Periaqueductal gray neurons encode the sequential motor program in hunting behavior of mice

Sequential encoding of motor programs is essential for behavior generation. However, whether it is critical for instinctive behavior is still largely unknown. Mouse hunting behavior typically contains a sequential motor program, including the prey search, chase, attack, and consumption. Here, we reveal that the neuronal activity in the lateral periaqueductal gray (LPAG) follows a sequential pattern and is time-locked to different hunting actions. Optrode recordings and photoinhibition demonstrate that LPAGVgat neurons are required for the prey detection, chase and attack, while LPAGVglut2 neurons are selectively required for the attack. Ablation of inputs that could trigger hunting, including the central amygdala, the lateral hypothalamus, and the zona incerta, interrupts the activity sequence pattern and substantially impairs hunting actions. Therefore, our findings reveal that periaqueductal gray neuronal ensembles encode the sequential hunting motor program, which might provide a framework for decoding complex instinctive behaviors.

An Adaptive Location-Aware Swarm Intelligence Optimization Algorithm

Optimization is an important and decisive task in science. Many optimization problems in science are naturally too complicated and difficult to be modeled and solved by the conventional optimization methods such as mathematical programming problem solvers. Meta-heuristic algorithms that are inspired by nature have started a new era in computing theory to solve the optimization problems. The paper seeks to find an optimization algorithm that learns the expected quality of different places gradually and adapts its exploration-exploitation dilemma to the location of an individual. Using birds’ classical conditioning learning behavior, in this paper, a new particle swarm optimization algorithm has been introduced where particles can learn to perform a natural conditioning behavior towards an unconditioned stimulus. Particles are divided into multiple categories in the problem space and if any of them finds the diversity of its category to be low, it will try to go towards its best personal experience. But if the diversity among the particles of its category is high, it will try to be inclined to the global optimum of its category. We have also used the idea of birds’ sensitivity to the space in which they fly and we have tried to move the particles more quickly in improper spaces so that they would depart these spaces as fast as possible. On the contrary, we reduced the particles’ speed in valuable spaces in order to let them explore those places more. In the initial population, the algorithm has used the instinctive behavior of birds to provide a population based on the particles’ merits. The proposed method has been implemented in MATLAB and the results have been divided into several subpopulations or parts. The proposed method has been compared to the state-of-the-art methods. It has been shown that the proposed method is a consistent algorithm for solving the static optimization problems.

Phenomenological Approaches in the Theory of Architecture in the Context of Modern Cognitive Science

The article is a fragment of the scientific research devoted to the analysis of mod­ern approaches to the understanding of architecture. It considers the problems of phenomenological approach to architecture. Applied to architectural issues, the phenomenological approach can be considered as very productive and promising, but only as it appears to be practiced by K. Norberg-Schulz and J. Pallasmaa. The article notes the fundamental unity of views, which is demonstrated by repre­sentatives of the phenomenological approach, despite the individual speci­ficity of the each representative’s position. Probably, the integrity and depth of the phe­nomenological concept (in its “primordial form”) is consonant with the comp­rehensiveness of each individual act of perception. The author also draws atten­tion to the significant circumstance, that the phenomenological approach is in fundamentally irreconcilable contradiction (conceptual and methodological) to the numerous attempts by “architectural semiotics and structuralists” to explain the whole by breaking it up into “semantic fragments”. He analyzes the corre­lation between the position of representatives of the phenomenological approach to architecture and scientific views in the sphere of modern psychology and ana­lytical philosophy. The article notes the basic similarity of the phenomeno­logical concept with M. Polanyi’s theory of “tacit knowledge”, in which those kinds of knowledge (and also practical skills) are considered and which cannot be formal­ized (partially or completely) for the purpose of transferring to others. The author also offers for consideration the introduction of concept of “pheno­menology of semi-instinctive behavior in its dynamic formation”.

The Intervening Touch of Mentality

Prey-catching behavior (PCB) in frogs and toads has been the focus of intense neuroethological research from the mid-twentieth century to the present and epitomizes some major themes in science and philosophy during this period. It reflects the movement from simple reflexology to more complex views of instinctive behavior, but it also displays a neural reductionism that denies subjectivity and individual agency The present article engages contemporary PCB research but provides a philosophically more promising picture of it based on Whitehead's nonreductionist "philosophy of organism," which proposes that the flow of events from stimulus to response in organisms of all kinds is mediated by "the intervening touch of mentality " This approach resolves some basic mind-body and mind-nature issues that have long bedeviled modern philosophy and presents an image of a postmodern frog for a constructively postmodern science.

Region-specific and state-dependent astrocyte Ca2+ dynamics during the sleep-wake cycle in mice

Neural activity is diverse, and varies depending on brain regions and sleep/wakefulness states. However, whether astrocyte activity differs between sleep/wakefulness states, and whether there are differences in astrocyte activity among brain regions remain poorly understood. In this study, we recorded astrocyte intracellular calcium (Ca2+) concentrations of mice during sleep/wakefulness states in the cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, cerebellum, and pons using fiber photometry. For this purpose, male transgenic mice in which their astrocytes specifically express the genetically encoded ratiometric Ca2+ sensor YCnano50 were used. We demonstrated that Ca2+ levels in astrocytes significantly decrease during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep and increase after the onset of wakefulness. In contrast, differences in Ca2+ levels during non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep were observed among different brain regions, and no significant decrease was observed in the hypothalamus and pons. Further analyses focusing on the transition between sleep/wakefulness states and correlation analysis with episode duration of REM showed that Ca2+ dynamics differed among brain regions, suggesting the existence of several clusters. To quantify region-specific Ca2+ dynamics, principal component analysis was performed to uncover three clusters; i.e., the first comprised the cortex and hippocampus, the second comprised the cerebellum, and the third comprised the hypothalamus and pons. Our study demonstrated that astrocyte Ca2+ levels change substantially according to sleep/wakefulness states. These changes were generally consistent, unlike neural activity. However, we also clarified that Ca2+ dynamics varies depending on the brain region, implying that astrocytes may play various physiological roles in sleep.Significance statementSleep is an instinctive behavior of many organisms. In the previous five decades, the mechanism of the neural circuits controlling sleep/wakefulness states and the neural activities associated with sleep/wakefulness states in various brain regions have been elucidated. However, whether astrocytes, which are a type of glial cell, change their activity during different sleep/wakefulness states is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrated that dynamic changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentrations occur in the cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, cerebellum, and pons of genetically modified mice during natural sleep. Further analyses demonstrated that Ca2+ dynamics slightly differ among different brain regions, implying that the physiological roles of astrocytes in sleep/wakefulness might vary depending on the brain region.

PSV-2 A simple study of the social rank and perch competition of laying hens housed in small furnished cages

Social animals form social hierarchies to maintain the relative stability of the population. Individuals with high social rank can, to some extent, limit the priority of individuals with lower social status to obtain resources, such as food, habitat and spouse. The perch behavior is the instinctive behavior of laying hens. Hens have the motivation to choose perch habitat. Therefore, perch is an effective competitive resource for laying hens. The objective of this study was to examine the social order of small groups of the laying hens housed in furnished cages and to determine the dominant and subordinate hens how to use the limited perch resources. A total of 108 Hy-line Brown rearing hens at 8 weeks of age were randomly divided into three treatment groups, namely, 1) perch increasing group by adding 15cm each time from 0 to 90 cm length (PI group), 2) perch decreasing group by cutting 15cm each time from 90 to 0 cm length (PD group) and 3) perch constant with 90 cm (PC group). There were 6 replicates in each treatment group, 6 birds in each replicate, and the stocking density was 833/cm2. The utilization of limited resources in laying hens was judged by three parameters, i.e. the number of individual occupancies, total use time and single use time. Data were analyzed by using repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that the number of occupancies and the total use time of perch by the dominant hens were significantly higher than the subordinate ones (P < 0.01) in PI, PD and PC groups. The number of individual perch occupancy was positively correlated with the social rank of the hens. This study confirmed that the dominant hens occupied the perch for longer time than the subordinate individuals.

Dynamic encoding of social threat and spatial context in the hypothalamus

Territorial animals must be able to express social aggression or avoidance in a manner appropriate to spatial context and dominance status. Recent studies indicate that the ventromedial hypothalamus controls both innate aggression and avoidance, suggesting that it may encode an internal state of threat common to both behaviors. Here we used single unit in vivo calcium microendoscopy to identify neurons in the mouse ventromedial hypothalamus encoding social threat. Threat neurons were activated during social defeat as well as when the animal performed risk assessment. Unexpectedly, threat neurons were also activate in the chamber where the animal had been previously defeated and a distinct set of neurons emerged that were active in its home chamber, demonstrating the dynamic encoding of spatial context in the hypothalamus. Ensemble analysis of neural activity showed that social defeat induced a change in the encoding of social information and optogenetic activation of ventromedial hypothalamus neurons was able to elicit avoidance after, but not before social defeat, demonstrating a functional reorganization of the pathway by social experience. These findings reveal how instinctive behavior circuits in the hypothalamus dynamically encode spatial and sensory cues to drive adaptive social behaviors.

Instinctive Behavior of Replacing Large Percentage of Carbon with Banana Fiber

This paper is mainly focused on reducing the certain amount of artificial fiber with green fiber or natural fiber. The replacement of particular amount of synthetic fiber, reduce the cost and made the product economical. By doing so the composite become user friendly. In this experiment, using handlay-process, a hybrid polymer matrix is fabricated by replacing some percentage of carbon with banana fiber. The prepared specimen is subjected to mechanical testing. The fabricated work piece resulted in better mechanical properties such as improved tensile strength, hardness, flexural strength and impact strength. This hybrid composite has applications in automobile parts like break lining, leaf springs, etc.

TO THE QUESTION OF AGRICULTURAL POULTRY ETHOLOGY AT THE TECHNOLOGICAL STRESS

In this article, based on the study of the behavior of laying hens under the technological stress caused by the migration of birds from cage keeping to the floor, and finding the correlation of behavior with their physiological state, it was found that in two systems of hierarchy – relative and absolute – in both there were violations of the usual order of common group of birds formation. This is manifested in rank-ing change, unusual excitement and aggression of the birds, the "order of pecking" violated, there were territorial conflicts, in fights birds were injured that led to a decrease in feed intake and general oppres-sion. Especially noticeable was an important indicator of instinctive behavior – redirected aggression, necessary to maintain a hierarchical order. All behavioral reactions were accompanied by changes in blood parameters and a decrease in the overall resistance of animals.. Moreover, blood parameters in animals of the two groups varied differently: in the group with an absolute system of hierarchy, the num-ber of pseudoeosinophils increased by 1.6 times (P<0.02), glucose level increased by 0.06 mmol/l, lyso-zyme activity decreased to 34.37 % against 42.57% in the first group, and bactericidal activity decreased by 33% in animals with an absolute system of hierarchy.