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PubMedDate not supplied

The Drosophila mutation turnip has pleiotropic behavioral effects and does not specifically affect learning.

The Drosophila mutant turnip (tur) was isolated on the basis of its poor performance in an olfactory learning task, and also has a reduction in protein kinase C (PKC) activity. PKC has been found in the nervous systems of a wide range of organisms and appears to have an important role in learning and memory-related processes. Unfortunately, previous reports documenting the learning defect of tur lacked the controls required to assess the origins of the poor performance of the mutant. We have analyzed the effects of the tur mutation on both associative and nonassociative learning as well as on PKC activity. Additionally, the effects of the mutation on the task-relevant sensorimotor abilities of the flies were assessed. Although we were able to replicate previous behavioral and biochemical results obtained with tur, we discovered that the tur mutation also affected response to electric shock and caused a drastic reduction in the locomotor ability of the flies. Because locomotion is an essential component of the learning assays, this result makes it impossible to conclude that tur specifically affects learning and demonstrates the crucial importance of sensorimotor controls in conditioning experiments.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Sensorimotor impairment and recovery of function in brain-damaged rats: reappearance of symptoms during old age.

Following unilateral lesions in the posterior-lateral hypothalamic area, rats displayed impaired orienting behavior to tactile stimuli placed on the contralateral side of the body, whereas sham-operated animals showed no sensorimotor impairment. Recovery from this impairment occurred during the first postoperative month. As the animals became senescent, there was a reinstatement of contralateral sensorimotor impairment in the brain-damaged animals. Although preliminary, these data may have important implications for the study of aging-dependent neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Aging↗
PubMed1994

Comparative effects of fluoxetine, amitriptyline and serotonin on functional motor recovery after sensorimotor cortex injury.

A recent investigation of the effects of the antidepressants desipramine and trazodone on behavioral recovery in brain-injured animals suggested that antidepressants, which act to increase noradrenergic activity in the brain, may facilitate the rate of recovery, whereas those that act to increase serotonergic (5-HT) activity may hinder recovery and reinstate deficits in recovered animals. The present study was designed to evaluate these findings further by assessing the effect of a single intraperitoneal injection of fluoxetine (a relatively pure 5-HT reuptake blocker), amitriptyline (a mixed 5-HT and noradrenergic reuptake blocker with alpha 1-adrenergic receptor blocking activity) or a single intraventricular infusion of 5-HT on recovery of beam-walking ability in animals with a unilateral sensorimotor cortex injury. None of the drugs significantly affected the rate of recovery. Although fluoxetine was ineffective in reinstating the motor deficit in recovered animals, amitriptyline reinstated the deficit in a dose-dependent fashion. Infusion of 5-HT resulted in an extremely transient reinstatement of the deficit, which was largely attributable to its short-term sedative properties. These results suggest that 5-HT may be less involved in functional recovery than previously thought. They also add further support to previous findings that indicate that drugs which act to antagonize alpha 1-adrenergic activity (e.g., phenoxybenzamine) may interfere with motor recovery after sensorimotor cortex injury. An appreciation of the potential impact of certain antidepressants on functional recovery in brain-injured patients appears warranted.

Amitriptyline↗
PubMed1994

Effects of estrogen treatment on sensorimotor task performance and brain dopamine concentrations in gonadectomized male and female CD-1 mice.

In Experiment I, castrated male and female CD-1 mice +/- estradiol benzoate (EB) treatment were tested for their performance on a skilled sensorimotor task consisting of walking across beams of varying widths (6, 9, 12, and 21 mm). To evaluate whether behavioral performance was related to nigrostriatal dopaminergic function, tissue dopamine concentrations were determined from the corpus striatum as well as the hypothalamus and olfactory tubercle. In general, sensorimotor performance improved for all treatment conditions as the beam width increased. Castrated male mice treated with oil vehicle showed the worst performance as indicated by significantly greater amounts of time to cross the beam. Treatment of castrated males with EB significantly improved their performance. Performance of the castrated females was not changed by EB treatment and was similar to that observed with the castrated + EB males. Significant gender differences in dopamine concentrations (female > male) were obtained in the corpus striatum, as well as the olfactory tubercle and hypothalamus. Dopamine levels were unaltered by EB treatment. In Experiment II, behavioral and neurochemical determinations were directly compared between castrated and intact male mice. Behavioral performance of castrates was significantly reduced compared to intact males. No differences in dopamine concentrations were obtained between these two groups; however, the hypothalamic dopamine/DOPAC ratio of castrates was significantly greater than that of intact male mice. These results demonstrate significant modulatory effects of EB in castrated male, but not female, mice upon sensorimotor performance and indicate that this task may provide an effective means to partial out modulatory effects of gonadal steroid hormones upon skilled sensorimotor performance. When the data of Experiments I and II are combined, it appears that the basis of this sensorimotor deficit in the males is the absence of gonadal steroid hormones. In addition, these results reveal significant gender differences in various dopaminergic systems in these mice.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗
PubMed1990

The recovery of forelimb-placing behavior in rats with neonatal unilateral cortical damage involves the remaining hemisphere.

Following unilateral lesions of the somatic sensorimotor cortex (SMC) in neonatal, but not adult, rats, an aberrant ipsilateral corticospinal projection originates from the undamaged hemisphere (Hicks and D'Amato, 1970; Leong and Lund, 1973; Castro, 1975). We have evaluated the contribution of the hemisphere contralateral to a unilateral lesion of the SMC in the recovery of tactile forelimb-placing behavior. Neither adult-lesioned or neonatally lesioned animals show evidence for placing deficits with either forelimb when tested 30 or 42 d after the lesion. However, in adult-lesioned animals, a subsequent lesion of the undamaged SMC on postlesion day 42 produces placing deficits only with the forelimb contralateral to the second lesion, while such a second lesion in the neonatally lesioned rats results in placing deficits with both forelimbs. Anatomical observations in the animals used for behavioral analyses confirm previous reports of a substantial ipsilateral corticospinal projection in rats with unilateral SMC damage as neonates and demonstrate that many of these aberrant fibers recross the midline within the spinal cord to arborize extensively within the ipsilateral spinal gray. These findings indicate that, following unilateral SMC lesions in neonates, the contralateral hemisphere mediates some aspects of the recovery of forelimb placing. The aberrant ipsilateral corticospinal projection may provide the anatomical substrate through which the cortex effects this recovery.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Testing Bayesian models of human coincidence timing.

A sensorimotor control task often requires an accurate estimation of the timing of the arrival of an external target (e.g., when hitting a pitched ball). Conventional studies of human timing processes have ignored the stochastic features of target timing: e.g., the speed of the pitched ball is not generally constant, but is variable. Interestingly, based on Bayesian theory, it has been recently shown that the human sensorimotor system achieves the optimal estimation by integrating sensory information with prior knowledge of the probabilistic structure of the target variation. In this study, we tested whether Bayesian integration is also implemented while performing a coincidence-timing type of sensorimotor task by manipulating the trial-by-trial variability (i.e., the prior distribution) of the target timing. As a result, within several hundred trials of learning, subjects were able to generate systematic timing behavior according to the width of the prior distribution, as predicted by the optimal Bayesian model. Considering the previous studies showing that the human sensorimotor system uses Bayesian integration in spacing and force-grading tasks, our result indicates that Bayesian integration is fundamental to all aspects of human sensorimotor control. Moreover, it was noteworthy that the subjects could adjust their behavior both when the prior distribution was switched from wide to narrow and vice versa, although the adjustment was slower in the former case. Based on a comparison with observations in a previous study, we discuss the flexibility and adaptability of Bayesian sensorimotor learning.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Chromatophore systems in teleosts and cephalopods: a levels oriented analysis of convergent systems.

The neural control of chromatophore display in cephalopod mollusks and teleost fishes is reviewed in the context of convergence of functional-anatomical pathways and mechanisms at several levels of organization. The effector elements or chromatophores are different in origin and design in the two groups of animals. Major functional differences appear to be in the speed of response (greatest in cephalopods) and the magnitude of non-neural control mechanisms (greatest in teleosts). Despite the differences, the elements demonstrate striking overall functional similarity. Elements of different types form highly organized array patterns of similar general complexity. Innervation patterns in cephalopods and teleosts seem comparable, with control being unidirectional (albeit in opposite directions); some elements demonstrate polyaxonal innervation. Motor units in both groups are generally composed of many chromatophores. Packard's concept of 'cronological units' of similar age-classes of chromatophores being innervated by similar age-classes of motor neurons greatly simplifies the understanding of relationships between the static arrays and the physiological units that utilize them to produce chromatic displays. The lower motor control areas for both groups have been grossly identified. Chromatomotor neurons in cephalopods are mostly located in the chromatophore lobes of the subesophageal brain while comparable systems in teleosts are situated in sympathetic chain ganglia (preganglionics) and the rostral spinal cord (postganglionics). Chromatic components are the simplest visually detectable units of color display, e.g. vertical bands and fin spots. They combine to form more complex chromatic patterns, which, in turn, are integrated with components of skin texture, posture and movement to produce display behaviors. Complexity of such systems seems to be of the same order of magnitude in both cephalopods and teleosts. Areas of the CNS related to each of the categorical levels have not been clearly defined. Crude patterning may take place in the basal and, perhaps, peduncle lobes in cephalopods and in the lower and intermediate medulla in teleosts. In both groups, higher level control relates to areas involved in sensorimotor integration and mediation of agonistic, sexual, and, perhaps, other types of behavior: the peduncle and optic lobes in cephalopods and the hypothalamus, tegmentum, otic tectum, torus semicircularis, thalamus and telencephalon in fishes. The systems appear to parallel each other in being organized hierarchically, with similar levels of complexity. Some of the regions may be especially important for regulating color patterns in response to visual input. Overall, chromatomotor control systems in cephalopods and teleosts demonstrate many apparent convergent features. Possible factors responsible for the similarities are discussed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Behavioral impairments related to cognitive dysfunction in the autoimmune New Zealand black mouse.

The possibility that autoimmunological disorders involving neuronal constituents as autoantigens can result in measurable behavioral impairments prompted the behavioral analysis of the New Zealand black (NZB) mouse strain, known to have high levels of brain-reactive antibodies. Sensorimotor competence and performance in tasks requiring learning and memory were assessed in 7-10-month-old NZB and contrasted with those of CFW mice. The NZB mice showed pronounced deficits in performance of passive and active shock avoidance responses. These deficits could not be accounted for by the slight sensorimotor disadvantage of NZB mice relative to CFW mice. No difference between the two mouse strains was seen in passive avoidance behavior at 1.5 months of age. It is concluded that NZB mice display a behavioral deficit related to cognitive dysfunction and that autoimmune mechanisms may be involved in the etiology of this deficit. Such behavioral disturbances produced by an autoimmune mechanism may have relevance for the neurological declines observed in aging, since the incidence of autoimmune disorders increases markedly in old age.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Ascorbate modulation of sensorimotor processing in striatum of freely moving rats.

The striatum, which receives projections from the entire cortical mantle, is highly responsive to sensorimotor activity. Because either systemic or intra-striatal injections of ascorbate (AA) influence behavior known to involve striatal circuits, it is possible that the level of striatal AA, which is known to fluctuate with behavioral activation, directly alters striatal neuronal processing. To test this hypothesis, we recorded the activity of 94 presumed medium spiny striatal neurons in behaving rats treated with AA or vehicle and examined firing rate during periods of quiescence and sensorimotor stimulation (e.g., stroking of the whiskers, mid-back, and rump). Slow-scan voltammetry was used in separate rats to determine the extent to which AA treatment elevated striatal AA. Vehicle-treated rats had relatively slow basal firing rates at rest that routinely increased during sensorimotor stimulation. Comparable results were obtained in rats treated with 100 mg/kg AA, which failed to alter AA levels in striatum. Dose-dependent increases in striatal AA, however, occurred after injection of 500 and 1000 mg/kg AA, and at these doses, there was a significant decrease in the number of sensorimotor-related excitations. In fact, treatment with 1000 mg/kg AA reversed a significant proportion of excitations to inhibitions. Our results substantiate the role of the striatum in sensorimotor processing and emphasize extracellular AA as a modulator of striatal neuronal function.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1988

Behavioral changes and structural defects in rats irradiated in utero.

Pregnant rats were irradiated with whole-body doses (0.25-1.25 Gy) of Cs-137 gamma-rays on gestational day 15, or with 1.0 Gy on gestational days 11, 13, 15, or 17. Postnatal growth (body weight) and several preweaning behaviors (righting reflex, negative geotaxis, reflex suspension, modified open field activity, spatial maze exploration, continuous corridor activity, and gait) of the offspring were monitored prior to sacrifice on post-parturition day 28. Brain (sensorimotor cortex) and pituitary tissues were processed for histological evaluation and morphometric analysis. For most behavioral endpoints, there were dose-dependent changes produced by irradiation on gestational day 15, with one endpoint (continuous corridor activity) demonstrating changes after 0.25 Gy that were significantly different from control values. The data indicate that the most sensitive organ showing radiation-induced alterations changes from the pituitary at gestational day 11 to the primitive cortex of the brain at days 13 to 17 with a peak of sensitivity at day 15. These results demonstrate that a spectrum of related functional and morphological deficits can be produced by even low-dose in utero irradiation, with the specific endpoint showing the greatest change being determined by the specific day of gestation on which irradiation occurs. Extrapolating from these experimental data with rats to the human situation, it is recommended that care be taken, when possible, to avoid exposure of the fetus, even after the early stages of organogenesis.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Decline in hippocampal theta activity during cessation of locomotor approach sequences: amplitude leads frequency and relates to instrumental behavior.

Hippocampal theta frequency and amplitude decrease as locomotor approach slows and the goal is reached. This study compared the declines of these theta parameters and related them to behavioral events. Theta activity was recorded with bipolar electrodes spanning cornu Ammon, sector 1 or cornu Ammon, sectors 2/3 cell layers of the dorsal hippocampus in 12 rats trained to approach and depress a treadle which exposed a milk dipper. Behavioral events were identified using a video capture system (20-ms sampling) synchronized to the hippocampal recording system (10-ms sampling). Peri-event averages of theta activity were made around the initial paw contact with the treadle, the presentation of the dipper, and the first lick at the dipper. Phase relationships between averaged hippocampal slow wave activity and behavioral events occasionally were found but they were inconsistent. In averages of both amplitude and frequency, times of minimum were less variable around paw contact indicating that compared with reward presentation and consummatory behavior, it more closely related to the processes determining the declines. Theta amplitude declined more rapidly than frequency and reached an earlier minimum in averages around initial paw contact and dipper presentation. Mean amplitude minimum occurred after the paw contact at 159 ms but the decline of frequency continued into the licking bout with its minimum occurring at 343 ms. The findings indicate that during the termination of approach locomotion, the amplitude of hippocampal theta activity is closely related to specific expected sensorimotor events.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1999

Effects of unilateral suckling on nursing behavior and c-fos activity in the caudal periaqueductal gray in rats.

In rats, suckling elicits kyphosis-the bilaterally symmetrical, upright, humpbacked nursing posture-and maximal expression of the immediate early gene c-fos in a region of the caudal periaqueductal gray (cPAG) that mediates the sensorimotor integration of kyphosis. We determined the effects of prepartum unilateral nipple removal on nursing behavior and c-fos expression during a 60-min mother-litter interaction on Day 7 postpartum. Compared with dams suckled by 6 pups bilaterally, dams suckled unilaterally displayed essentially normal maternal behaviors, including kyphosis. Unilaterally suckled dams, however, showed an increase in the abnormal prone nursing posture, a decrease in proportion of kyphotic nursing of total time over pups, and a 20% higher contralateral/ipsilateral ratio of cPAG neurons expressing c-fos. These results are consistent with an incompletely lateralized neural pathway conveying suckling stimulation to the cPAG and provide a mechanism whereby kyphosis is elicited by unilateral suckling when pups initiate nursing from their supine dam.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Role of kainate/AMPA receptors in induction of striatal zif/268 and preprodynorphin mRNA by a single injection of amphetamine.

The role of kainate/AMPA excitatory amino acid receptors in D-amphetamine (AMPH)-induced behavioral changes and the induction of immediate early gene and preprodynorphin (PPD) mRNA in various regions of rat forebrain was investigated with quantitative in situ hybridization histochemistry. Three hours after a single injection of AMPH (5 mg/kg, i.p.), PPD mRNA and mRNA of the transcription factor zif/268, but not c-fos, was increased in dorsal striatum (caudate). Zif/268 mRNA was also increased in the sensorimotor cortex. Pretreatment of rats with DNQX, a kainate/AMPA receptor antagonist, did not affect the behaviors elicited by AMPH. However, the AMPH-stimulated increase in PPD and zif/268 mRNA levels in striatum, but not zif/268 mRNA in cortex, was blocked by DNQX pretreatment. In contrast, DNQX alone attenuated basal (constitutive) levels of zif/268 mRNA expression in sensorimotor cortical, but not in striatal, neurons. These studies indicate that kainate/AMPA receptors mediate the induction of zif/268 and PPD mRNA expression in the caudate nucleus induced by a single injection of AMPH. The fact that DNQX blocked genomic, but not behavioral, responses to acute AMPH suggests that kainate/AMPA receptor mechanisms may be involved in the long-term (possibly sensitizing) effects, rather than the acute effects, of the drug. In addition, tonic kainate/AMPA receptor stimulation may play a key role in maintaining constitutive expression of the zif/268 gene in cortical neurons.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus) manufacture and use tools.

Lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus) in captive social groups spontaneously manufactured and used tools to extract syrup from an apparatus that was designed to accommodate probing behavior. An attempt to replicate these findings with mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) was unsuccessful. This report is the first to describe spontaneous manufacture of tools in any group of Old World monkeys and provides evidence of greater continuity among primates for the expression of complex cognitive abilities. These data are consistent with hypotheses that lion-tailed macaques have extensive propensities for advanced sensorimotor skills and that omnivorous, extractive foraging is associated with the manufacture and use of tools. I present a proximate model that integrates sensorimotor and social factors to account for diverse expression of tool-related behavior.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Oscillations of the human sensorimotor system as revealed by magnetoencephalography.

Neurons in the human brain, especially in thalamic nuclei and the cerebral cortex, exhibit intrinsic membrane oscillations, which may be synchronized into network oscillations and form the macroscopic rhythms detectable with electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). Recent data also suggest that certain neurologic disorders may be associated with the occurrence of pathologically synchronized oscillatory brain activity. Human tremors may be the behavioral correlate of such abnormal brain rhythms. This article summarizes the current literature about sensorimotor oscillatory activity in people recorded by MEG and discusses the possible functional significance of the findings for motor control in health and disease.

Biological Clocks↗
PubMed2005

Stimulant-induced adaptations in neostriatal matrix and striosome systems: transiting from instrumental responding to habitual behavior in drug addiction.

Converging evidence indicates that repeated exposure to motor stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamine produces marked alterations in network responsiveness of striatal neurons to subsequent challenge with the same stimulant drug. Such alterations, which correlate with persistent patterns of repetitive behavior, associate with distinct compartmental changes in the neostriatum. Striatal matrix system neurons undergo "silencing" following repeated drug challenges, allowing striosome system neurons to exhibit preferential activation. Matrix neurons are innervated by sensory and motor areas of neocortex and are activated in the course of on-going, adaptive behavior. Inactivation of matrix neurons by chronic stimulant exposure may therefore constrain sensorimotor and cognitive processing. In turn, the striosomes are anatomically connected through re-entrant loops with limbic prefrontal and allocortical structures, such as anterior cingulate cortex, orbital frontal cortex, and basolateral amygdala, all of which play a part in stimulant-induced reinforcement and relapse to drug-taking. Moreover, functional evidence links striosome system neurons, which are responsible for providing inhibitory regulatory feedback to midbrain dopamine neurons, with reinforcement-based processes. In considering such evidence, we postulate that recurrent matrix inactivation and recruitment of striosome-based pathways by chronic stimulant exposure represent neural end-points of the transit from action-outcome associative behavior to conditioned habitual responding. Within this theoretical framework, habitual behavior can be elicited by both interoceptive cues and exteroceptive conditioned stimuli to promote the automatic execution of learned responses.

Amphetamine↗
PubMed1993

Isolation rearing of rats produces a deficit in prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle similar to that in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenic patients exhibit deficits in the prepulse inhibition of startle, an operational measure of the sensorimotor gating deficits that are theorized to contribute to cognitive disorganization. In rats, the activation of mesolimbic dopamine (DA) disrupts prepulse inhibition, providing a useful model of the similar deficits in sensorimotor gating in schizophrenic patients. Rats reared in isolation exhibit neurochemical and behavioral abnormalities suggestive of hyperactivity in mesolimbic DA systems. In the present studies, rats reared in social groups or in isolation were tested in startle response paradigms using 120 or 105 dB acoustic pulses, some of which were preceded (100 msec) by prepulses that were 2, 4, 8, or 16 dB above the 65 dB background. Isolation-reared animals were hyperreactive only in response to the initial few startle stimuli. The amount of prepulse inhibition was decreased significantly in isolation-reared animals, particularly when midrange 8 dB prepulses were used. A subsequent study replicated the effect of isolation rearing on prepulse inhibition and suggested that the deficit in sensorimotor gating exhibited by isolation-reared animals may be normalized by the administration of the DA antagonist raclopride (0.05 mg/kg). Hence, isolation rearing provides a nonpharmacological way to induce in rats a deficit in sensorimotor gating that is exhibited by schizophrenic patients.

Acoustic Stimulation↗