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[Correlation of the visual and spatially oriented behaviors of white rats following the elaboration of a visual differentiation habit].

Correlation of spatial-motor and visually oriented reactions of white rats was studied by the method of three-side choice. It is shown that after acquisition of the habit of visual differentiation the visual orientation dominates only at taking feeding decision of passing to the passage. The choice of the direction of running to blinds and the choice of place of entering the passage do not depend on present visual signals location and do not reflect the state of visual differentiation habit, but are controlled by spatial memory.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Enhanced sensitivity of the nucleus accumbens proenkephalin system to alcohol in rats selectively bred for alcohol preference.

Evidence suggests that alcohol-induced activation of the endogenous opioid system is part of a neurobiological mechanism that may be functionally involved in alcohol reinforcement and high alcohol drinking behavior. We postulate that a genetic predisposition toward alcohol drinking is accompanied by increased responsiveness of the opioid system to alcohol. To test this hypothesis, the present study compared the effect of an acute alcohol challenge on enkephalin gene expression in discrete brain regions which are high in preproenkephalin (PPENK) mRNA content and/or are important in mediating alcohol reward in rats selectively bred for alcohol preference (P) or nonpreference (NP). PPENK mRNA content was measured by in situ hybridization performed with a 36 base oligonucleotide probe for PPENK mRNA and was quantified using a computerized image-analysis system. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and rate of alcohol elimination following alcohol infusion were similar in P and NP rats. P and NP rats did not differ in basal content of PPENK mRNA in any of the brain areas examined prior to onset of infusion. An intragastric (I.G.) infusion of alcohol (2.5 g/kg b.wt) produced a significant increase in PPENK mRNA in the nucleus accumbens (both shell and core) of P but not NP rats at 1 h after the onset of infusion which coincided with the time at which peak BAC was attained. In contrast, at 8 h after the onset of the alcohol infusion, when BAC was falling toward baseline, PPENK mRNA was decreased in the nucleus accumbens of both P and NP rats and in the anterior striatum and amygdala of NP rats. The results suggest that enhanced responsiveness of the enkephalinergic system to alcohol is associated with, and may be functionally involved in, mediating high alcohol drinking behavior.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed2003

A sexual selection theory longitudinal analysis of sexual segregation and integration in early adolescence.

The three objectives in this longitudinal study were motivated by sexual selection theory. The theory specifies the role of sexually segregated groups and the effects of dominance in male groups and relational/indirect aggression in female groups for heterosexual relationships. Using a multi-method, multi-informant, longitudinal design we studied youngsters (N=138) across their first two years of middle school. First, we examined the nature of change in segregation and dating popularity across two years during early adolescence. Second, a model derived from sexual selection theory is tested to explain the ways in which boys and girls are nominated for hypothetical dates (dating popularity). Third, we examined the role of "poke and push courtship" behavior in boys' and girls' dating popularity. Results indicate that although groups did not become more integrated with time, changes in peer group sexual integration co-varied dynamically with dating popularity. Secondly, dominance-related strategies were more important for boys than girls in dating popularity whereas indirect, or relational, aggression strategies were more important for girls than boys. Third, "poke and push courtship" behaviors did not influence peer group integration or dating.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Anticipatory effects of food exposure in women diagnosed with bulimia nervosa.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate cephalic phase responses (CPRs) in women diagnosed with bulimia nervosa and to test the assumption that eating disordered individuals respond with more marked CPRs and higher increases in psychophysiological arousal to the presentation of food cues. METHOD: Thirteen female inpatients diagnosed with bulimia nervosa were compared to 15 non-eating disordered female volunteers. Participants were exposed to their preferred binge food in a single laboratory session with the possibility to eat immediately after the exposure trial. RESULTS: The results show greater salivation responses to food exposure and lower sympathetic arousal in patients diagnosed with bulimia nervosa than in non-eating-disordered participants. Distress and feelings of tension and insecurity during food exposure were higher in patients compared to controls. DISCUSSION: These results support the hypothesis that anticipatory cephalic phase responses are more marked in eating disordered individuals and may therefore play a role in the maintenance of binge eating behavior.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Flexible search behavior in domestic cats (Felis catus): a case study of predator-prey interaction.

Domestic cats (Felis catus) were administered an object permanence task in a novel and a familiar situation to investigate flexibility (i.e., pause behavior and searching by following a path opposite of that taken by the object when it disappeared) in search behavior. Pause and opposite search were assumed to be independent, equiprobable, and randomly exhibited (i.e., random model). The random model predicted that cats would exhibit flexible behavior on 75% of the trials. The results revealed that flexible behavior occurred on 69% of the trials in the novel situation, but only on 52% of the trials in the familiar setting in which pauses were less frequent and shorter than in the novel situation. Thus, the random model provided a good fit of the data in the novel but not in the familiar situation. It is argued that pause and opposite search reflect decision processes when cats are dealing with the behavior of prey that has disappeared while being pursued.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2006

Nonselective maternal bonding but pup recognition in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys pearsoni.

This study characterizes the maternal behavior in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys pearsoni and determines whether lactating females develop a selective bonding to their own pups in addition to maternal responsiveness. Mother-litter interactions were observed daily for 2 months; during the 1st postpartum week, selectivity and preference tests for own or alien pups were performed. Lactating females exhibited all patterns of maternal behavior observed in other rodent species and equally responded with care-taking behaviors to their own and alien pups, although they were able to discriminate between them, showing preference for their own pups. Results are discussed, taking into account the possible role of this behavior in shaping different aspects of life underground in ctenomyid species.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Addicts' choice.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed2005

Emotion expression in human punishment behavior.

Evolutionary theory reveals that punishment is effective in promoting cooperation and maintaining social norms. Although it is accepted that emotions are connected to punishment decisions, there remains substantial debate over why humans use costly punishment. Here we show experimentally that constraints on emotion expression can increase the use of costly punishment. We report data from ultimatum games, where a proposer offers a division of a sum of money and a responder decides whether to accept the split, or reject and leave both players with nothing. Compared with the treatment in which expressing emotions directly to proposers is prohibited, rejection of unfair offers is significantly less frequent when responders can convey their feelings to the proposer concurrently with their decisions. These data support the view that costly punishment might itself be used to express negative emotions and suggest that future studies will benefit by recognizing that human demand for emotion expression can have significant behavioral consequences in social environments, including families, courts, companies, and markets.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Effects of visual exposure to the opposite sex: cognitive aspects of mate attraction in human males.

This research is an investigation into the cognitive aspects of mate attraction in human males. Two experiments demonstrate that visual exposure to women (in person or within photographs) can prime large changes in the attitudes, mood states, and personality trait descriptions of male participants. These changes, furthermore, are such that participants show greater conformity to female mate preferences as described in the extant literature: In particular, men exposed to potential mates reported higher valuations of material wealth, greater momentary feelings of ambition, higher valuations of other indicators of social status, and personality trait descriptions indicative of high surgency/extraversion. All such effects occurred without participants' awareness that their responses had been affected by the experimental manipulations. These findings suggest a model of mate attraction mechanisms in which input cues from potential mates can prime those psychological representations that facilitate the behavioral expression of courtship tactics.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

The ethics of health education as public health policy.

The concept of voluntariness is central to an understanding of ethical considerations in two aspects of public health education practice: (1) the selection of appropriate interventions, and (2) the selection of appropriate targets for such interventions. The position is taken that most mass communications programs in public health education are persuasive as well as informative in intent. It is argued that the impact of such programs on voluntariness can be analyzed with regard to the rationality and resistibility of the persuasive appeals involved. Considerations of justice, as well as voluntariness and liberty, are reviewed in the discussion of appropriate targets for intervention. The issue of victim-blaming in public health education is explored, and conditions under which behavioral public health programs may be morally justifiable are suggested.

Choice Behavior↗
PubMed1993

Anxiolytic activity of melatonin in mice: involvement of benzodiazepine receptors.

The anxiolytic properties of melatonin are revealed by two behavioral studies. In a free exploratory situation, the holeboard test, melatonin decreased head-dip performance. In an unconditioned conflict test, the light/dark box choice situation, melatonin increased the time spent in the lit box as well as the number of transitions between the two compartments. Melatonin was given in a dose range from 0.5 to 5.0 mg/kg body weight i.p. 30 minutes before testing in daytime. Moreover, the anxiolytic activity of diazepam (2.5 mg/kg i.p.) was evaluated and found to be completely inhibited by the specific benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil (10 mg/kg i.p. 30 minutes before). In the same manner flumazenil counteracted melatonin activity in the two tests. Involvement of the benzodiazepine/GABAergic system in the anxiolytic activity of melatonin is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1962

Early experience and sexual behavior in the domestic chicken.

Newly hatched chickens were imprinted to one of two moving objects. From the fifth day of life on, the chickens were injected with male sex hormone. When later presented with a choice between the two objects, they addressed induced sexual responses to the object to which they were imprinted.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Acute treatment with trimethyltin alters alcohol self-selection.

Male rats of the Long-Evans strain were divided into two equal groups of nine each and given either 7.0 mg/kg trimethyltin (TMT) or 0.9% saline by intragastric gavage. The pattern of self-selection of alcohol in concentrations of 3%--30% was examined in both groups at 21 and 150 days following the gavage. The TMT-treated rat consistently drank less alcohol than did the controls at every concentration of alcohol. This difference in alcohol intake was equally significant when the rats were tested in a food-contingent, schedule-induced polydipsia situation. Further, although the TMT-lesioned animal consumed fewer calories per day in the form of alcohol, their overall daily caloric intakes were slightly higher than those of the controls. These results are interpreted as a consequence of damage to structures of the forebrain and as part of a syndrome of behavioral and neurological pathology.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1992

Overgrowth and pruning of dendrites in adult rats recovering from neocortical damage.

Unilateral lesions to the forelimb representation (FL) area of the rat sensorimotor cortex caused a time-dependent increase in the dendritic arborization of layer V pyramidal neurons in the contralateral homotopic cortex. The increase in arborization was maximum at 2-3 weeks after the lesion, following which there was a partial reduction in dendritic branching. These neural morphological changes may be related to post-lesion behavioral changes in the use of the forelimbs.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1996

Inhibition by MK-801 of cocaine-induced sensitization, conditioned place preference, and dopamine-receptor supersensitivity in mice.

Repeated administration of cocaine led to increases in ambulation-accelerating activity (sensitization) and conditioned place preference (CPP). Dopamine (DA)-receptor supersensitivity was also developed in cocaine-induced sensitized and CPP mice. An N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-receptor antagonist, MK-801, blocked simultaneously developments of cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization, CPP, and DA-receptor supersensitivity. Furthermore, MK-801 inhibited a apomorphine-induced striatal dopaminergic action: climbing behavior. These results suggest that the cocaine-induced dopaminergic behaviors such as sensitization to ambulatory activity and CPP may be produced via activation of the NMDA receptor. The development of postsynaptic DA-receptor supersensitivity may be an underlying common mechanism that mediates cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization and CPP.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

The relationship between the theory of evolution and the social sciences, particularly psychology.

The application of the theory of evolution to human social behavior has, along with some illumination, produced friction that occasionally bursts into flame. In this paper we will examine the relationship between the theory of evolution and the social sciences, psychology in particular. We will identify some of the sources of friction between proponents and opponents of applying evolutionary theory to the social sciences, and we will suggest that listening carefully to both sides in the debate points the way to an enriched understanding of human social behavior.

Biological Evolution↗
PubMed2000

The place preference task: a new tool for studying the relation between behavior and place cell activity in rats.

This study describes a task that combines random searching with goal directed navigation. The testing was conducted on a circular elevated open field (80 cm in diameter), with an unmarked target area (20 cm in diameter) in the center of 1 of the 4 quadrants. Whenever the rat entered the target area, the computerized tracking system released a pellet to a random point on the open field. Rats were able to learn the task under light and in total darkness, and on a stable or a rotating arena. Visual information was important in light, but idiothetic information became crucial in darkness. Learning of a new position was quicker under light than in total darkness on a rotating arena. The place preference task should make it possible to study place cells (PCs) when the rats use an allothetic (room frame) or idiothetic (arena frame) representation of space and to compare the behavioral response with the PCs' activity.

Animals↗