rigid molecular scaffold. The scaffold is related to marine natural products and presents three functional groups near one another in space, in a manner reminiscent of a protein surface. An active compound, Galmic, was identified from a small synthetic library and tested in vitro and in vivo for its affinity and efficacy at galanin receptors. Galmic has micromolar affinity for GalR1 receptors (Ki = 34.2 microM) and virtually no affinity for GalR2 receptors. In vitro, Galmic, like galanin, suppresses long-term potentiation in the dentate gyrus; it blocks status epilepticus when injected intrahippocampally or administered i.p. Galmic applied i.p. shows antidepressant-like effects in the forced-swim test, and it is a potent inhibitor of flinching behavior in the inflammatory pain model induced by formalin injection. These data further implicate brain and spinal cord galanin receptors as drug targets and provide an example of a systemically active compound based on a scaffold that mimics protein surfaces.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Nutritional and behavioral effects of gorge and fast feeding in captive lions.

Nonhuman animals in captivity manifest behaviors and physiological conditions that are not common in the wild. Lions in captivity face problems of obesity, inactivity, and stereotypy. To mediate common problems of captive lions, this study implemented a gorge and fast feeding schedule that better models naturalistic patterns: African lions (Panthera leo) gradually adapted from a conventional feeding program to a random gorge and fast feeding schedule. Digestibility increased significantly and food intake and metabolizable energy intake correspondingly decreased. Lions also showed an increase in appetitive active behaviors, no increase in agonistic behavior, and paced half as frequently on fast days as on feeding days. Thus, switching captive lions to a gorge and fast feeding schedule resulted in improved nutritional status and increased activity.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Behavioral consequences of agonistic experience in rats: sex differences and the effects of testosterone.

The effects of winning or losing on subsequent aggressive behavior in male and female rats were studied. By using three strains of rats with different levels of aggression, a procedure was developed to create winners and losers. Subsequently, winners were tested against losers. Behavioral analysis of all tests enabled a thorough study of these processes and of their consequences. The results indicate that significant and relatively permanent behavioral changes are induced in intact and castrated, testosterone-treated males but not in females. The results suggest that behavioral inhibition is a specific characteristic of the male's agonistic behavioral repertoire.

Aggression↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The evolution of bourgeois, parasitic, and cooperative reproductive behaviors in fishes.

Among vertebrate classes, fishes exhibit by far the greatest variability in competitive and cooperative behaviors in male reproduction. Scramble competition between reproductive males is one possibility. Another possibility occurs when resources, mates, or locations can be monopolized, in which case males may invest in primary access to fertilizations by adopting a "bourgeois" strategy, or they may employ alternative mating tactics to evade the reproductive monopoly of other males. Adaptations in morphology, physiology, and behavior to bourgeois and alternative phenotypes are highly divergent. Here I review the functional characteristics that differ between bourgeois and parasitic phenotypes, and discuss the variability of alternative reproductive tactics at the levels of plasticity, determination, and selection. Examples will illustrate the importance of ecology, and will suggest that variation in reproductive tactics is largely adaptive. Behavioral solutions to competition for mates and fertilizations often involve agonistic behavior and conflict, but also cooperation among competitors (e.g., when subordinate males pay a price to bourgeois males for gaining access to fertilizable eggs). Application of molecular genetic tools has helped to uncover intricate sexual and social relationships in various fish species, including species that display some of the most complex reproductive and social patterns known among the vertebrates.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed1997

Executive function of the hippocampus in social behavior in the rat.

Bilateral lesion of the fimbria resulted in a reduction of social interdependency and agonistic behavior in male-male encounters in rats. These findings are hypothesized to be consistent with J. A. Gray's (1982) supervisor model, which assigns an executive function to the septohippocampal system. To achieve this interpretation, social behavior is described in terms of relational processes (social hypothesis, behavioral sequencing, and behavioral competition). This study focused mainly on the effects of the lesion on behavioral sequencing by studying the alterations of the predictability of the behavior of a rat in terms of the behavior of its partner.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed1996

[Aggressive behavior of the male volcano mouse Neotomodon alstoni (Rodentia: Cricetidae)].

A study was carried out on the agonistic behavior of the male volcano mouse, Neotomodon alstoni, with 50 pairs of males which were classified as possible dominants (D) and subordinates (S), utilizing Melzack-Thompson's Method. The aggressiveness levels exhibited by this mouse were recording in the combinations: D vs. D and S vs. S. Two groups were formed: Group I with 12 pairs of D males and 13 of S males, and Group II with 11 pairs of D males and 14 of S males. In Group I the aggressiveness level was quantified after one week of mating and after another week of isolation, and in Group II the sequence of observation was inverted. The aggressiveness level was measured by the number of attacks per hour, an attack being defined as the aggressive physical contac of an animal (aggressor) with another (attacked). The kinds of behavior registered, including offense, defense, and submission patterns, revealed hierarchic relationships. Dominance was correlated significatively (p < 0.05) with a higher level of aggressiveness.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed1993

Metabotropic excitatory amino acid receptor agonists selectively potentiate behavioral effects induced by ionotropic excitatory amino acid receptor agonists in mice.

The behavioral consequences of co-activation of metabotropic and ionotropic excitatory amino acid receptors were studied in mice using intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) co-infusion of the metabotropic receptor agonist 1S,3R-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylate (1S,3R-ACPD) with the subtype-specific ionotropic receptor agonists N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), kainate and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate (AMPA). I.c.v. co-infusion of ionotropic receptor agonists (0.3-3 nmol/min) with a fixed dose of 1S,3R-ACPD (144 nmol/min) decreased time to onset of clonic convulsions (P < 0.05). Pretreatment with i.c.v. infusion of 72 nmol of 1S,3R-ACPD reduced time to onset of convulsions induced by an intravenous (i.v.) infusion of NMDA (P < 0.05) but had no effect on convulsions induced by pentylenetetrazol. These results reveal that activation of the metabotropic excitatory amino acid receptor selectively potentiates the behavioral response following activation of the ionotropic excitatory amino acid receptors.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Relationship between social factors and pituitary-adrenocortical activity in female rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

Psychosocial stress in humans has been related to the occurrence or progression of certain diseases and a positive social environment has been shown, in some cases, to ameliorate this effect. In many experimental studies changes in serum cortisol levels have been used as an endocrine-defined stress response, however, the variation in this measure under unchanging conditions in socially housed animals is not well documented. The present study was designed to examine the relationship between specific social behaviors and concentrations of serum cortisol in female rhesus monkeys. Subjects were members of one of two social groups. One was an established long-term (8 years) group with members which had from one to many kin, while the second was a group formed 5 months prior to the onset of the present study composed of initially unfamiliar animals. Blood samples were collected weekly and a total of 16 hr of behavioral data was collected on each subject. For purposes of analyses, the year-long study was organized according to calendar quarters (3 months) with cortisol concentrations averaged and behavioral categories cumulated. When regression techniques were applied, it is of note that neither group nor dominance rank was a predictor of cortisol levels. However, when a correlation analysis was applied to each group separately to assess the effect of dominance rank, rank significantly correlated with cortisol levels in the established but not in the recently formed group. In each quarter, analyses revealed behavioral categories which combined to account for a significant proportion of the variance in cortisol levels, but these behaviors were not identical over the four quarters. For three of the four quarters analyzed, and for the year as a whole, an affiliative behavioral category was predictive of cortisol levels in addition to agonistic behavioral categories. These data suggest that cortisol levels are influenced by not only negative interactions, such as receiving bites, but also by positive interactions such as receiving grooms. Results also showed that reconciliatory behaviors occurred significantly more frequently following dyadic agonistic episodes in the recently formed versus the long-term group. The higher rate of reconciliatory behaviors exhibited by the recently formed group may account for the lack of a dominance rank/cortisol relationship.

Aggression↗
PubMed2006

Pubertal hormones, the adolescent brain, and the maturation of social behaviors: Lessons from the Syrian hamster.

Conventional wisdom holds that gonadal steroid hormones organize and sexually differentiate neural circuits perinatally, and at puberty they activate these circuits to facilitate expression of social behaviors. Using the Syrian hamster to study the role of pubertal hormones in behavioral maturation, we have found that pubertal hormones also organize the adolescent brain. Initial studies revealed that male reproductive behavior cannot be activated by gonadal steroids prepubertally, indicating that the brain acquires behavioral responsiveness during adolescence. Subsequent experiments demonstrated that the presence of gonadal hormones during adolescence masculinize and defeminize behavioral responses of males to hormones in adulthood. Preliminary data also suggest that ovarian hormones defeminize but do not masculinize behavioral responses of females to hormones in adulthood. Furthermore, pubertal hormones program the adult expression of agonistic behaviors that are both steroid-dependent and steroid-independent in adulthood. Thus, the interaction between pubertal hormones and the adolescent brain is key for the maturation of adult social behaviors, and perturbations in the timing of this interaction have long-lasting consequences on adult behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

A primate analogue of amphetamine-induced behaviors in humans.

The effects of amphetamine on individual and social behaviors were studied in two colonies of rhesus monkeys. After an initial base-line period, each animal, in turn, received low chronic drug administration for 3 weeks. Between each drug period new base-line data were collected. During amphetamine administration, there was a significant increase in the following behaviors: time spent in "sit tense" postures, frequency of orienting, and frequency of agonistic behaviors. In addition, significant changes were seen in the time spent in proximity with other members of the group. The results are discussed both in terms of across-animal changes as well as with regard to social factors, rank in the hierarchy, and affiliative relationships.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed2003

Brain mechanisms underlying emotional alterations in the peripartum period in rats.

In the period before and after parturition, i.e., in pregnancy and lactation, a variety of neuroendocrine alterations occur that are accompanied by marked behavioral changes, including emotional responsiveness to external challenging situations. On the one hand, activation of neuroendocrine systems (oxytocin, prolactin) ensures reproduction-related physiological processes, but in a synergistic manner also ensures accompanying behaviors necessary for the survival of the offspring. On the other hand, there is a dramatic reduction in the responsiveness of neuroendocrine systems to stimuli not relevant for reproduction, such as the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responses to physical or emotional stimuli in both pregnant and lactating rats. With CRH being the main regulator of the HPA axis, downregulation of the brain CRH system may result in various behavioral, in particular emotional, adaptations of the maternal organisms, including changes in anxiety-related behavior. In support of this, the lactating rat becomes less emotionally responsive to novel situations, demonstrating reduced anxiety, and shows a higher degree of aggressive behavior in the test for agonistic behavior as well as in the maternal defense test. These changes in emotionality are independent of the innate (pre-lactation) level of anxiety and are seen in both rats bred for high as well as low levels of anxiety. Both brain oxytocin and prolactin, highly activated at this time, play a significant role in these behavioral and possibly also neuroendocrine adaptations in the peripartum period.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1990

Role of noradrenaline in behavioral changes after defeat in male and female rats.

We have tested the effect of noradrenaline depletion by clonidine in agonistic behavior of intact male and gonadectomized testosterone-treated female rats. Animals were subjected to the 'resident-intruder' paradigm: in 4 consecutive daily confrontations residents defeated intruders. Clonidine-treated intruder males showed higher levels of aggression than did their saline-injected controls. In contrast, in females, in which defeat was also followed by reduction of aggression, no effect of clonidine treatment was found.

Aggression↗
PubMed1980

Hormonal and behavioral response of male chimpanzees to a long-acting analogue of gonadotropin-releasing hormone.

A long-acting preparation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) was administered to three adult male chimpanzees living in a socially integrated group. Hormonal changes and behavioral responses were monitored for 8 days. Blood serum levels of luteinizing hormone peaked at about 8 hr and returned to baseline at 48 hr. Total serum testosterone reached the highest levels of 140% above baseline at 24 hr and returned to baseline after 48 hr. Out of a wide variety of behaviors observed in detail, only one cluster of three related behaviors showed even a suggestion of response: The two measures of activity, lone travel (p < 0.05) and distance traveled (p < 0.1), decreased on the day of hormone administration followed by an increase on the 2 subsequent days, and idle time (p < 0.1) revealed the reciprocal pattern. In view of various reports of behavioral effects of GnRH in other species, it is particularly noteworthly that parameters of sexual and agonistic behavior of male chimpanzees definitely did not change.

Agonistic Behavior↗