A comparison of the mother's and a stranger's control over the behavior of infants.
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A laboratory model of garter snake aggregation behavior is described. Snakes tested in groups of eight established preferred shelter locations and reliably returned to these locations as a group or as individuals when the test aquaria were left undisturbed between trials. When the aquaria were cleaned and the contents were replaced on each trial, preferred shelter locations were not established over trials; however, the snakes were found under shelters in large aggregates more frequently than would be expected by chance. It appears that the snakes deposit cues in the apparatus that are subsequently used to return to preferred locations. Manipulations of various objects in the test arena strongly indicated that the relevant cues are deposited on the paper underlying the preferred shelter.
The period (per) gene is an essential component of the circadian timekeeping mechanism in Drosophila. This gene is expressed in a circadian manner, giving rise to a protein that feeds-back to regulate its own transcription. A 69 bp clock regulatory sequence (CRS) has been identified previously upstream of the period gene. The CRS confers wild-type mRNA cycling when used to drive a lacZ reporter gene in transgenic flies. To determine whether the CRS also mediates proper developmental and spatial expression and behavioral rescue, we used the CRS to drive either lacZ or per in transgenic flies. The results show that the CRS is able to activate expression in pacemaker neuron precursors in larvae and essentially all tissues that normally express per in pupae and adults. The CRS is sufficient to rescue circadian feedback loop function and behavioral rhythms in per01 flies. However, the period of locomotor activity rhythms shortens if a stronger basal promoter is used. This study shows that regulatory elements sufficient for clock-dependent and tissue-specific per expression in larvae, pupae, and adults are present in the CRS and that the period of adult locomotor activity rhythms is dependent, in part, on the overall level of per transcripts.
The social behavior, and particularly the spacing patterns, of a marmoset (Saguinus fuscicollis) group in a semi-naturalistic enclosure were observed for 14 months. Data analysis revealed various changes as the group grew in size from four to eventually six members. Weekly mean distances between the adult pair supported a spatial measure for estrus for the female. Group dispersion, mean squared distance between all possible pairs, seemed to vary with the age composition of the group. Factor analysis of location correlation matrices by 4-week blocks resulted in age-related subgroupings. Each of the adult pair formed an independent subgroup except for behavioral estrus and early infant care periods when they formed one subgroup. The offspring, initially attached to the adults, gradually moved into juvenile/subadult subgroups. Increasing spatial independence was shown as an animal approached adulthood at 24 months of age.
Male ddY mice were thymectomized 4 weeks after birth. Learning behaviors, tested in passive and active avoidance performances and in a spatial memory task, were significantly impaired in thymectomized mice at 10 months after thymectomy, in addition to the reduced immune response. Contents of hypothalamic norepinephrine and hypothalamic choline acetyltransferase activity were significantly increased in thymectomized mice. These results suggested that thymectomy at young adult life in mice not only impaired the immune response, but also deteriorated the learning and memory ability.
The interaction between serotonin (5-HT)1A and nicotinic cholinergic receptors in the regulation of spatial navigation behavior in the Morris water maze (WM) test was studied. Pretraining intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of a combination of subthreshold doses of 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) (a 5-HT1A receptor agonist) at 30 micrograms/kg and mecamylamine (a nicotinic cholinergic receptor antagonist) a 2500 micrograms/kg greatly impaired WM navigation to a hidden platform and slightly, but not statistically significantly, impaired WM navigation to a visible platform. Post-training i.p. injections of this combination had no effect on WM navigation performance. Serotonin depletion induced by p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) increased the performance impairing action of pretraining injected combination of 8-OH-DPAT 30 micrograms/kg and mecamylamine 2500 micrograms/kg. In trained rats combined injections of 8-OH-DPAT 30 micrograms/kg and mecamylamine 2500 micrograms/kg given pretraining had no effect on the navigation to a hidden platform located in a familiar or in a novel position. Pretraining trial injected combination of hexamethonium 2000 micrograms/kg (a peripherally acting nicotinic antagonist) and 8-OH-DPAT 30 micrograms/kg had no effect on navigation. These data suggest that a combined treatment with a 5-HT1a receptor agonist and a nicotinic cholinergic receptor antagonist more severely impair non-mnemonic acquisition performance processes than consolidation and retrieval processes.
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Mice lacking Fyn, a Src-related non-receptor tyrosine kinase, show impairment of various behaviors, such as spatial learning, suckling, emotional behaviors, and ethanol sensitivity. These mice also display both morphological defects and impairment of synaptic function. Fyn is highly expressed in the mammalian CNS from embryonic day 8.5 to adulthood. Pharmacological and electrophysiological analyses of mice lacking Fyn reveal gamma-aminobutyric acid and glutamatergic defects. We propose here the hypothesis that these defects are caused separately by developmental disorganization and impairment of synapse function by a deficit in Fyn. Regarding the glutamatergic defect, in particular, after ethanol administration the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-dependent function is recovered by Fyn, paralleled with tyrosine phosphorylation of NMDA receptor 2B subtype. Thus, modulation of the NMDA receptor function by Fyn may have a significant role in building and regulating sophisticated neural circuits and behavior. In addition, the cadherin-related neural receptor (CNR) family is isolated by binding activity for Fyn. The CNR-Fyn complex will also open a new angle for gaining insight into the molecular mechanisms for regulating mammalian behavior.
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OBJECTIVES: Defective imitation of meaningless gestures has repeatedly been demonstrated in patients with apraxia and has been interpreted as being due to a deficit of motor execution. There is, however, controversy as to whether some impairment of imitation also occurs in patients with right brain damage. The aim was to compare defective imitation in patients with left and right brain damage and to explore whether there are qualitative differences between them. METHODS: Imitation was examined in 80 patients with left brain damage (LBD) and aphasia, 40 patients with right brain damage (RBD), and 60 controls for three types of gestures:hand positions, finger configurations, and combined gestures which required a defined hand position as well as a defined configuration of the fingers. RESULTS: Regardless of whether imitation of hand positions and finger configurations were tested each on their own or together, they showed differential susceptibility to RBD and LBD. Whereas imitation of finger configurations was about equally impaired in RBD and LBD, defective imitation of hand positions occurred almost exclusively in patients with LBD, and whereas controls as well as patients with RBD committed less errors with hand positions than with finger configurations, the reverse was the case in patients with LBD. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of results goes against a deficit of motor execution as being the cause of defective imitation in patients with LBD, as it is difficult to see why such a deficit should affect proximal movements necessary for reaching hand positions more than differential finger movements. An alternative explanation would be that in patients with LBD errors are due to defective mediation by knowledge about the human body whereas in patients with RBD they stem from faulty visuospatial analysis of the demonstrated gesture.
Eight young Lemur macaco were observed in a zoo during the first 19 weeks of life. Data were obtained on general motor development, development of independence from the mother, contributions of mothers and young to thhe maintenance of proximity, nursing, grooming, relations between twins, play, feeding, sexual dichromatism, and communication. The results are compared with similar data from other prosimians and from anthropoid primates, and some suggestions made about the evolutionary and adaptive significance of certain aspects of L. macaco development.
The effect of intruder status in territorial aggression on behavior in the elevated plus-maze, the open field and on 5-HT2 receptor-mediated behaviors was evaluated in male Long-Evans hooded rats. Intruders (350 g) were placed in the home cages of aggressive resident rats (475-600 g) and removed after 20 roll-tumble fights. On the following day, the rats were tested on the elevated plus-maze, and behavior in the open field was evaluated after injection with the 5-HT2/1C receptor agonist, DOI (1.0 mg/kg). The number of headshakes following DOI injection are thought to be an indicator of 5-HT2 receptor function. Although several other stressors were evaluated, only defeat in territorial aggression caused a significant decrement in the number of headshakes following DOI injection. To determine if ethanol (ET) could decrease the behavioral consequences of defeat, the effect of ET (1.25 g/kg) given before and immediately after aggression on behavior 24 hours later was evaluated. Although ET treatment had no effect on the control group that did not experience aggression, the ET treatment attenuated the desensitization of 5-HT2 receptor-mediated responses induced by aggression and severely exacerbated the anxiety-like effects as measured in the elevated plus-maze. These data suggest that (1) 5-HT2 receptor sensitivity decreases as a consequence of defeat, but not after several other stressors; (2) defeat in territorial aggression results in significant anxiety-like effects in the elevated plus-maze 24 hours later; and (3) these anxiety-like effects are exacerbated when ET is given before, and immediately after, the aggression.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
This experiment examined the use of attentional stimuli for reaching in hemispace by strong right-dominant adults and children. Driving the hypothesis was the notion that developmental factors associated with use of attentional information may affect the programming of reaching movements in hemispace. Although the general pattern of responses was similar for both samples, children did not use attentional cues to program reaching movements in contralateral hemispace as effectively as adults. This result suggests that motor dominance and perhaps other factors were pivotal in motor programming for children. One possible explanation for the general behavior observed underlies an attentional hemispheric bias for a tendency to use the hand that is on the same side as the stimulus.