scholarly journals Social preference in rats not impacted by posterior parietal activity despite overall changes in familiarity-based social behavior

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor B. Wise ◽  
Rebecca D. Burwell ◽  
Victoria L. Templer

Recent literature points to a potential link between the evolution of complex social behavior and the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in primates including humans (Parkinson & Wheatley, 2013). Thus far, this theory has been overlooked in other highly social animals that may have also evolved due to social selective pressures. In rodents, there is limited knowledge on the involvement of the PPC on sociality, and most studies of such behavior are limited to understanding social preference. We investigated the role of the PPC through two experiments using the 3-Chamber Sociability and Social Novelty test in rats (Crawley, 2004). In Experiment 1, we used a standard 3-Chamber paradigm, which included two novel demonstrators. In Experiment 2, this paradigm was altered to increase the difference in familiarity between demonstrators such that one demonstrator was highly familiar to the subject and the other was entirely novel. Rats with pre-testing permanent neurotoxic lesions were compared to sham surgery control rats, and the same rats were used for both experiments. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that both groups of rats preferred general social interaction, suggesting no deficit in sociability following PPC damage, regardless of demonstrator identity. Further, experimental and control rats showed similar levels of novelty preference following PPC damage, with novelty preferences increasing in Experiment 2. We argue that heightened novelty preference in Experiment 2 may reflect the increased difference in familiarity between demonstrators. Within the confines of the 3-Chamber task, our results suggest that PPC function was not required for general sociability or social novelty recognition. Because the PPC is implicated in abstract cognition, we argue that existing social tests in rodents may not adequately measure the complex cognitive capacities thought to be supported by the PPC. Future studies should investigate the role of the PPC in social cognition by employing behavioral tasks that require higher cognitive demand rather than testing inherent preference for social partners. Outside of our investigation of the PPC, these results show that social novelty preference can be manipulated through changes in familiarity of demonstrators, and that rats can discriminate others social identities.

2000 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 1677-1680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Van Donkelaar ◽  
Ji-Hang Lee ◽  
Anthony S. Drew

Recent neurophysiological studies have started to shed some light on the cortical areas that contribute to eye-hand coordination. In the present study we investigated the role of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in this process in normal, healthy subjects. This was accomplished by delivering single pulses of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the PPC to transiently disrupt the putative contribution of this area to the processing of information related to eye-hand coordination. Subjects made open-loop pointing movements accompanied by saccades of the same required amplitude or by saccades that were substantially larger. Without TMS the hand movement amplitude was influenced by the amplitude of the corresponding saccade; hand movements accompanied by larger saccades were larger than those accompanied by smaller saccades. When TMS was applied over the left PPC just prior to the onset of the saccade, a marked reduction in the saccadic influence on manual motor output was observed. TMS delivered at earlier or later periods during the response had no effect. Taken together, these data suggest that the PPC integrates signals related to saccade amplitude with limb movement information just prior to the onset of the saccade.


10.1038/9219 ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 563-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Desmurget ◽  
C. M. Epstein ◽  
R. S. Turner ◽  
C. Prablanc ◽  
G. E. Alexander ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 267-280
Author(s):  
Rossella Breveglieri ◽  
Annalisa Bosco ◽  
Sara Borgomaneri ◽  
Alessia Tessari ◽  
Claudio Galletti ◽  
...  

Abstract Accumulating evidence supports the view that the medial part of the posterior parietal cortex (mPPC) is involved in the planning of reaching, but while plenty of studies investigated reaching performed toward different directions, only a few studied different depths. Here, we investigated the causal role of mPPC (putatively, human area V6A–hV6A) in encoding depth and direction of reaching. Specifically, we applied single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the left hV6A at different time points while 15 participants were planning immediate, visually guided reaching by using different eye-hand configurations. We found that TMS delivered over hV6A 200 ms after the Go signal affected the encoding of the depth of reaching by decreasing the accuracy of movements toward targets located farther with respect to the gazed position, but only when they were also far from the body. The effectiveness of both retinotopic (farther with respect to the gaze) and spatial position (far from the body) is in agreement with the presence in the monkey V6A of neurons employing either retinotopic, spatial, or mixed reference frames during reach plan. This work provides the first causal evidence of the critical role of hV6A in the planning of visually guided reaching movements in depth.


2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan P. Zorza ◽  
Julián Marino ◽  
Alberto Acosta Mesas

In this study, we explored the predictive role of behavioral measures of Executive Functions (EFs) and a self-report measure of Effortful Control (EC) on the academic performance of early adolescents. We also analyzed the mediating role of self-reported empathy and social behavior rated by peers (i.e., prosocial behavior and social preference) and by the lead teacher (i.e., social competence). A sample of 244 adolescents aged between 12 and 13 years participated in the study. The resulting structural equation model indicated that EFs and EC predict academic performance in a complementary and independent way. Results also confirmed the mediating role of empathy and social behavior. The final model explained 64% of academic performance. We discuss the appropriateness of obtaining complementary measures of EFs and EC in predictions of academic performance as well as the importance of introducing activities involving self-regulation, empathy, and socioemotional skills in the school setting.


1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
J J F Belch ◽  
S Turi ◽  
M MacLaren ◽  
T J Beattie ◽  
C D Forbes

Henoch-Schoniein purpura (HSP) is the most common type of childhood vasculitis. The skin lesions are the most obvious sign but visceral involvement carries a more serious prognosis. Increasing amounts of data are available regarding the possible role of prostacyclin (PGI2) in the pathogenesis of other vasculo-pathies, but no-one has previously investigated HSP. 17 HSP patients (mean age (SD) 5.7 (2.5) years) and 17 matched controls were studied. The ability of plasma (patient and control) to support PGI2 -like activity was tested. Human umbilical arteries were chopped into rings and incubated in buffer at 37° C. Aliquots of the supernatant were added to platelet rich plasma (PRP) and platelet aggregation measured (Malin's aggregometer). Repeated washings of the rings then depleted PGI. production. The rings were then incubated with test platelet poor plasma (PPP) at 37° C. PGI2 like activity was assessed as before and the results expressed as a percentage of the aggregation obtained by the same exhausted ring before addition of PPP. The results show that the ability of test PPP to support PGI2 like activity was reduced in 13/17 HSP patients. The difference between patients (21.3 (SD 20.5%) and controls (57.2 (SD 12.2%) was significant (p<0.001). Patients with renal and gastro-intestinal involvement (7.5 (SD 18.1%) were significantly different from those patients with only skin involvement (32.3 (SD 23.5%) (p<0.01). Plasma from six patients in which PGI^like activity was undetectable using the above method were further studied to detect PGI2 -inhibitory activity. Unexhausted umbilical rings were incubated at 37°C for 5mins. The baseline PGI2 like activity of the supernatant was compared with that produced after 5mins. incubation with test PPP (o patients, 6 controls). Less like activity was produced by the unexhausted rings when incubated with PPP from the HSP patients than with either control buffer or control PPP (both p<0.01). It seems likely that these abnormalities, having been demonstrated in yet another vasculitic syndrome, are secondary to endothelial damage. The disturbances, however, may well be of importance in extending the primary microvascular insult


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