scholarly journals A Modified Two-Way Active Avoidance Test for Combined Contextual and Auditory Instrumental Conditioning

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Houssein Salah ◽  
Ronza Abdel Rassoul ◽  
Yasser Medlej ◽  
Rita Asdikian ◽  
Helene Hajjar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Avoidance ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Instrumental Conditioning ◽  
Mechanistic Studies ◽  
White Stripe ◽  
Shuttle Box ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Retention Testing ◽  
Modified Test ◽  
Active Avoidance Test

Available two-way active avoidance paradigms do not provide contextual testing, likely due to challenges in performing repetitive trials of context exposure. To incorporate contextual conditioning in the two-way shuttle box, we contextually modified one of the chambers of a standard two-chamber rat shuttle box with visual cues consisting of objects and black and white stripe patterns. During the 5 training days, electrical foot shocks were delivered every 10 s in the contextually modified chamber but were signaled by a tone in the plain chamber. Shuttling between chambers prevented an incoming foot shock (avoidance) or aborted an ongoing one (escape). During contextual retention testing, rats were allowed to freely roam in the box. During auditory retention testing, visual cues were removed, and tone-signaled shocks were delivered in both chambers. Avoidance gradually replaced escape or freezing behaviors reaching 80% on the last training day in both chambers. Rats spent twice more time in the plain chamber during contextual retention testing and had 90% avoidance rates during auditory retention testing. Our modified test successfully assesses both auditory and contextual two-way active avoidance. By efficiently expanding its array of outcomes, our novel test will complement standard two-way active avoidance in mechanistic studies and will improve its applications in translational research.

scholarly journals Integumentary Colour Allocation in the Stork Family (Ciconiidae) Reveals Short-Range Visual Cues for Species Recognition

Birds ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-146
Author(s):  
Eduardo J. Rodríguez-Rodríguez ◽  
Juan J. Negro
Keyword(s):  
Short Range ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Species Recognition ◽  
The Body ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Divergent Evolution ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Chromatic Spectrum ◽  
Mixed Species Flocks

The family Ciconiidae comprises 19 extant species which are highly social when nesting and foraging. All species share similar morphotypes, with long necks, a bill, and legs, and are mostly coloured in the achromatic spectrum (white, black, black, and white, or shades of grey). Storks may have, however, brightly coloured integumentary areas in, for instance, the bill, legs, or the eyes. These chromatic patches are small in surface compared with the whole body. We have analyzed the conservatism degree of colouration in 10 body areas along an all-species stork phylogeny derived from BirdTRee using Geiger models. We obtained low conservatism in frontal areas (head and neck), contrasting with a high conservatism in the rest of the body. The frontal areas tend to concentrate the chromatic spectrum whereas the rear areas, much larger in surface, are basically achromatic. These results lead us to suggest that the divergent evolution of the colouration of frontal areas is related to species recognition through visual cue assessment in the short-range, when storks form mixed-species flocks in foraging or resting areas.

scholarly journals The weakly electric fish, Apteronotus albifrons, actively avoids experimentally induced hypoxia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Mucha ◽  
Lauren J. Chapman ◽  
Rüdiger Krahe
Keyword(s):  
Active Avoidance ◽  
Electric Fish ◽  
Electric Organ ◽  
The Other ◽  
Weakly Electric Fish ◽  
Dissolved Oxygen Concentration ◽  
Shuttle Box ◽  
Freshwater Habitats ◽  
Electric Organ Discharges ◽  
Weakly Electric

AbstractAnthropogenic environmental degradation has led to an increase in the frequency and prevalence of aquatic hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen concentration, DO), which may affect habitat quality for water-breathing fishes. The weakly electric black ghost knifefish, Apteronotus albifrons, is typically found in well-oxygenated freshwater habitats in South America. Using a shuttle-box design, we exposed juvenile A. albifrons to a stepwise decline in DO from normoxia (> 95% air saturation) to extreme hypoxia (10% air saturation) in one compartment and chronic normoxia in the other. On average, A. albifrons actively avoided the hypoxic compartment below 22% air saturation. Hypoxia avoidance was correlated with upregulated swimming activity. Following avoidance, fish regularly ventured back briefly into deep hypoxia. Hypoxia did not affect the frequency of their electric organ discharges. Our results show that A. albifrons is able to sense hypoxia at non-lethal levels and uses active avoidance to mitigate its adverse effects.

scholarly journals Effects of Pramipexole on Learning and Memory Processes in Naïve and Haloperidol-challenged Rats in Active Avoidance Test

Folia Medica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita S. Mihaylova ◽  
Ilia D. Kostadinov ◽  
Nina D. Doncheva ◽  
Hristina I. Zlatanova ◽  
Delian P. Delev
Keyword(s):  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Active Avoidance ◽  
Memory Test ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Motor Symptoms ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Avoidance Test ◽  
Male Wistar Rats ◽  
Active Avoidance Test

Abstract Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurode-generative disease, usually detected by its motor symptoms. The non-motor symptoms, including cognitive deficits, have been of great interest to researchers in the last few decades. Aim: To assess the effect of pramipexole on learning and memory in naïve and haloperidol-challenged rats. Materials and methods: Male Wistar rats divided into 9 groups (n=8): naïve - saline, pramipexole 0.5; 1 and 3 mg/kg bw; Haloperidol groups - saline, haloperidol, haloperidol + pramipexole 0.5; 1 and 3 mg/kg bw. Two-way active avoidance test (TWAA) and activity cage were performed. The studied parameters were: number of conditioned and unconditioned responses, vertical and horizontal movements. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 19. Results: The naïve experimental groups significantly increased the number of conditioned responses during the tests for short- and long-term memory, compared with the saline groups (p<0.05). During the short-memory test only the animals with the lowest dose of PMX significantly increased the number of unconditioned responses whereas during the long-term memory test all experimental groups increased the number of escapes in comparison with the saline groups (p<0.05). Challenge dose of haloperidol attenuates learning and memory in pramipexol treated rats. Only the highest dose of pramipexol showed significant increase in conditioned and unconditioned responses compared with the haloperidol group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Pramipexole improves learning and memory in naïve rats by enhancing dopaminergic neurotransmission. This is probably not the only mechanism involved. This is confirmed by the decrease in learning and memory ability in rats with haloperidol-challenge.

scholarly journals Depth detection in interactive projection system based on one-shot black-and-white stripe pattern

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 5341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Zhou ◽  
Xiaorui Qiao ◽  
Kai Ni ◽  
Xinghui Li ◽  
Xiaohao Wang
Keyword(s):  
Stripe Pattern ◽  
Projection System ◽  
White Stripe ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Depth Detection

Coyote responses to visual and olfactory stimuli related to familiarity with an area

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (12) ◽  
pp. 2248-2253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lamar A. Windberg
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Canis Latrans ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Sensory Cues ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Olfactory Stimuli ◽  
Neophobic Response

Individual coyotes (Canis latrans) are infrequently captured within their familiar areas of activity. Current hypotheses are that the differential capture vulnerability may involve neophobia or inattentiveness. To assess the effect of familiarity, I measured coyote responsiveness to sensory cues encountered in familiar and novel settings. Seventy-four captive coyotes were presented with visual and olfactory stimuli in familiar and unfamiliar 1-ha enclosures. The visual stimuli were black or white wooden cubes of three sizes (4, 8, and 16 cm per side). The olfactory stimuli were fatty acid scent, W-U lure (trimethylammonium decanoate plus sulfide additives), and coyote urine and liquefied feces. Overall, coyotes were more responsive to stimuli during exploration in unfamiliar than in familiar enclosures. None of 38 coyotes that responded were neophobic toward the olfactory stimuli. The frequency of coyote response, and the resulting degrees of neophobia, did not differ between the black and white visual stimuli. Regardless of context, the largest visual stimuli were recognized at the greatest distance and evoked the strongest neophobic response. A greater proportion of coyotes were neophobic toward the small and medium-sized stimuli in familiar than in unfamiliar enclosures. This study demonstrated that when encountered in familiar environments, visual cues are more likely to elicit neophobic responses by coyotes than are olfactory stimuli.

scholarly journals Structure and function of the Nautilus statocyst

1997 ◽  
Vol 352 (1361) ◽  
pp. 1565-1588 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Neumeister ◽  
B. U. Budelmann
Keyword(s):  
Hair Cells ◽  
Stripe Pattern ◽  
White Stripe ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Visual Inputs ◽  
Sensory Hair Cells ◽  
Sinusoidal Oscillations ◽  
Gravity Receptor ◽  
Behavioural Experiments ◽  
And Function

The two equilibrium receptor organs (statocysts) of Nautilus are ovoid sacks, half-filled with numerous small, free-moving statoconia and half with endolymph. The inner surface of each statocyst is lined with 130 000 to 150 000 primary sensory hair cells. The hair cells are of two morphological types. Type A hair cells carry 10 to 15 kinocilia arranged in a single ciliary row; they are present in the ventral half of the statocyst. Type B hair cells carry 8 to 10 irregularly arranged kinocilia; they are present in the dorsal half of the statocyst. Both type of hair cells are morphologically polarized. To test whether these features allow the Nautilus statocyst to sense angular accelerations, behavioural experiments were performed to measure statocyst-dependent funnel movements during sinusoidal oscillations of restrained Nautilus around a vertical body axis. Such dynamic rotatory stimulation caused horizontal phase-locked movements of the funnel. The funnel movements were either in the same direction (compensatory funnel response), or in the opposite direction (funnel follow response) to that of the applied rotation. Compensatory funnel movements were also seen during optokinetic stimulation (with a black and white stripe pattern) and during stimulations in which optokinetic and statocyst stimulations were combined. These morphological and behavioural findings show that the statocysts of Nautilus , in addition to their function as gravity receptor organs, are able to detect rotatory movements (angular accelerations) without the specialized receptor systems (crista/cupula systems) that are found in the statocysts of coleoid cephalopods. The findings further indicate that both statocyst and visual inputs control compensatory funnel movements.

scholarly journals Effects of Long-Term Treatment with Atorvastatin and Rosuaastatin on Active Avoidance Test in Intact Rats

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-28
Author(s):  
Maria T. Georgieva-Kotetarova ◽  
Ivanka I. Kostadinova ◽  
Delian P. Delev
Keyword(s):  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Retention Test ◽  
Active Avoidance ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Memory Retention ◽  
Learning Session ◽  
Conditioned Responses ◽  
Vehicle Treated Group ◽  
Active Avoidance Test

Summary Statins are widely used for treatment of hyperlipidemia. They have been shown to possess pleiotropic effects apart from their lipid-lowering activity - anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and neuroprotective. Most studies suggest that statins can protect the brain against damage but it is not clear whether they improve cognitive function in patients without neuropathy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of 3-month treatment with atorvastatin and rosuvastatin on learning and memory processes in rats without brain damage. Wistar rats were treated orally for 90 days with atorvastatin and rosuvastatin at a dose of 10 mg/kg b. w. in parallel with the vehicle-treated group. After that period, learning ability and memory retention was evaluated using an active avoidance test - automatic reflex conditioner (shuttle box). The learning session was carried out on 5 consecutive days. Memory retention test was performed on day 12. The following behavioral reactions were investigated: conditioned responses (avoidance), unconditioned responses (escapes), and intertrial crossings. We found increased number of conditioned responses in groups, treated with atorvastatin 10 mg/kg b.w., and with rosuvastatin 10 mg/kg b.w. during the learning session and on the memory retention test, as compared to the same-day control group. The atorvastatin-treated group showed an increased number of unconditioned responses on days 1 and 2, as compared to the control group. In the group treated with Rosuvastatin there was an increased number of escapes on days 1,2 and 4, as compared to the vehicle-treated group. Atorvastatin and rosuvastatin at a dose of 10 mg/kg b.w. improved processes of learning and memory retention after the 3-month treatment.

scholarly journals Effect of Atorvastatin and Rosuvastatin on Learning and Memory in Rats with Diazepam-Induced Amnesia

Folia Medica ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria T. Georgieva-Kotetarova ◽  
Ivanka I. Kostadinova
Keyword(s):  
Passive Avoidance ◽  
Active Avoidance ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Avoidance Test ◽  
Avoidance Tests ◽  
Step Down ◽  
Conditioned Responses ◽  
Active Avoidance Test

ABSTRACT During the past decade, evidence has emerged that statins have neuroprotective effects. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of atorvastatin and rosuvastatin on learning and memory in rats with diazepam-induced amnesia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Experiments were carried out on 48 white male Wistar rats, divided into 6 groups, each of 8 rats. The experimental animals were treated per os for 14 days with atorvastatin and rosuvastatin in doses of 10 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg body weight, respectively. To induce amnesia diazepam was administered intraperitoneally in a dose of 2.5 mg/kg bw. Cognitive skills of the animals were examined after the induction of amnesia with active avoidance test using autonomic reflex conditioner (shuttle box) and passive avoidance tests (step-through and step down) (Ugo Basile, Italy). The following parameters were assessed: number of conditioned responses (avoidances), number of unconditioned responses (escapes) and number of intertrial crossings in the active avoidance test; latency of reactions was measured in the passive avoidance tests. RESULTS: We found a significant increase of conditioned responses in atorvastatin treated animals (in a dose of 10 mg/kg bw) in active avoidance training. In the animals treated with rosuvastatin in both doses there was a statistically significant increase of unconditioned responses. In the step-through passive avoidance test there was significant improvement of short-term and long-term memory following administration of atorvastatin (10 mg/kg bw). Rosuvastatin (10 mg/kg bw) preserves long-term memory. In the step-down passive avoidance test, atorvastatin (10 mg/kg bw) and rosuvastatin (10 mg/kg bw and 20 mg/kg bw) preserve long-term memory. CONCLUSIONS: Atorvastatin (10 mg/kg bw) and rosuvastatin (10 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg bw) improve cognitive functions in rats with diazepam-induced amnesia and preserve longterm memory.

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