|
|
Fox, N. A. (2004). Temperament and early experience form social behavior. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1038, 171–178.
Abstract: Individual differences in the way persons respond to stimulation can have important consequences for their ability to learn and their choice of vocation. Temperament is the study of such individual differences, being thought of as the behavioral style of an individual. Common to all approaches in the study of temperament are the notions that it can be identified in infancy, is fairly stable across development, and influences adult personality. We have identified a specific temperament type in infancy that involves heightened distress to novel and unfamiliar stimuli. Infants who exhibit this temperament are likely, as they get older, to display behavioral inhibition-wariness and heightened vigilance of the unfamiliar-particularly in social situations. Our work has also described the underlying biology of this temperament and has linked it to neural systems supporting fear responses in animals. Children displaying behavioral inhibition are at-risk for behavioral problems related to anxiety and social withdrawal.
|
|
|
|
Zhang, T. - Y., Parent, C., Weaver, I., & Meaney, M. J. (2004). Maternal programming of individual differences in defensive responses in the rat. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1032, 85–103.
Abstract: This paper describes the results of a series of studies showing that variations in mother-pup interactions program the development of individual differences in behavioral and endocrine stress responses in the rat. These effects are associated with altered expression of genes in brain regions, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus, that regulate the expression of stress responses. Studies from evolutionary biology suggest that such “maternal effects” are common and often associated with variations in the quality of the maternal environment. Together these findings suggest an epigenetic process whereby the experience of the mother alters the nature of the parent-offspring interactions and thus the phenotype of the offspring.
|
|
|
|
Kalin, N. H., & Shelton, S. E. (2003). Nonhuman primate models to study anxiety, emotion regulation, and psychopathology. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1008, 189–200.
Abstract: This paper demonstrates that the rhesus monkey provides an excellent model to study mechanisms underlying human anxiety and fear and emotion regulation. In previous studies with rhesus monkeys, stable, brain, endocrine, and behavioral characteristics related to individual differences in anxiety were found. It was suggested that, when extreme, these features characterize an anxious endophenotype and that these findings in the monkey are particularly relevant to understanding adaptive and maladaptive anxiety responses in humans. The monkey model is also relevant to understanding the development of human psychopathology. For example, children with extremely inhibited temperament are at increased risk to develop anxiety disorders, and these children have behavioral and biological alterations that are similar to those described in the monkey anxious endophenotype. It is likely that different aspects of the anxious endophenotype are mediated by the interactions of limbic, brain stem, and cortical regions. To understand the brain mechanisms underlying adaptive anxiety responses and their physiological concomitants, a series of studies in monkeys lesioning components of the neural circuitry (amygdala, central nucleus of the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex) hypothesized to play a role are currently being performed. Initial findings suggest that the central nucleus of the amygdala modulates the expression of behavioral inhibition, a key feature of the endophenotype. In preliminary FDG positron emission tomography (PET) studies, functional linkages were established between the amygdala and prefrontal cortical regions that are associated with the activation of anxiety.
|
|
|
|
Gallup, G. G. J. (1997). On the rise and fall of self-conception in primates. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 818, 72–82.
|
|
|
|
Swartz, K. B. (1997). What is mirror self-recognition in nonhuman primates, and what is it not? Ann N Y Acad Sci, 818, 64–71.
|
|
|
|
Levy, J. (1977). The mammalian brain and the adaptive advantage of cerebral asymmetry. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 299, 264–272.
|
|
|
|
McClearn, G. E. (1971). Behavioral genetics. Behav Sci, 16(1), 64–81.
|
|
|
|
Griffin, B. (2002). The use of fecal markers to facilitate sample collection in group-housed cats. Contemp Top Lab Anim Sci, 41(2), 51–56.
Abstract: The provision of proper social housing is a priority when designing an experiment using domestic cats as laboratory animals. When animals are group-housed, studies requiring analysis of stool samples from individual subjects pose difficulty in sample collection and identification. In this study, commercially available concentrated food colorings (known as bakers pastes) were used as fecal markers in group-housed cats. Cats readily consumed 0.5 ml of bakers paste food coloring once daily in canned cat food. Colorings served as fecal markers by imparting a distinct color to each cat s feces, allowing identification in the litter box. In addition, colored glitter (1/8 teaspoon in canned food) was fed to cats and found to be a reliable fecal marker. Long-term feeding of colorings and glitter was found to be safe and effective at yielding readily identifiable stools.
|
|
|
|
Buechner-Maxwell, V. A., Elvinger, F., Thatcher, C. D., Murray, M. J., White, N. A., & Rooney, D. K. (2003). Physiological Response of Normal Adult Horses to a Low-Residue Liquid Diet. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 23(7), 310–317.
Abstract: Abstract The anorexic or dysphagic adult horse often requires nutritional support. Providing nutrients by the enteral route is the safest and most economic choice, but the dietary options available for use in horses are somewhat limited. The objective of this study was to compare the physiologic response of normal horses with a low-residue liquid or normal diet over a 10-day feeding period. Two groups of 6 normal adult horses were maintained on 1 of 2 diets for a 10-day period. Diets were formulated to meet the caloric needs of a horse maintained in a stall. The control group was fed 70% timothy hay and 30% textured concentrate for the test period, and the experimental group received the low-residue liquid diet, similar to liquid nutritional formulas designed for human use. Clinical parameters, body weight, packed cell volume, total plasma solids, blood glucose, and serum electrolytes were recorded daily for each horse during the dietary trial period. On days 1, 5, and 10 of the study, a complete blood count, serum biochemical profile, and urinalysis were performed. Horses' serum total bilirubin concentration and pattern of weight loss differed between groups. All other physical parameters, blood chemistry, complete blood count, and urinalysis results remained within the normal reference interval for the horses regardless of diet, although some statistical differences were observed. Horses returned to pasture and free-choice grass diet without complications at the end of the dietary trial period. These results demonstrate that few differences of biologic significance were observed between horses being fed low-residue diet and horses receiving a normal diet of hay and grain over a 10-day period. (Equine Vet J 2003;23:310-317)
|
|
|
|
Marinier, S. L., & Alexander, A. J. (1991). Selective grazing behaviour in horses: development of methodology and preliminary use of tests to measure individual grazing ability. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 30(3-4), 203–221.
Abstract: Methods are described to assess horses' selective grazing ability that includes choosing, sorting and the adaptive value of this behaviour. Choosing ability was tested by the experimenter presenting pairs of cut plant species that were then alternated at each presentation until the test horse had taken three bites of one of the plant pair. The results were analysed in relation to five measures of choosing behaviour: (1) the strength of the choice; (2) correspondence between first bite and the final choice; (3) constancy of the choice over a number of trials; (4) the comparison of the horses' ranking of the species over a number of trials; (5) the constancy of the linear arrangement of the plants over a number of trials. Sorting ability was tested using two methods. A mixture of two plant species was presented either in a clamp or loose in a trough. Results were based on number and weight of plant residues. The adaptive value of the behaviour related to the bitterness of toxic plants. This bitterness was represented in testing by quinine sulphate and a poisonous Senecio species. An extremely bitter substance “Bitrex” was also used in this context but was totally accepted by the horses. The horses' reactions to these substances were monitored using a behavioural score chart. The results from 12 horses revealed that the horses differed individually in their grazing ability. On this basis, the horses were classified as efficient, semi-efficient, or inefficient grazers. This finding has practical implications in deciding which horses may safely graze on pastures infested with toxic plants.
|
|
