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PubMedDate not supplied

[Neuronal activity of the sensorimotor area of the rabbit cerebral cortex in zoosocial behavior].

The present study was aimed to investigate the neural activity during competitor relationships in the social interactions and operant feeding behaviour. In experiments on three pairs of rabbits the activity of 32 sensory-motor cortex neurones were analyzed. 21 neurones were found specialized relatively to different acts of social behaviour. They did not participate in provision for "individual" types of behaviour.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

[Neurochemical mechanisms of the involvement of sensorimotor cortex neurons in food and orienting-exploratory behavior].

Reactions of individual neurons to electrical stimulation of motivational areas of the lateral hypothalamus were studied in the somatosensory cortex of alert rabbits during micro. iontophoretic application of acetylcholine, norepinephrine or cycloheximide. The former two drugs altered equally the neuron reactions both on weak (inducing an orienting response) and strong stimulation (causing feeding behaviour). The latter drug also affected the neuron reactions. The feeding and orienting responses seem to be actualized through a specific peptide synthesis in the somatosensory cortex's neurons altering their sensitivity to neurotransmitters.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed2005

Maturation of escape circuit function during the early adulthood of cockroaches Periplaneta americana.

During postembryonic development of insects, sensorimotor pathways, which generate specific behaviors, undergo maturational changes. It is less clear whether such pathways are typically stable, or undergo further maturation, during the adult stage. In the present study, we have examined this issue by multilevel analysis of a simple model system, the escape behavior of the cockroach, from identified synapses to behavior. We show that the escape system is highly responsive immediately after the molt to adulthood, but that the latency of escape responses was not at its typical value immediately after the molt to adult. The latency of escape behavior increased over the first 30 days of adult life, perhaps indicating maturational adjustments of the escape sensorimotor pathway. The first station in the escape circuitry is the synaptic connections between the cercal wind receptors and the giant interneurons. We measured unitary excitatory synaptic potentials between single sensory neurons and an identified giant interneuron (GI(2)). We found a decrease in the synaptic strength between identified cercal hairs from a single column and GI(2) over the first month after the adult molt. Consequently, the latency and the number of action potentials of GI(2) in response to natural stimuli increased and decreased respectively during this time. Thus, we show that both behavioral performance and the wind sensitivity of GI(2) decreased over the first month after molt. We conclude that the cockroach escape system undergoes further sensorimotor maturation over a period of 1 month, and that cellular changes correlate with, or predict, some changes in behavioral performance.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1999

Spatiotemporal reorganization of electrical activity in the human brain associated with a timing transition in rhythmic auditory-motor coordination.

We used a 61-channel electrode array to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of electroencephalographic (EEG) activity related to behavioral transitions in rhythmic sensorimotor coordination. Subjects were instructed to maintain a 1:1 relationship between repeated right index finger flexion and a series of periodically delivered tones (metronome) in a syncopated (anti-phase) fashion. Systematic increases in stimulus presentation rate are known to induce a spontaneous switch in behavior from syncopation to synchronization (in-phase coordination). We show that this transition is accompanied by a large-scale reorganization of cortical activity manifested in the spatial distributions of EEG power at the coordination frequency. Significant decreases in power were observed at electrode locations over left central and anterior parietal areas, most likely reflecting reduced activation of left primary sensorimotor cortex. A second condition in which subjects were instructed to synchronize with the metronome controlled for the effects of movement frequency, since synchronization is known to remain stable across a wide range of frequencies. Different, smaller spatial differences were observed between topographic patterns associated with synchronization at low versus high stimulus rates. Our results demonstrate qualitative changes in the spatial dynamics of human brain electrical activity associated with a transition in the timing of sensorimotor coordination and suggest that maintenance of a more difficult anti-phase timing relation is associated with greater activation of primary sensorimotor areas.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2004

Expanded characterization of the social interaction abnormalities in mice lacking Dvl1.

Dvl1 is one of three murine Dishevelled genes widely expressed in embryonic development and in the adult central nervous system. Dishevelled proteins are a necessary component of the Wnt and planar cell polarity developmental signaling pathways. We reported previously that mice deficient in Dvl1 exhibited abnormal social interaction and sensorimotor gating. To assess the validity of our earlier findings, we replicated the previous behavioral tests and included several new assays. The behaviors assessed included: social interaction, sensorimotor reflexes, motor activity, nociception, prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle (PPI) and learning and memory. Assessments with an explicit social component included: social dominance test, whisker trimming, nest building, home-cage huddling and ultrasonic vocalization rate analysis in pups. In addition, separate cohorts of wildtype and Dvl1-null mice were assessed for social recognition of a conspecific. Replicating the original report, Dvl1-null mice were impaired in several tasks containing an explicit social component. However, no impairment was observed in the social memory task. A previously observed deficit in PPI did not replicate in two institutions. In conclusion, we provide evidence that the social interaction phenotype of Dvl1-deficient mice has a strong genetic influence, but the sensorimotor gating deficit was subject to environmental influences. The specificity of observed social interaction deficits also suggests that lack of Dvl1 is associated with deficits in the recognition of social hierarchy and dominance.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed2005

Erythropoietin prevents long-term sensorimotor deficits and brain injury following neonatal hypoxia-ischemia in rats.

Perinatal asphyxia accounts for behavioral dysfunctions that often manifest as sensorimotor, learning or memory disabilities throughout development and into maturity. Erythropoietin (Epo) has been shown to exert neuroprotective effects in different models of brain injury including experimental models of perinatal asphyxia. However, the effect of Epo on functional abilities following cerebral hypoxia-ischemia (HI) in neonatal rats is not known. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of Epo on sensorimotor deficits and brain injury induced by hypoxia-ischemia. Seven-day-old rats underwent unilateral, permanent carotid artery ligation followed by 1 h of hypoxia. Epo was administered as a single dose immediately after the hypoxic insult (2000 U/kg). The neuroprotective effect of Epo was evaluated at postnatal day 42 by using a battery of behavioral tests and histological analysis. The results of the present study suggest that Epo treatment immediately after HI insult significantly facilitated recovery of sensorimotor function. Consistently, histopathological evaluation demonstrated that Epo significantly attenuated brain injury and preserved the integrity of cerebral cortex. These findings indicate that long-term neuroprotective effect of Epo on neonatal HI-induced brain injury might be associated with the preservation of sensorimotor functions.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Characterizing learning deficits and hippocampal neuron loss following transient global cerebral ischemia in rats.

The 2-vessel-occlusion + hypotension (2VO + H) model of transient global cerebral ischemia results in neurodegeneration within the CA1 field of the hippocampus, but previous research has failed to demonstrate robust or reliable learning/memory deficits in rats subjected to this treatment. In the present study, sensitive behavioral protocols were developed in an effort to characterize the cognitive impairments following 2VO + H more precisely. Adult rats were exposed to 10 min of bilateral carotid occlusion with simultaneous hypotension. Following recovery, 2VO + H and control rats were subjected to a series of behavioral tests (locomotor activity, sensorimotor battery, water maze [cued, place, learning set], object recognition, and radial arm maze) over an extended recovery period followed by an assessment of neuronal loss in the dorsal hippocampus. The 2VO + H treatment was associated with long-lasting spatial learning deficits in the absence of other behavioral impairments and with neurodegeneration in dorsal hippocampal CA1. Water maze protocols that placed higher memory demands upon the rats (relatively "hard" vs. "easy") were more sensitive for detecting ischemia-induced deficits. We have shown that the use of appropriate behavioral tests (e.g., a relatively difficult place learning task) allowed for the observation of robust spatial learning deficits in a model previously shown to induce relatively subtle behavioral effects. Thus, the 2VO + H model induces both hippocampal neuronal loss and long-term learning deficits in rats, providing a potentially useful model for evaluating therapeutic efficacy.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Event-related potentials, cognition, and behavior: a biological approach.

The prevailing cognitive-psychological accounts of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) assume that ERP components manifest information processing operations leading from stimulus to response. Since this view encounters numerous difficulties already analyzed in previous studies, an alternative view is presented here that regards cortical control of behavior as a repetitive sensorimotor cycle consisting of two phases: (i) feedforward anticipation and (ii) feedback cortical performance. This view allows us to interpret in an integrative manner numerous data obtained from very different domains of ERP studies: from biophysics of ERP waves to their relationship to the processing of language, in which verbal behavior is viewed as likewise controlled by the same two basic control processes: feedforward (hypothesis building) and feedback (hypothesis checking). The proposed approach is intentionally simplified, explaining numerous effects on the basis of few assumptions and relating several levels of analysis: neurophysiology, macroelectrical processes (i.e. ERPs), cognition and behavior. It can, therefore, be regarded as a first approximation to a general theory of ERPs.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Social behavior functions and related anatomical characteristics of vasotocin/vasopressin systems in vertebrates.

The neuropeptide arginine vasotocin (AVT; non-mammals) and its mammalian homologue, arginine vasopressin (AVP) influence a variety of sex-typical and species-specific behaviors, and provide an integrational neural substrate for the dynamic modulation of those behaviors by endocrine and sensory stimuli. Although AVT/AVP behavioral functions and related anatomical features are increasingly well-known for individual species, ubiquitous species-specificity presents ever increasing challenges for identifying consistent structure-function patterns that are broadly meaningful. Towards this end, we provide a comprehensive review of the available literature on social behavior functions of AVT/AVP and related anatomical characteristics, inclusive of seasonal plasticity, sexual dimorphism, and steroid sensitivity. Based on this foundation, we then advance three major questions which are fundamental to a broad conceptualization of AVT/AVP social behavior functions: (1) Are there sufficient data to suggest that certain peptide functions or anatomical characteristics (neuron, fiber, and receptor distributions) are conserved across the vertebrate classes? (2) Are independently-evolved but similar behavior patterns (e.g. similar social structures) supported by convergent modifications of neuropeptide mechanisms, and if so, what mechanisms? (3) How does AVT/AVP influence behavior - by modulation of sensorimotor processes, motivational processes, or both? Hypotheses based upon these questions, rather than those based on individual organisms, should generate comparative data that will foster cross-class comparisons which are at present underrepresented in the available literature.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Parietal cortex area 5 and visuomotor behavior.

For years, area 5 of the parietal cortex was thought to be a somatic sensory structure. This view was challenged by recordings during active movements in alert behaving monkeys, which suggested that area 5 also contained populations of neurons that issued nonspecific, context-dependent "commands" about intended motor responses. Recent studies have revealed that area 5 generates a representation of the spatiotemporal form of arm movements and arm postures, although the parameter space of that representation is still controversial. They also showed that many area 5 cells are recipient to centrally generated signals about the motor relevance of external sensory signals. These new results support the hypothesis that area 5 contributes to the sensorimotor guidance of motor behavior, by contributing to the somatomotor and visuomotor transformations presumed to underlie visually guided behavior. However, area 5 appears to be less directly implicated than the premotor cortex in the process of selecting the nature of the response to instructional signals.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Enhanced neurotensin neurotransmission is involved in the clinically relevant behavioral effects of antipsychotic drugs: evidence from animal models of sensorimotor gating.

To date, none of the available antipsychotic drugs are curative, all have significant side-effect potential, and a receptor-binding profile predictive of superior therapeutic ability has not been determined. It has become increasingly clear that schizophrenia does not result from the dysfunction of a single neurotransmitter system, but rather from an imbalance between several interacting systems. Targeting neuropeptide neuromodulator systems that concertedly regulate all affected neurotransmitter systems could be a promising novel therapeutic approach for schizophrenia. A considerable database is concordant with the hypothesis that antipsychotic drugs act, at least in part, by increasing the synthesis and release of the neuropeptide neurotensin (NT). In this report, we demonstrate that NT neurotransmission is critically involved in the behavioral effects of antipsychotic drugs in two models of antipsychotic drug activity: disrupted prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response (PPI) and the latent inhibition (LI) paradigm. Blockade of NT neurotransmission using the NT receptor antagonist 2-[[5-(2,6-dimethoxyphenyl)-1-(4-(N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N-methylcarbamoyl)-2-isopropylphenyl)-1H- pyrazole-3-carbonyl]-amino]-adamantane-2-carboxylic acid, hydrochloride (SR 142948A) prevented the normal acquisition of LI and haloperidol-induced enhancement of LI. In addition, SR 142948A blocked the PPI-restoring effects of haloperidol and the atypical antipsychotic drug quetiapine in isolation-reared animals deficient in PPI. We also provide evidence of deficient NT neurotransmission as well as a left-shifted antipsychotic drug dose-response curve in isolation-reared rats. These novel findings, together with previous observations, suggest that neurotensin receptor agonists may represent a novel class of antipsychotic drugs.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2004

Enhanced dizocilpine efficacy in heterozygous reeler mice relates to GABA turnover downregulation.

Reelin synthesized by cortical GABAergic interneurons throughout the telencephalon is secreted into the extracellular matrix (ECM) and binds with nM affinity to integrin receptors located at dendritic spine postsynaptic densities and positively modulates Arc and other dendritic resident mRNAs translation, thereby facilitating the onset of synaptic plasticity and LTP consolidation. Accordingly, the reelin haploinsufficient heterozygous reeler mice (HRM) express a marked decrease of cortical thickness, of cortical and hippocampal dendritic spine density, and of cortical GAD67 expression. Behaviorally, HRM manifest a sensorimotor deficit, an exaggerated response to fear, and a deficit in olfactory discrimination learning. HRM and wild-type mice (WTM) were trained to retrieve to criterion palatable chocolate-flavored food pellets in an eight-arm radial maze. In 9-14 days of training HRM and WTM learned the task equally well committing only a few errors. However, HRM, when compared with WTM, show a greater cognitive impairment following the administration of dizocilpine. Also, HRM are more susceptible to the increased locomotion and stereotypic behavior elicited by dizolcipine. The enhanced dizocilpine susceptibility of HRM is not due to differences in pharmacokinetics because the levels of dizocilpine in cortices of HRM and WTM were virtually equal. We also failed to detect differences between HRM and WTM in glutamate brain content and in the rate of 13C-glucose incorporation into the glutamate brain pools. In contrast we found that the conversion index of glutamate into GABA (an indirect measurement of GABA turnover rate) is decreased in cortex, hippocampus and striatum of HRM when compared to WTM. Thus, HRM recapitulate several neurochemical and behavioral endophenotypes reminiscent of schizophrenia and these mice can be proposed as a relevant animal model for the study of pharmacological treatments aimed at alleviating the sensory-motor and cognitive dysregulation associated with schizophrenia.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Dopaminergic microtransplants into the substantia nigra of neonatal rats with bilateral 6-OHDA lesions. II. Transplant-induced behavioral recovery.

Transplants of fetal ventral mesencephalic (VM) dopamine neurons implanted into the substantia nigra in 6-hydroxy-dopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned neonatal pups establish axonal connections with the denervated caudate putamen (Nikkhah et al., 1995). In the present study, we have explored the functional capabilities of these animals after they reached adulthood on a battery of spontaneous and drug-induced behavioral tasks. The results demonstrate that unilateral intranigral VM grafts in bilaterally lesioned neonates induce a marked bias in spontaneous- and stress-induced rotation contralateral to the implant not present in the lesion-only controls. Amphetamine and apomorphine induced vigorous contra- and ipsilateral rotation, respectively. Moreover, grafted animals achieved 75% of the performance level in contralateral skilled forelimb use when compared to normal controls, which was significantly above lesion-only animals (50% of normal). Spontaneous nocturnal locomotor activity was elevated 2.2-fold in the grafted animals. Sensorimotor orientation and disengage behavior was spared by the neonatal dopamine lesion and unaffected by the grafts. The level of functional restoration seen in the present study was more extensive than reported previously in neonatally 6-OHDA-lesioned rats where the VM grafts were implanted ectopically into the striatum. However, functional recovery remained incomplete also after intranigral graft placement compared to normal intact animals. The present approach should provide a new promising avenue for the continued exploration of the mechanisms involved in functional recovery and structural repair in the damaged nigrostriatal system.

Amphetamine↗
PubMed2004

Motor areas beyond motor performance: deficits in serial prediction following ventrolateral premotor lesions.

Previous functional MRI findings have indicated that a premotor-parietal network is involved in the perceptual processing of sequential information. Given that premotor functions have traditionally been restricted to behaviors requiring motor or sensorimotor computations, the goal of the present patient study was to further investigate whether the lateral premotor cortex is critical in purely perceptual sequencing. Patients with either ventral premotor or inferior parietal lesions, in addition to patients with prefrontal lesions and age- and gender-matched healthy controls, were tested during the processing of temporal, object-specific, and spatial sequences. Results revealed that premotor patients as well as parietal patients showed significantly higher error rates than did healthy controls on all sequence tasks. In contrast, prefrontal patients showed no behavioral deficits. These findings support the significance of the ventrolateral premotor cortex, in addition to parietal areas, in nonmotor (attentional) functions.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Central nervous system toxicity of cyclosporine in a rat model.

The central nervous system toxicity of cyclosporine, which is known to be neurotoxic clinically, was investigated in a rat model. Munich-Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups for a 2-week protocol. After baseline EEG and behavioral testing, group 1 (control) received a weight-adjusted volume of parenteral cyclosporine vehicle i.p., group 2 (low-dose) received 5 or 10 mg/kg/day i.p., and group 3 (high-dose) received 20 mg/kg/day i.p. Spontaneous behavior was observed, simple sensorimotor testing performed daily, and awake EEG's recorded 3 times per week. Four of 12 high-dose animals died during study, one after a witnessed tonic-clonic seizure, and two after recording of frankly epileptiform EEG's; there were no deaths in control or low-dose animals. Significant EEG abnormalities developed only at high-dose, with frankly epileptiform EEG's and/or seizures seen in 58 +/- 15% of these rats (P = 0.005, different from controls by life-table analysis). Although some high-dose animals demonstrated hyperirritability and dystonic posturing, behavioral changes were subtle, and animals were often still or rocking slightly during recording of frankly epileptiform EEG's. Walking latency and alley escape behaviors were delayed in high-dose rats, the latter correlating with abnormal EEG's. Serum urea nitrogens were mildly elevated in high-dose animals, but serum creatinine, electrolytes, bilirubin, body magnesium stores, and blood pressure remained normal in all groups. Kidneys showed only mild vacuolation histologically. The brain showed only very focal cortical injury sites related to electrode placement, which did not correlate with EEG changes or mortality. These results suggest that there may be a direct effect of cyclosporine on the central nervous system. This model system should prove useful in defining mechanisms of cyclosporine-related neurotoxicity.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Neurobehavioral changes in adult Fischer 344 rats exposed to dietary levels of chlordecone (Kepone): a 90-day chronic dosing study.

Chlordecone (Kepone) given in the diet at 10 and 30 ppm for 90 days to adult male Fischer 344 rats produced significant behavioral changes. Rats were tested in a battery of behavioral screening tests for sensorimotor functions at 30, 60, and 90 days of dosing, and 30 days postdosing. Body weight loss was significant by 90 days of dosing with 30 ppm chlordecone; no weight change was seen at the lower dose. Variable effects on grip strength were seen during and after dosing. The magnitude of startle responsiveness to an air puff stimulus was significantly increased by 30 days of dosing in the 30 ppm dose group. Both 10 and 30 ppm doses produced increased responsiveness to an acoustic stimulus by 60 days of dosing. Negative geotaxis and tail flick response to thermal stimulation did not change. By 30 days postdosing, significant behavioral alterations still persisted in startle responsiveness.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Placement from community-based mental retardation programs: how well do clients do after 8 to 10 years?

The placement success and quality of life of 85 mentally retarded persons placed into independent housing and competitive employment 8 to 10 years ago was evaluated. Three groups emerged on the basis of the clients' current programmatic status, living-work placement, and financial status. A number of variables were found to discriminate between successful and unsuccessful living and work outcomes, including family involvement, social-emotional behavior, number of disabilities, sensorimotor functioning, symbolic operations, and auditory-visual processing. For assessed quality of life, significant correlates included family involvement, income, number of disabilities, and age. Those who were successful had a higher assessed Quality of Life Index than those who were unsuccessful.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1983

Residual sensorimotor deficits in the adult head-injured patient. A treatment approach.

Deficits in sensorimotor integration, cognition, and psychosocial behavior may lead to a characteristic set of problems in the head-injured adult. An inpatient Sensorimotor Integration Class for ambulatory head-injured patients was developed to introduce challenging sensorimotor activities before these patients established avoidance patterns. The class includes perceptual motor, sensory integration, and sports activities. Clinical observations suggest that the class leads to improved quality of movement for participants. Objective research is needed to document clinical observations.

Adult↗