Sulfation modification of dopamine in brain regulates aggregative behavior of animals

Behavioral plasticity and the underlying neuronal plasticity represent a fundamental capacity of animals to cope with environmental stimuli. Behavioral plasticity is controlled by complex molecular networks that act under different layers of regulation. While various molecules have been found to be involved in the regulation of plastic behaviors across species, less is known about how organisms orchestrate the activity of these molecules as part of a coherent behavioral response to varying environments. Here we discover a mechanism for the regulation of animal behavioral plasticity involving molecular sulfation in brain, a modification of substrate molecules by sulfotransferase (ST)-catalyzed addition of a sulfonate group (SO3) from an obligate donor, 3’-phosphoadenosine 5’-phosphosulfate (PAPS) to the substrates. We investigated aggregation behaviors of the migratory locusts, which are well-known for extreme phase change plasticity triggered by population density. The processes of PAPS biosynthesis acted efficiently on induction of locust behavioral transition: Inhibition of PAPS synthesis solicited a behavioral shift from gregarious to solitarious states; external PAPS dosage, by contrast, promoted aggregation in solitarious locusts. Genetic or pharmacological intervention in the sulfation catalyzation resulted into pronounced solitarizing effects. Analysis of substrate-specific STs suggests a widespread involvement of sulfated neurotransmitters in the behavioral response. Dopamine in brain was finally identified to be actively sulfate conjugated, and the sulfate conjugation enhanced the free DA-mediated behavioral aggregation. Similar results in Caenorhabditis elegans and mouse indicate that sulfation may be involved more broadly in the modulation of animal aggregation. These findings revealed a general mechanism that effectively regulates animal social-like behavioral plasticity possibly through sulfation-mediated modification of neural networks.

Rotational Flocking with Spontaneous Directional Changes

Revealing the underlying decision-making strategy governing the high-group polarization accompanied by conflicting individual preferences may play a central part in the lives of social animals. Hereby, we construct a structured spin model in accordance with empirical validation, which shows how distinct individual preferences converge from one consensus homeostasis to another lowest-energy equilibrium. To verify the theoretical derivation, we use high-resolution spatiotemporal GPS data of a flock of thirty pigeons and study the dynamical evolution mechanism of systemic spins. Therein, we find successful rotational direction transitions requiring a sufficient number of supporters. A few initiators trigger the phase transition from one equilibrium to another, where the symmetric transient state indicates a diamond hierarchical network being completed by the intermediates and the rear individuals. By further studying the nature, we reveal that decision-making sequences are strongly triggered and influenced by individual positions and the leader-follower relationship. Thus, we can predict which individual is more likely to make the decision before the initial transition moment and who will draw the complete stop. Consequently, the revealed decision-making strategy facilitates a comprehensive understanding of collective behavioral transition.

Exploring Collaborative Problem Solving Behavioral Transition Patterns in Science of Taiwanese Students at Age 15 According to Mastering Levels

This study analyzed the collaborative problem solving (CPS) behavioral transition patterns of 53,859 Taiwanese students in science at age 15 by using an online Taiwanese CPS assessment that was designed according to the Programme for International Student Assessment 2015 CPS framework. Because of behavioral changes over the testing period, the CPS target skills that corresponded to the assessment items can be viewed as a CPS behavioral sequence. Hence, a lag sequential analysis was applied to explore the significance of the interactions among the CPS skills. The behavioral sequence is coded according to the level of mastery (0, 1, or 2) of items. The CPS transition patterns were analyzed in three gaps, namely the gender gap, the urban–rural gap, and the achievement gap. The findings showed that “Monitoring and repairing the shared understanding” was a crucial CPS skill in science. Moreover, the female students who would follow rules of engagement effectively exhibited higher scores than male students did in monitoring the results of their actions and evaluating their success in solving the problem. No obvious differences were observed in the urban–rural gap, whereas differences were observed in the achievement gap.

An epigenomic shift in amygdala marks the transition from pup-aversive to maternal-like behaviors in alloparenting virgin female mice

In many species, adults will care for young offspring that are not their own, a phenomenon called alloparenting. However, most nonparental adults experience an initial aversion to newborns, which must be overcome before a robust display of parental-like behaviors can begin. To capture neurogenomic events underlying this dramatic behavioral transition, we analyzed brain gene expression and chromatin profiles of virgin female mice co-housed with mothers during pregnancy and after birth. After an initial display of agonistic behaviors and a surge of defense-related gene expression, we observed a dramatic shift in the chromatin landscape specifically in amygdala, accompanied by a dampening of the defense-related genes. This shift coincided with the emergence of behaviors and gene expression classically associated with maternal care. The results reveal the outlines of a neurogenomic program associated with this dramatic aversive-to-affiliative behavioral switch, and suggest molecular networks that may be relevant to human postpartum mental health.

Vibrational communication and mating behavior of the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

The greenhouse whitefly (GW), Trialeurodes vaporariorum is considered one of the most harmful insect pests in greenhouses worldwide. The GW mating behavior has been partially investigated and its vibrational communication is only in part known. A deeper knowledge of its intraspecific communication is required to evaluate the applicability of control methods based on techniques of behavioral manipulation. In this study, for the first time, we provided a detailed ethogram of the GW mating behavior and we characterized the vibrational signals emitted during the process of pair formation. We characterized two types of male vibrational emissions (“chirp” and “pulses”), differently arranged according to the behavioral stage to form stage-specific signals, and a previously undescribed Male Rivalry Signal. We recorded and characterized two new female signals: The Female Responding Signal and the Female Rejective Signal. The mating behavior of GW can be divided into six different stages that we named “call”, “alternated duet”, “courtship”, “overlapped duet”, “mating”, “failed mating attempt”. The analysis performed with the Markovian behavioral transition matrix showed that the “courtship” is the key stage in which male exhibits its quality and can lead to the “overlapped duet” stage. The latter is strictly associated to the female acceptance and therefore it plays a crucial role to achieve mating success. Based on our findings, we consider the use of vibrational playbacks interfering with GW mating communication a promising option for pest control in greenhouses. We discuss the possibility to start a research program of behavioral manipulation to control the populations of GW.

Reviewing the difficulties of Hungarian higher education in the first quarter of the 20th century and the role of university youth after the ‘Great War’

The basic idea of this paper was generated by some motion pictures shot on October events of 1918. This, at that time fundamentally novel media of mass communication can be considered as a visual interpretation of the moral behavior and the role attributed to the contemporary university youth in the series of revolutions after the ‘Great War’. Young people, many of them from universities, collected shocking experiences in the war that generated their moral and behavioral transition. At the time of the turn of the century there were development processes initiated in the Hungarian higher education, however, the war caused a break in these processes and, there were also certain structural changes introduced during and immediately after the end of the war which resulted in chaotic circumstances that kept on deepening the stress of students. Both the traditional press together with other printed documents and the contemporary newsreel have provided us with the sources being necessary and enough for making an attempt to answer, in what here follows, the questions: how the drastically changed, consequently chaotic situation within the Hungarian higher education along with the declined activity of student associations influenced the students, as well as how the most highlighted phenomena, such as the impact of war on everyday life and economy, the emergence and spread of violence, the reactions to the increased admission of female and Jewish students at universities affected the entire society and within this the university circumstances immediately after the armistice, and why the violence, radicalization, and “brutalization” of the so-called “war generation” became featuring at demonstrations.

Corticostriatal control of defense behavior in mice induced by auditory looming cues

Animals exhibit innate defense behaviors in response to approaching threats cued by the dynamics of sensory inputs of various modalities. The underlying neural circuits have been mostly studied in the visual system, but remain unclear for other modalities. Here, by utilizing sounds with increasing (vs. decreasing) loudness to mimic looming (vs. receding) objects, we find that looming sounds elicit stereotypical sequential defensive reactions: freezing followed by flight. Both behaviors require the activity of auditory cortex, in particular the sustained type of responses, but are differentially mediated by corticostriatal projections primarily innervating D2 neurons in the tail of the striatum and corticocollicular projections to the superior colliculus, respectively. The behavioral transition from freezing to flight can be attributed to the differential temporal dynamics of the striatal and collicular neurons in their responses to looming sound stimuli. Our results reveal an essential role of the striatum in the innate defense control.

A Multiscalar Consideration of the Athabascan Migration

Genetic and linguistic evidence suggests that, after living in the Subarctic for thousands of years, Northern Athabascans began migrating to the American Southwest around 1,000 years ago. Anthropologists have proposed that this partial out-migration and several associated in situ behavioral changes were the result of a massive volcanic eruption that decimated regional caribou herds. However, regional populations appear to increase around the time of these changes, a demographic shift that may have led to increased territoriality, resource stress, and specialization. Building on existing syntheses of cultural dynamics in the region, analyses of excavated materials, and landscape data from Alaska and Yukon, this research shows that the Athabascan transition represented a gradual shift toward resource specialization in both salmon and caribou with an overall increase in diet breadth, indicating a behavioral transition that is more consistent with gradual demographic change. Further, this behavioral shift was already in motion at the time of the volcanic eruption circa 1150 cal BP and suggests that the ultimate migration from the area was the result of demographic pressures. In sum, this research elaborates on the complex dynamics of resilience and adaptation in hunter-gatherer groups and provides a testable model for explaining past migrations.

Knowledge and Practice of Menstrual Hygiene among Adolescent School Girls in Tanahun District

Menstruation is not just a physiological phenomenon but it is also psychological, social as well as behavioral transition for an adolescent girl from girlhood to womanhood. Menstrual hygiene is most important, still neglected area of concern. A cross sectional study was undertaken in a four community schools of rural area of Tanahun district. A pre-designed, self-administered close ended (structured) questionnaire was prepared for collection of data. There were 196 participants for the study. It was marked that 69 percent participants were aware about menstruation before their menarche and the most important sources of information were mothers in 61 percent, 59 percent participants used only sanitary napkin during menstruation, 50 percent changed absorbent 1 to 2 times a day. Although knowledge was better than practice, however, both were not satisfactory level. So, the girls should be educated more about the process and significance of menstruation.