Behavioral Sciences

Article Behavioral Sciences

Expanding eligibility for intracranial electroencephalography using Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride in children with behavioral dyscontrol

Thomas Johnstone, Maria Isabel Barros Guinle, Gerald A. Grant, Brenda E. Porter

Summary: The study aimed to evaluate the safety and impact of Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride (DH) administration during pediatric invasive intracranial electroencephalography (IEEG). The results showed that DH administration was not associated with adverse events and did not significantly affect the frequency of seizures captured on the IEEG and the duration of hospitalization.

EPILEPSY & BEHAVIOR (2024)

Review Psychology, Biological

Two's company: Biobehavioral research with dyads

Robert W. Levenson

Summary: This article describes the development of paradigms for studying dyadic interaction in the laboratory, methods, and analytics for dealing with dyadic data. It provides research findings from the author and others, with a particular focus on dyadic measures of linkage or synchrony in physiology, expressive behavior, and subjective affective experience.

BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Unrevealing components of risk assessment: escape behaviour and refuge use in a web-building spider

Rafael Rios Moura, Paulo Inacio Prado, Joao Vasconcellos-Neto

Summary: This study examined the escape behavior and decision-making of Aglaoctenus castaneus spiders on different substrates. It was found that spiders inhabiting injurious substrates displayed shorter flight initiation distances and lower sensitivity to predators.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

African penguins utilize their ventral dot patterns for individual recognition

Luigi Baciadonna, Cwyn Solvi, Francesca Terranova, Camilla Godi, Cristina Pilenga, Livio Favaro

Summary: In this study, it was found that African penguins could use ventral dot patterns to recognize their lifelong partner and nonpartner colonymates. This challenges the previous assumption of limited visual involvement in penguin communication, highlighting the complex and flexible recognition process in birds.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Workload inequality increases with group size in a cooperatively breeding bird

Maria G. Smith, Joshua B. LaPergola, Christina Riehl

Summary: This study analyzed individual contributions to parental care in the greater ani bird and found that workload inequality varied between groups of two and three pairs. However, there was no clear evidence of division of labour within the groups, suggesting individual differences in overall work performed.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Noise and light pollution elicit endocrine responses in urban but not forest frogs

Judith A. H. Smit, Riet Vooijs, Peter Lindenburg, Alexander T. Baugh, Wouter Halfwerk

Summary: This study investigates the effects of urbanization on hormone levels in tungara frogs and found that urban frogs and forest frogs have different endocrine phenotypes. Exposure to urban noise and light pollution led to an increase in testosterone and a decrease in corticosterone in urban frogs, while forest frogs showed no endocrine response to sensory pollutants. These results suggest that urbanization can modulate hormone levels and influence behavior in frogs.

HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR (2024)

Article Psychology, Biological

Neural activation and connectivity in offspring of depressed mothers during monetary and social reward tasks

Thomas M. Olino, Matthew Mattoni

Summary: This study examined brain function in offspring of mothers with and without depression using monetary and social reward tasks. The results showed no significant differences in task activation and functional connectivity between the two groups. The study discussed the possibility of developmental timing in finding differences.

BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Winner and loser effects in humans: evidence from randomized trials

Noah M. T. Smith, Reuven Dukas

Summary: Winner and loser effects are observed in many animals, and recent experiments suggest that they may also occur in humans. In two experiments involving video games and reading comprehension, participants who won in the first phase performed significantly better in the second phase compared to those who lost. The effect size was larger in the video game experiment, and men and women showed similar magnitudes of winner and loser effects.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Quantifying mating behaviour using accelerometry and machine learning: challenges and opportunities

Anne E. Aulsebrook, Rowan Jacques-Hamilton, Bart Kempenaers

Summary: Accelerometry and machine learning have been used to quantify mating behaviors of captive male ruffs. Different machine learning methods were compared and evaluated for their classification performance. The study highlights the challenges and potential pitfalls in classifying mating behaviors using accelerometry and provides recommendations and considerations for future research.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Acute and chronic glutamate NMDA antagonist treatment attenuates dopamine D1 antagonist-induced reduction of nicotine self-administration in female rats

Sarabesh Natarajan, Grant Abass, Lucas Kim, Corinne Wells, Amir H. Rezvani, Edward D. Levin

Summary: Multiple neural systems, including dopamine D1 receptors and glutamate NMDA receptors, are involved in nicotine reinforcement. Acute blockade of D1 receptors decreases nicotine self-administration, while acute blockade of NMDA receptors increases it. Chronic blockade of NMDA receptors decreases nicotine self-administration. Memantine attenuates the decrease in nicotine self-administration caused by chronic D1 antagonist SCH-23390.

PHARMACOLOGY BIOCHEMISTRY AND BEHAVIOR (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Using design thinking to strengthen the community pharmacist's role in epilepsy care

Sabra Zaraa, H. Steve White, Andy Stergachis, Edward Novotny Jr, Chris Protos, Grant Simic, Jennifer L. Bacci

Summary: This study used design thinking to develop a community pharmacist-led intervention for people living with epilepsy. Four features - pharmacist-patient consultations, care plan development, regular check-ins, and care coordination with other health care providers - were identified as desirable, feasible, and viable for the intervention. The study highlights the importance of involving pharmacists in epilepsy care and provides evidence-based features for such interventions.

EPILEPSY & BEHAVIOR (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Rise and fall: increasing temperatures have nonlinear effects on aggression in a tropical fish

Nick A. R. Jones, Jade Newton-Youens, Joachim G. Frommen

Summary: Environmental conditions, particularly temperature, have a significant impact on animal behavior. This study focused on aggression in Neolamprologus pulcher fish and found that aggression rates increased with temperature at lower levels, but decreased after reaching a peak. Additionally, the influence of high temperatures on aggression changed over time during the trials. These findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the short-term effects of temperature on aggression and highlight the importance of considering non-linear changes in thermal performance.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Hydrogen sulfide attenuates depression-like behaviours in Parkinson's disease model rats by improving synaptic plasticity in a hippocampal Warburg effect-dependent manner

Fen Liu, Qing Tian, Hui-Ling Tang, Xiang Cheng, Wei Zou, Ping Zhang

Summary: This study demonstrates the attenuating effect of H2S on PD-associated depression by improving hippocampal synaptic plasticity.

PHARMACOLOGY BIOCHEMISTRY AND BEHAVIOR (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Too hot to handle: male dragonflies decrease time spent mating at higher temperatures

Bianca J. L. Marcellino, Peri Yee, Shannon J. Mccauley, Rosalind L. Murray

Summary: This study examines the trade-off between mating effort and thermoregulatory behavior in dragonflies in response to temperature changes, and investigates the effect of wing melanin on these behaviors. The results indicate that as temperature increases, dragonflies reduce their mating effort and increase their thermoregulatory behavior.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Sex difference affects fear extinction but not lithium efficacy in rats following fear-conditioning with respect to the hippocampal level of BDNF

Mehrsa Rahimi-Danesh, Mohammad-Ali Samizadeh, Amir-Ehsan Sajadi, Tara Rezvankhah, Salar Vaseghi

Summary: This study investigated the effects of lithium on freezing behavior and pain perception in a fear-conditioning model in rats. The results showed that lithium had no effect on freezing behavior and pain subthreshold in all rats. Extinction training decreased freezing behavior, with more efficacy in females. Gender differences were also observed in the effects of extinction training.

PHARMACOLOGY BIOCHEMISTRY AND BEHAVIOR (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Age mediates access to landfill food resources and foraging proficiency in a long-lived bird species

Bruno Herlander Martins, Andrea Soriano-Redondo, Aldina M. A. Franco, Ines Carry

Summary: Human activities have affected the availability of resources for wildlife, particularly through the provision of anthropogenic food subsidies at landfill sites. This study explores the influence of age on landfill attendance and foraging behavior in white storks. Adult storks visit landfills more frequently and show dominance over juveniles in food acquisition. Juveniles have limited access to landfill resources and are forced to use lower quality areas.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR (2024)

Article Behavioral Sciences

A bird's eye view of the hippocampus beyond space: Behavioral, neuroanatomical, and neuroendocrine perspectives

Farrah N. Madison, Verner P. Bingman, Tom Smulders, Christine R. Lattin

Summary: Although research on the avian hippocampus has been limited, it is crucial for understanding its evolution and changes over time. The avian hippocampus plays important roles in spatial cognition as well as regulating anxiety, approach-avoidance behavior, and stress responses. Future research should focus on elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms, including endocrinology, to resolve outstanding questions about avian hippocampal function and organization.

HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR (2024)

Review Psychology, Biological

On closer inspection: Reviewing the debate on whether fish cooperate to inspect predators

A. Li Veiros, Manon K. Schweinfurth, Michael M. Webster

Summary: Cooperative behaviors are widespread in the animal kingdom, but their evolution is complex. Reciprocity, such as cooperating with previous partners, has been suggested as the foundation of cooperation. Cooperative predator inspection, where individuals approach potential threats, has been considered a textbook example of reciprocity. However, some scholars have questioned whether it is truly cooperative or a by-product of selfish behavior. New tools and approaches are needed to resolve this debate.

ETHOLOGY (2023)

Article Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology

The role of co-speech gestures in retrieval and prediction during naturalistic multimodal narrative processing

Sergio Osorio, Benjamin Straube, Lars Meyer, Yifei He

Summary: This study investigates the impact of gestures on lexical retrieval and semantic prediction during the processing of naturalistic multimodal stimuli. The results suggest that co-speech gestures have a modulatory effect on word frequency and surprisal, facilitating lexical retrieval and potentially semantic prediction.

LANGUAGE COGNITION AND NEUROSCIENCE (2023)

Article Behavioral Sciences

Increased anticholinergic medication use in middle-aged and older autistic adults and its associations with self-reported memory difficulties and cognitive decline

Goldie A. Mcquaid, Sean C. Duane, Neha Ahmed, Nancy Raitano Lee, Rebecca Charlton, Gregory L. Wallace

Summary: Many commonly used medications have negative effects on cognition, especially in individuals with autism. This study found that a significant proportion of autistic adults take medications with anticholinergic effects, which are associated with memory problems. The study also showed that autistic adults who took these medications experienced declines in cognitive abilities after two years.

AUTISM RESEARCH (2023)