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Author Harrison, S.A.; Tong, F. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Decoding reveals the contents of visual working memory in early visual areas Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication Abbreviated Journal Nature  
  Volume 458 Issue 7238 Pages 632-635  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Visual working memory provides an essential link between perception and higher cognitive functions, allowing for the active maintenance of information about stimuli no longer in view1, 2. Research suggests that sustained activity in higher-order prefrontal, parietal, inferotemporal and lateral occipital areas supports visual maintenance3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and may account for the limited capacity of working memory to hold up to 3–4 items9, 10, 11. Because higher-order areas lack the visual selectivity of early sensory areas, it has remained unclear how observers can remember specific visual features, such as the precise orientation of a grating, with minimal decay in performance over delays of many seconds12. One proposal is that sensory areas serve to maintain fine-tuned feature information13, but early visual areas show little to no sustained activity over prolonged delays14, 15, 16. Here we show that orientations held in working memory can be decoded from activity patterns in the human visual cortex, even when overall levels of activity are low. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and pattern classification methods, we found that activity patterns in visual areas V1–V4 could predict which of two oriented gratings was held in memory with mean accuracy levels upwards of 80%, even in participants whose activity fell to baseline levels after a prolonged delay. These orientation-selective activity patterns were sustained throughout the delay period, evident in individual visual areas, and similar to the responses evoked by unattended, task-irrelevant gratings. Our results demonstrate that early visual areas can retain specific information about visual features held in working memory, over periods of many seconds when no physical stimulus is present.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved Place of Publication Editor  
  Language 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 10.1038/nature07832 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4944  
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Author Gosden, T. P.; Svensson, E. I. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Density-Dependent Male Mating Harassment, Female Resistance, and Male Mimicry Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication The American Naturalist Abbreviated Journal Am Nat  
  Volume 173 Issue 6 Pages 709-721  
  Keywords tolerance, sexual conflict, path analysis, mating behavior, polymorphism, fecundity.  
  Abstract Abstract:

Genetic variation in female resistance and tolerance to male mating harassment can affect the outcome of sexually antagonistic mating interactions. We investigated female mating rates and male mating harassment in natural populations of a damselfly (Ischnura elegans). This damselfly species has a heritable sex‐limited polymorphism in females, where one of the morphs is a male mimic (androchrome females). The three female morphs differ in mating rates, and these differences are stable across populations and years. However, the degree of premating resistance toward male mating attempts varied across generations and populations. Male mating harassment of the female morphs changed in a density‐dependent fashion, suggesting that male mate preferences are plastic and vary with the different morph densities. We quantified morph differences in male mating harassment and female fecundity, using path analysis and structural equation modeling. We found variation between the morphs in the fitness consequences of mating, with the fecundity of one of the nonmimetic morphs declining with increasing male mating harassment. However, androchrome females had lower overall fecundity, presumably reflecting a cost of male mimicry. Density‐dependent male mating harassment on the morphs and fecundity costs of male mimicry are thus likely to contribute to the maintenance of this female polymorphism.
 
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4999  
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Author Rowe, M.L.; Goldin-Meadow, S. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Differences in Early Gesture Explain SES Disparities in Child Vocabulary Size at School Entry Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication Science Abbreviated Journal Science  
  Volume 323 Issue 5916 Pages 951-953  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Children from low-socioeconomic status (SES) families, on average, arrive at school with smaller vocabularies than children from high-SES families. In an effort to identify precursors to, and possible remedies for, this inequality, we videotaped 50 children from families with a range of different SES interacting with parents at 14 months and assessed their vocabulary skills at 54 months. We found that children from high-SES families frequently used gesture to communicate at 14 months, a relation that was explained by parent gesture use (with speech controlled). In turn, the fact that children from high-SES families have large vocabularies at 54 months was explained by children's gesture use at 14 months. Thus, differences in early gesture help to explain the disparities in vocabulary that children bring with them to school.  
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  Notes 10.1126/science.1167025 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4728  
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Author Schmidt, M.; Lipson, H. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Distilling Free-Form Natural Laws from Experimental Data Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication Science Abbreviated Journal Science  
  Volume 324 Issue 5923 Pages 81-85  
  Keywords  
  Abstract For centuries, scientists have attempted to identify and document analytical laws that underlie physical phenomena in nature. Despite the prevalence of computing power, the process of finding natural laws and their corresponding equations has resisted automation. A key challenge to finding analytic relations automatically is defining algorithmically what makes a correlation in observed data important and insightful. We propose a principle for the identification of nontriviality. We demonstrated this approach by automatically searching motion-tracking data captured from various physical systems, ranging from simple harmonic oscillators to chaotic double-pendula. Without any prior knowledge about physics, kinematics, or geometry, the algorithm discovered Hamiltonians, Lagrangians, and other laws of geometric and momentum conservation. The discovery rate accelerated as laws found for simpler systems were used to bootstrap explanations for more complex systems, gradually uncovering the “alphabet” used to describe those systems.  
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  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes 10.1126/science.1165893 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5264  
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Author Edouard, N.; Fleurance, G.; Dumont, B.; Baumont, R.; Duncan, P. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Does sward height affect feeding patch choice and voluntary intake in horses? Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 119 Issue 3-4 Pages 219-228  
  Keywords Patch selection; Intake; Sward height; Horse; Pasture  
  Abstract The numbers of horses grazing at pasture are increasing in developed countries, so a proper understanding of their feeding selectivity and of the tactics they use for extracting nutrients from swards is essential for the management of horses and grasslands. Resource acquisition in herbivores can be optimised through the modulation of their intake and patch selection, both being strongly dependent on the characteristics of swards. However, the principles by which horses adjust their grazing behaviour in response to variations in sward features are not completely understood. The aim of this study was to determine whether the behaviour of horses conforms to optimal foraging models. We hypothesized that, faced with binary choices between vegetative swards of a good and similar quality at three different heights, horses would select the taller sward, i.e. that allowing a higher reward in terms of dry matter intake rate. Three groups of three 2-year-old saddle horses were grazed on a semi-natural pasture that was managed to produce three contrasting sward heights at 6, 11 and 17 cm, in a Latin-square design. The instantaneous intake rate was determined from bite rate measured at pasture on the three sward heights, and bite mass estimated from measurements using swards offered indoors in experimental trays. Daily dry matter intake was estimated individually by total faecal collection and an estimation of digestibility from faecal nitrogen. Short-term (first 30 min) and daily preferences were assessed from the time spent grazing each sward offered in pair-wise tests at pasture. The results show that daily voluntary intake (an average of 21 g DM kg LW-1 day-1) and total grazing time (an average of 14 h day-1) were independent of sward height and of the choice of patches offered. In choice situations, the animals spent more time grazing on the taller sward, both during the first 30 min and at the daily scale. These results show that horses choose between vegetative patches of a good and similar quality according to the predictions from optimal foraging models, and select the one that they can ingest faster. Further research will now have to explore how the horses will adapt their feeding behaviour when they face a trade-off between sward height and quality.  
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  ISSN 0168-1591 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5094  
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Author Kotrschal, K.; Schöberl, I.; Bauer, B.; Thibeaut, A.-M.; Wedl, M. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Dyadic relationships and operational performance of male and female owners and their male dogs Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.  
  Volume 81 Issue 3 Pages 383-391  
  Keywords Dyadic interactions; Human-animal companions; Human-animal relationships; Human-dog dyads; Personality; Social stress  
  Abstract In the paper we investigate how owner personality, attitude and gender influence dog behavior, dyadic practical functionality and the level of dog salivary cortisol. In three meetings, 12 female and 10 male owners of male dogs answered questionnaires including the Neo-FFI human personality inventory. Their dyadic behavior was video-taped in a number of test situations, and saliva samples were collected. Owners who scored highly in neuroticism (Neo-FFI dimension one) viewed their dogs as social supporters and spent much time with them. Their dogs had low baseline cortisol levels, but such dyads were less successful in the operational task. Owners who scored highly in extroversion (Neo-FFI dimension two) appreciated shared activities with their dogs which had relatively high baseline cortisol values. Dogs that had female owners were less sociable-active (dog personality axis 1) than dogs that had male owners. Therefore, it appears that owner gender and personality influences dyadic interaction style, dog behavior and dyadic practical functionality.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0376-6357 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4947  
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Author Dong, D.; Jones, G.; Zhang, S. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Dynamic evolution of bitter taste receptor genes in vertebrates Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication BMC Evolutionary Biology Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 9 Issue 1 Pages 12  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Sensing bitter tastes is crucial for many animals because it can prevent them from ingesting harmful foods. This process is mainly mediated by the bitter taste receptors (T2R), which are largely expressed in the taste buds. Previous studies have identified some T2R gene repertoires, and marked variation in repertoire size has been noted among species. However, the mechanisms underlying the evolution of vertebrate T2R genes remain poorly understood.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1471-2148 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Dong2009 Serial 6637  
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Author Gácsi, M.; McGreevy, P.; Kara, E.; Miklósi, Á. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Effects of selection for cooperation and attention in dogs Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication Behavioral and Brain Functions Abbreviated Journal Behav Brain Funct  
  Volume 5 Issue Pages 31  
  Keywords  
  Abstract ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that the functional similarities in the socio-cognitive behaviour of dogs and humans emerged as a consequence of comparable environmental selection pressures. Here we use a novel approach to account for the facilitating effect of domestication in dogs and reveal that selection for two factors under genetic influence (visual cooperation and focused attention) may have led independently to increased comprehension of human communicational cues. METHOD: In Study 1, we observed the performance of three groups of dogs in utilizing the human pointing gesture in a two-way object choice test. We compared breeds selected to work while visually separated from human partners (N = 30, 21 breeds, clustered as independent worker group), with those selected to work in close cooperation and continuous visual contact with human partners (N = 30, 22 breeds, clustered as cooperative worker group), and with a group of mongrels (N = 30).Secondly, it has been reported that, in dogs, selective breeding to produce an abnormal shortening of the skull is associated with a more pronounced area centralis (location of greatest visual acuity). In Study 2, breeds with high cephalic index and more frontally placed eyes (brachycephalic breeds, N = 25, 14 breeds) were compared with breeds with low cephalic index and laterally placed eyes (dolichocephalic breeds, N = 25, 14 breeds). RESULTS: In Study 1, cooperative workers were significantly more successful in utilizing the human pointing gesture than both the independent workers and the mongrels.In study 2, we found that brachycephalic dogs performed significantly better than dolichocephalic breeds. DISCUSSION: After controlling for environmental factors, we have provided evidence that at least two independent phenotypic traits with certain genetic variability affect the ability of dogs to rely on human visual cues. This finding should caution researchers against making simple generalizations about the effects of domestication and on dog-wolf differences in the utilization of human visual signals.  
  Address Dept, of Ethology, Eotvos University, H-1117, Budapest, Pazmany P, s, 1/c,, Hungary. gm.art@t-online.hu  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1744-9081 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:19630939 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4968  
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Author Heleski, C.R.; McGreevy, P.D.; Kaiser, L.J.; Lavagnino, M.; Tans, E.; Bello, N.; Clayton, H.M. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Effects on behaviour and rein tension on horses ridden with or without martingales and rein inserts Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication The Veterinary Journal Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 181 Issue 1 Pages 56-62  
  Keywords Horse behaviour; Horse welfare; Equitation science; Rein tension; Martingales  
  Abstract Unsteady hand position can cause discomfort to the horse, potentially leading to conflict behaviours (CB) such as head tossing or tail lashing. Some instructors feel that martingales or elastic rein inserts can reduce discomfort caused by inexperienced and unsteady hands. Others consider these devices to be inappropriate [`]crutches'. Four horses and nine riders were tested under three conditions in random order: plain reins, adjustable training martingales (TM), and elasticised rein inserts (RI). Rein-tension data (7 s) and behavioural data (30 s) were collected in each direction. Rein-tension data were collected via strain-gauge transducers. Behavioural data were assessed using an ethogram of defined behaviours. No differences in the number of CB were observed. Mean rein tension for TM was higher than that of RI or controls. Relative to the withers, the head was lower for horses ridden with martingales. Carefully fitted martingales may have a place in riding schools that teach novices.  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1090-0233 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4807  
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Author Eagle, N.; Pentland, A. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Eigenbehaviors: identifying structure in routine Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.  
  Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages 1057-1066-1066  
  Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences  
  Abstract Longitudinal behavioral data generally contains a significant amount of structure. In this work, we identify the structure inherent in daily behavior with models that can accurately analyze, predict, and cluster multimodal data from individuals and communities within the social network of a population. We represent this behavioral structure by the principal components of the complete behavioral dataset, a set of characteristic vectors we have termed eigenbehaviors. In our model, an individual’s behavior over a specific day can be approximated by a weighted sum of his or her primary eigenbehaviors. When these weights are calculated halfway through a day, they can be used to predict the day’s remaining behaviors with 79% accuracy for our test subjects. Additionally, we demonstrate the potential for this dimensionality reduction technique to infer community affiliations within the subjects’ social network by clustering individuals into a behavior space spanned by a set of their aggregate eigenbehaviors. These behavior spaces make it possible to determine the behavioral similarity between both individuals and groups, enabling 96% classification accuracy of community affiliations within the population-level social network. Additionally, the distance between individuals in the behavior space can be used as an estimate for relational ties such as friendship, suggesting strong behavioral homophily amongst the subjects. This approach capitalizes on the large amount of rich data previously captured during the Reality Mining study from mobile phones continuously logging location, proximate phones, and communication of 100 subjects at MIT over the course of 9 months. As wearable sensors continue to generate these types of rich, longitudinal datasets, dimensionality reduction techniques such as eigenbehaviors will play an increasingly important role in behavioral research.  
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  Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5189  
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