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Author Baum, M.J.
Title Mammalian animal models of psychosexual differentiation: when is 'translation' to the human situation possible? Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Hormones and Behavior Abbreviated Journal Horm Behav
Volume 50 Issue 4 Pages 579-588
Keywords Animals; Estradiol/*physiology; Female; *Gender Identity; Humans; Hypothalamus/anatomy & histology/physiology; Male; Models, Animal; Sexual Behavior/physiology/psychology; Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Testosterone/*physiology
Abstract Clinical investigators have been forced primarily to use experiments of nature (e.g., cloacal exstrophy; androgen insensitivity, congenital adrenal hyperplasia) to assess the contribution of fetal sex hormone exposure to the development of male- and female-typical profiles of gender identity and role behavior as well as sexual orientation. In this review, I summarize the results of numerous correlative as well as mechanistic animal experiments that shed significant light on general neuroendocrine mechanisms controlling the differentiation of neural circuits controlling sexual partner preference (sexual orientation) in mammalian species including man. I also argue, however, that results of animal studies can, at best, provide only indirect insights into the neuroendocrine determinants of human gender identity and role behaviors.
Address Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Sreet, Boston, MA 02215, USA. baum@bu.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0018-506X ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16876166 Approved no
Call Number (down) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4190
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Author Brennan, P.A.
Title The nose knows who's who: chemosensory individuality and mate recognition in mice Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Hormones and Behavior Abbreviated Journal Horm Behav
Volume 46 Issue 3 Pages 231-240
Keywords Animals; Chemoreceptors/physiology; Discrimination Learning/*physiology; Embryo Implantation/physiology; Female; Individuality; Major Histocompatibility Complex/physiology; Male; Mice; Neurons, Afferent/physiology; Nose/cytology/physiology; Perception/physiology; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Maintenance/physiology; Pregnancy, Animal/*physiology; Receptors, Odorant/*physiology; Recognition (Psychology)/*physiology; Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Smell/*physiology; Urine/physiology; Vomeronasal Organ/cytology/physiology
Abstract Individual recognition is an important component of behaviors, such as mate choice and maternal bonding that are vital for reproductive success. This article highlights recent developments in our understanding of the chemosensory cues and the neural pathways involved in individuality discrimination in rodents. There appear to be several types of chemosensory signal of individuality that are influenced by the highly polymorphic families of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins or major urinary proteins (MUPs). Both have the capability of binding small molecules and may influence the individual profile of these chemosignals in biological fluids such as urine, skin secretions, or saliva. Moreover, these proteins, or peptides associated with them, can be taken up into the vomeronasal organ (VNO) where they can potentially interact directly with the vomeronasal receptors. This is particularly interesting given the expression of major histocompatibility complex Ib proteins by the V2R class of vomeronasal receptor and the highly selective responses of accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) mitral cells to strain identity. These findings are consistent with the role of the vomeronasal system in mediating individual discrimination that allows mate recognition in the context of the pregnancy block effect. This is hypothesized to involve a selective increase in the inhibitory control of mitral cells in the accessory olfactory bulb at the first level of processing of the vomeronasal stimulus.
Address Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AA, UK. pab23@cus.cam.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0018-506X ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15325224 Approved no
Call Number (down) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4191
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Author Berger, J.
Title Induced abortion and social factors in wild horses Type Journal Article
Year 1983 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature
Volume 303 Issue 5912 Pages 59-61
Keywords Abortion, Induced/*veterinary; Abortion, Veterinary/*etiology; Aggression/physiology; Animals; Evolution; Female; Horses/*physiology; Humans; Pregnancy; Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology
Abstract Much evidence now suggests that the postnatal killing of young in primates and carnivores, and induced abortions in some rodents, are evolved traits exerting strong selective pressures on adult male and female behaviour. Among ungulates it is perplexing that either no species have developed convergent tactics or that these behaviours are not reported, especially as ungulates have social systems similar to those of members of the above groups. Only in captive horses (Equus caballus) has infant killing been reported. It has been estimated that 40,000 wild horses live in remote areas of the Great Basin Desert of North America (US Department of Interior (Bureau of Land Management), unpublished report), where they occur in harems (females and young) defended by males. Here I present evidence that, rather than killing infants directly, invading males induce abortions in females unprotected by their resident stallions and these females are then inseminated by the new males.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0028-0836 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:6682487 Approved no
Call Number (down) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4365
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Author Vallortigara, G.; Rogers, L.J.
Title Survival with an asymmetrical brain: advantages and disadvantages of cerebral lateralization Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication The Behavioral and Brain Sciences Abbreviated Journal Behav Brain Sci
Volume 28 Issue 4 Pages 575-89; discussion 589-633
Keywords Animals; Attention/*physiology; Behavior/*physiology; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Dominance, Cerebral/*physiology; *Evolution; Humans; Models, Biological; Visual Perception/physiology
Abstract Recent evidence in natural and semi-natural settings has revealed a variety of left-right perceptual asymmetries among vertebrates. These include preferential use of the left or right visual hemifield during activities such as searching for food, agonistic responses, or escape from predators in animals as different as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. There are obvious disadvantages in showing such directional asymmetries because relevant stimuli may be located to the animal's left or right at random; there is no a priori association between the meaning of a stimulus (e.g., its being a predator or a food item) and its being located to the animal's left or right. Moreover, other organisms (e.g., predators) could exploit the predictability of behavior that arises from population-level lateral biases. It might be argued that lateralization of function enhances cognitive capacity and efficiency of the brain, thus counteracting the ecological disadvantages of lateral biases in behavior. However, such an increase in brain efficiency could be obtained by each individual being lateralized without any need to align the direction of the asymmetry in the majority of the individuals of the population. Here we argue that the alignment of the direction of behavioral asymmetries at the population level arises as an “evolutionarily stable strategy” under “social” pressures occurring when individually asymmetrical organisms must coordinate their behavior with the behavior of other asymmetrical organisms of the same or different species.
Address Department of Psychology and B.R.A.I.N. Centre for Neuroscience, University of Trieste, 34123 Trieste, Italy. vallorti@univ.trieste.it
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0140-525X ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16209828 Approved no
Call Number (down) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4622
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Author Shapiro, A.D.; Janik, V.M.; Slater, P.J.B.
Title A gray seal's (Halichoerus grypus) responses to experimenter-given pointing and directional cues Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Journal of Comparative Psychology Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 117 Issue 4 Pages 355-362
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Cognition/physiology; Conditioning, Operant/physiology; *Cues; Eye Movements/physiology; Female; Seals, Earless
Abstract A gray seal (Halichoerus grypus) was trained to touch a target on its left or right by responding to pointing signals. The authors then tested whether the seal would be able to generalize spontaneously to altered signals. It responded correctly to center pointing and head turning, center upper body turning, and off-center pointing but not to head turning and eye movements alone. The seal also responded correctly to brief ipsilateral and contralateral points from center and lateral positions. Pointing gestures did not cause the seal to select an object placed centrally behind it. Like many animals in similar studies, this gray seal probably did not understand the referential character of these gestures but rather used signal generalization and experience from initial operant conditioning to solve these tasks.
Address School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Washington, D.C. : 1983 Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:14717636 Approved yes
Call Number (down) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4977
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Author King, A.J.; Douglas, C.M.S.; Huchard, E.; Isaac, N.J.B.; Cowlishaw, G.
Title Dominance and affiliation mediate despotism in a social primate Type Journal Article
Year 2008 Publication Current Biology : CB Abbreviated Journal Curr Biol
Volume 18 Issue 23 Pages 1833-1838
Keywords Animals; *Authoritarianism; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Cooperative Behavior; *Decision Making; Feeding Behavior; Female; *Group Processes; Male; Papio ursinus/*psychology; *Social Dominance
Abstract Group-living animals routinely have to reach a consensus decision and choose between mutually exclusive actions in order to coordinate their activities and benefit from sociality. Theoretical models predict “democratic” rather than “despotic” decisions to be widespread in social vertebrates, because they result in lower “consensus costs”-the costs of an individual foregoing its optimal action to comply with the decision-for the group as a whole. Yet, quantification of consensus costs is entirely lacking, and empirical observations provide strong support for the occurrence of both democratic and despotic decisions in nature. We conducted a foraging experiment on a wild social primate (chacma baboons, Papio ursinus) in order to gain new insights into despotic group decision making. The results show that group foraging decisions were consistently led by the individual who acquired the greatest benefits from those decisions, namely the dominant male. Subordinate group members followed the leader despite considerable consensus costs. Follower behavior was mediated by social ties to the leader, and where these ties were weaker, group fission was more likely to occur. Our findings highlight the importance of leader incentives and social relationships in group decision-making processes and the emergence of despotism.
Address Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK. andrew.king@ioz.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0960-9822 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:19026539 Approved no
Call Number (down) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5124
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Author Conradt, L.; Roper, T.J.
Title Group decision-making in animals Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature
Volume 421 Issue 6919 Pages 155-158
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; *Decision Making; Democracy; Group Processes; *Models, Biological; Population Density; Social Behavior
Abstract Groups of animals often need to make communal decisions, for example about which activities to perform, when to perform them and which direction to travel in; however, little is known about how they do so. Here, we model the fitness consequences of two possible decision-making mechanisms: 'despotism' and 'democracy'. We show that under most conditions, the costs to subordinate group members, and to the group as a whole, are considerably higher for despotic than for democratic decisions. Even when the despot is the most experienced group member, it only pays other members to accept its decision when group size is small and the difference in information is large. Democratic decisions are more beneficial primarily because they tend to produce less extreme decisions, rather than because each individual has an influence on the decision per se. Our model suggests that democracy should be widespread and makes quantitative, testable predictions about group decision-making in non-humans.
Address School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK. l.conradt@sussex.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0028-0836 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12520299 Approved no
Call Number (down) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5136
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Author Hedberg, Y.; Dalin, A.-M.; Ohagen, P.; Holm, K.R.; Kindahl, H.
Title Effect of oestrous-cycle stage on the response of mares in a novel object test and isolation test Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Reproduction in Domestic Animals = Zuchthygiene Abbreviated Journal Reprod Domest Anim
Volume 40 Issue 5 Pages 480-488
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Cross-Over Studies; Diestrus/*physiology; Estrus/*physiology; Female; Heart Rate/*physiology; Horses/*physiology; Questionnaires
Abstract In various species, sex, hormonal treatments and oestrous-cycle stage have been shown to affect the animal's response in behavioural tests. Few such studies have been performed in the horse. The main aim of the present study was to investigate whether oestrous-cycle stage affects mares' response to a novel object test and isolation test and, in part, to study whether mares, assumed to suffer from oestrous-related behavioural problems, respond differently in these tests when compared with controls. Twelve mares were tested twice, in oestrus and dioestrus, in a crossover design. Seven behavioural and two heart rate variables were measured for the novel object test and two heart rate variables for the isolation test. Oestrous-cycle stage and whether a mare was classified as a 'problem' mare did not affect the mare's response. However, test order, i.e. the cycle stage a mare was tested in first, affected its reaction. This effect could partly be explained by significant differences between test occasions 1 and 2 in three behavioural variables and one heart rate variable (p < 0.05) in the novel object test. The mares explored the novel object more and had a higher mean heart rate in the first test. Exploring the novel object more could largely be attributed to those mares tested in dioestrus first, perhaps indicating that the mares in oestrus were less receptive to the novel object. The reason for the differences between test occasions could be an effect of learning or habituation.
Address Division of Comparative Reproduction, Obstetrics and Udder Health, Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden. ylva.hedberg@kv.slu.se
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0936-6768 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16149956 Approved no
Call Number (down) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5170
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Author Christensen, J.W.; Rundgren, M.; Olsson, K.
Title Training methods for horses: habituation to a frightening stimulus Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Equine veterinary journal Abbreviated Journal Equine Vet J
Volume 38 Issue 5 Pages 439-443
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; *Conditioning (Psychology); *Fear; Heart Rate/*physiology; Horses/physiology/*psychology; Learning; Male; Random Allocation; *Reinforcement (Psychology); Safety; Time Factors
Abstract REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Responses of horses in frightening situations are important for both equine and human safety. Considerable scientific interest has been shown in development of reactivity tests, but little effort has been dedicated to the development of appropriate training methods for reducing fearfulness. OBJECTIVES: To investigate which of 3 different training methods (habituation, desensitisation and counter-conditioning) was most effective in teaching horses to react calmly in a potentially frightening situation. HYPOTHESES: 1) Horses are able to generalise about the test stimulus such that, once familiar with the test stimulus in one situation, it appears less frightening and elicits a reduced response even when the stimulus intensity is increased or the stimulus is presented differently; and 2) alternative methods such as desensitisation and counter-conditioning would be more efficient than a classic habituation approach. METHODS: Twenty-seven naive 2-year-old Danish Warmblood stallions were trained according to 3 different methods, based on classical learning theory: 1) horses (n = 9) were exposed to the full stimulus (a moving, white nylon bag, 1.2 x 0.75 m) in 5 daily training sessions until they met a predefined habituation criterion (habituation); 2) horses (n = 9) were introduced gradually to the stimulus and habituated to each step before the full stimulus was applied (desensitisation); 3) horses (n = 9) were trained to associate the stimulus with a positive reward before being exposed to the full stimulus (counter-conditioning). Each horse received 5 training sessions of 3 min per day. Heart rate and behavioural responses were recorded. RESULTS: Horses trained with the desensitisation method showed fewer flight responses in total and needed fewer training sessions to learn to react calmly to test stimuli. Variations in heart rate persisted even when behavioural responses had ceased. In addition, all horses on the desensitisation method eventually habituated to the test stimulus whereas some horses on the other methods did not. CONCLUSIONS AND POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: Desensitisation appeared to be the most effective training method for horses in frightening situations. Further research is needed in order to investigate the role of positive reinforcement, such as offering food, in the training of horses.
Address Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Animal Health, Welfare and Nutrition, Tjele, Denmark
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0425-1644 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16986605 Approved no
Call Number (down) Serial 1783
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Author McComb, K.; Clutton-Brock, T.
Title Is mate choice copying or aggregation responsible for skewed distributions of females on leks? Type Journal Article
Year 1994 Publication Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci
Volume 255 Issue 1342 Pages 13-19
Keywords Animals; Deer/*physiology; Estrus/physiology; Female; Male; Phenotype; Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Territoriality
Abstract In several lek-breeding populations of birds and mammals, females arriving on leks tend to join males that already have females in their territories. This might occur either because females have an evolved preference for mating with males that are attractive to other females, or because they join groups of other females to obtain greater safety from predation or dangerous harassment by males. We have previously used controlled experiments to show that oestrous fallow deer females join males with established harems because they are attracted to female groups rather than to the males themselves. Here we demonstrate that the preference for males with females over males without females is specific to oestrous females and weak or absent in anoestrous ones, and that it is not associated with a preference for mating with males that have previously been seen to mate with other females. Furthermore, oestrous females given the choice between males that do not already have females with them show no significant preference for antlered over deantlered males or for older males over younger ones. We conclude that female attraction to other females on the lek is likely to be an adaptation to avoiding harassment in mixed-sex herds. In this situation, a male's ability to maintain the cohesion of his harem may be the principal cause of variation in mating success between males.
Address Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, U.K
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:8153135 Approved no
Call Number (down) Serial 1823
Permanent link to this record