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"Behavior, Animal - physiology"
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Behavioural neuroscience
\"Brain and behaviour are intrinsically linked. Animals demonstrate a huge and complex repertoire of behaviours, so how can specific behaviours be mapped onto the complicated neural circuits of the brain? Highlighting the extraordinary advances that have been made in the field of behavioural neuroscience over recent decades, this book examines how behaviours can be understood in terms of their neural mechanisms. Each chapter outlines the components of a particular behaviour, discussing laboratory techniques, the key brain structures involved, and the underpinning cellular and molecular mechanisms. Commins covers a range of topics including learning in a simple invertebrate, fear conditioning, taste aversion, sound localization, and echolocation in bats, as well as more complex behaviours, such as language development, spatial navigation and circadian rhythms. Demonstrating key processes through clear, step-by-step explanations and numerous illustrations, this will be valuable reading for students of zoology, animal behaviour, psychology, and neuroscience\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Dengue virus infection modifies mosquito blood-feeding behavior to increase transmission to the host
Mosquito blood-feeding behavior is a key determinant of the epidemiology of dengue viruses (DENV), the most-prevalent mosquitoborne viruses. However, despite its importance, how DENV infection influences mosquito blood-feeding and, consequently, transmission remains unclear. Here, we developed a high-resolution, video-based assay to observe the blood-feeding behavior of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes on mice. We then applied multivariate analysis on the high-throughput, unbiased data generated from the assay to ordinate behavioral parameters into complex behaviors. We showed that DENV infection increases mosquito attraction to the host and hinders its biting efficiency, the latter resulting in the infected mosquitoes biting more to reach similar blood repletion as uninfected mosquitoes. To examine how increased biting influences DENV transmission to the host, we established an in vivo transmission model with immuno-competent mice and demonstrated that successive short probes result in multiple transmissions. Finally, to determine how DENV-induced alterations of host-seeking and biting behaviors influence dengue epidemiology, we integrated the behavioral data within a mathematical model. We calculated that the number of infected hosts per infected mosquito, as determined by the reproduction rate, tripled when mosquito behavior was influenced by DENV infection. Taken together, this multidisciplinary study details how DENV infection modulates mosquito blood-feeding behavior to increase vector capacity, proportionally aggravating DENV epidemiology. By elucidating the contribution of mosquito behavioral alterations on DENV transmission to the host, these results will inform epidemiological modeling to tailor improved interventions against dengue.
Journal Article
What a fish knows : the inner lives of our underwater cousins
\"Do fishes think? Do they really have three-second memories? And can they recognize the humans who peer back at them from above the surface of the water? In [this book], the myth-busting ethologist Jonathan Balcombe addresses these questions and more, taking us under the sea, through streams and estuaries, and to the other side of the aquarium glass to reveal the surprising capabilities of fishes\"--Dust jacket flap.
Book
Pheromones in birds: myth or reality
Birds are anosmic or at best microsmatic… This misbelief persisted until very recently and has strongly influenced the outcome of communication studies in birds, with olfaction remaining neglected as compared to acoustic and visual channels. However, there is now clear empirical evidence showing that olfaction is perfectly functional in birds and birds use olfactory information in a variety of ethological contexts. Although the existence of pheromones has never been formally demonstrated in this vertebrate class, different groups of birds, such as petrels, auklets and ducks have been shown to produce specific scents that could play a significant role in within-species social interactions. Behavioral experiments have indeed demonstrated that these odors influence the behavior of conspecifics. Additionally, in quail, deprivation of olfactory inputs decreases neuronal activation induced by sexual interactions with a female. It seems therefore well established that birds enjoy a functional sense of smell and a fast growing body of experimental evidence suggests that they use this channel of olfactory communication to control their social life. The unequivocal identification of an avian pheromone is, however, still ahead of us but there are now many exciting opportunities to unravel the behavioral and physiological particularities of chemical communication in birds.
Journal Article
An immense world : how animals sense earth's amazing secrets
\"The New York Times bestseller now available with beautiful full-color illustrations for young readers! Explore the amazing ways animals see, hear, and feel the world, with Pulitzer Prize winner Ed Yong. Did you know that there are turtles who can track the Earth's magnetic fields? That some fish use electricity to talk to each other? Or that giant squids evolved their enormous eyeballs to look out for whales? The world is so much BIGGER and more \"immense\" than we humans experience it. We can only see so many colors, we can only feel so many sensations, and there are some senses we can't access at all. Exploring the amazing ways animals perceive the world is an excellent way to help understand the world itself. And this young readers adaptation of the mega-bestseller AN IMMENSE WORLD is perfect for curious kids and their families. Sure to capture young readers' interest it is filled amazing animal facts and stunning full-color illustrations. Along the way are tons of amazing animal facts: Did you know that leopard pee smells like popcorn? That there is a special kind of shrimp whose punches are faster than a bullet? That it's important to take your dog for dedicated \"smell walks?\" Want to know the real reason zebras have stripes? (hint: it's not for camouflage)? Pick up this enthralling and enormously entertaining book to find out! A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection\"-- Provided by publisher.
BOOK
Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts
A meta-analysis of studies on chimpanzees and bonobos across Africa shows that their conspecific aggression is the normal and expected product of adaptive strategies to obtain resources or mates and has no connection with the impacts of human activities.
Chimpanzees born to get wild
Studies of our closest living relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos, have been influential in efforts to understand the evolution of aggressive behaviour in our own species. In recent years, however, the validity of these studies has been questioned by proponents of the human impacts hypothesis, which argues that the occurrence of violence in chimpanzees is mainly the result of human activities. Now a meta-analysis of studies on chimpanzees and bonobos across Africa reveals that aggression between chimpanzees is the normal and expected product of adaptive strategies to obtain resources or mates, and has no connection with the presence or otherwise of human beings.
Observations of chimpanzees (
Pan troglodytes
) and bonobos (
Pan paniscus
) provide valuable comparative data for understanding the significance of conspecific killing. Two kinds of hypothesis have been proposed. Lethal violence is sometimes concluded to be the result of adaptive strategies, such that killers ultimately gain fitness benefits by increasing their access to resources such as food or mates
1
,
2
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5
. Alternatively, it could be a non-adaptive result of human impacts, such as habitat change or food provisioning
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,
8
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9
. To discriminate between these hypotheses we compiled information from 18 chimpanzee communities and 4 bonobo communities studied over five decades. Our data include 152 killings (
n
= 58 observed, 41 inferred, and 53 suspected killings) by chimpanzees in 15 communities and one suspected killing by bonobos. We found that males were the most frequent attackers (92% of participants) and victims (73%); most killings (66%) involved intercommunity attacks; and attackers greatly outnumbered their victims (median 8:1 ratio). Variation in killing rates was unrelated to measures of human impacts. Our results are compatible with previously proposed adaptive explanations for killing by chimpanzees, whereas the human impact hypothesis is not supported.
Journal Article
An immense world : how animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us
\"The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world. This book welcomes us into a previously unfathomable dimension--the world as it is truly perceived by other animals. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires (and fireworks), songbirds that can see the Earth's magnetic fields, and brainless jellyfish that nonetheless have complex eyes. We discover that a crocodile's scaly face is as sensitive as a lover's fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, and that even fingernail-sized spiders can make out the craters of the moon. We meet people with unusual senses, from women who can make out extra colors to blind individuals who can navigate using reflected echoes like bats. Yong tells the stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, and also looks ahead at the many mysteries which lie unsolved\"-- Provided by publisher.
Functions of galanin, spexin and kisspeptin in metabolism, mood and behaviour
The bioactive peptides galanin, spexin and kisspeptin have a common ancestral origin and their pathophysiological roles are increasingly the subject of investigation. Evidence suggests that these bioactive peptides play a role in the regulation of metabolism, pancreatic β-cell function, energy homeostasis, mood and behaviour in several species, including zebrafish, rodents and humans. Galanin signalling suppresses insulin secretion in animal models (but not in humans), is potently obesogenic and plays putative roles governing certain evolutionary behaviours and mood modulation. Spexin decreases insulin secretion and has potent anorectic, analgesic, anxiolytic and antidepressive-like effects in animal models. Kisspeptin modulates glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, food intake and/or energy expenditure in animal models and humans. Furthermore, kisspeptin is implicated in the control of reproductive behaviour in animals, modulation of human sexual and emotional brain processing, and has antidepressive and fear-suppressing effects. In addition, galanin-like peptide is a further member of the galaninergic family that plays emerging key roles in metabolism and behaviour. Therapeutic interventions targeting galanin, spexin and/or kisspeptin signalling pathways could therefore contribute to the treatment of conditions ranging from obesity to mood disorders. However, many gaps and controversies exist, which must be addressed before the therapeutic potential of these bioactive peptides can be established.The bioactive peptides galanin, spexin and kisspeptin have a common ancestral origin. This Review summarizes the available evidence on the role of these peptides in the regulation of metabolism, pancreatic β-cell function, energy homeostasis, mood and behaviour.
Journal Article
An immense world : how animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us
\"The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world.This book welcomes us into a previously unfathomable dimension-the world as it is truly perceived by other animals. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires (and fireworks), songbirds that can see the Earth's magnetic fields, and brainless jellyfish that nonetheless have complex eyes. We discover that a crocodile's scaly face is as sensitive as a lover's fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, and that even fingernail-sized spiders can make out the craters of the moon. We meet people with unusual senses, from women who can make out extra colors to blind individuals who can navigate using reflected echoes like bats. Yong tells the stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, and also looks ahead at the many mysteries which lie unsolved\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Female sexual behavior in mice is controlled by kisspeptin neurons
Sexual behavior is essential for the survival of many species. In female rodents, mate preference and copulatory behavior depend on pheromones and are synchronized with ovulation to ensure reproductive success. The neural circuits driving this orchestration in the brain have, however, remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate that neurons controlling ovulation in the mammalian brain are at the core of a branching neural circuit governing both mate preference and copulatory behavior. We show that male odors detected in the vomeronasal organ activate kisspeptin neurons in female mice. Classical kisspeptin/Kiss1R signaling subsequently triggers olfactory-driven mate preference. In contrast, copulatory behavior is elicited by kisspeptin neurons in a parallel circuit independent of Kiss1R involving nitric oxide signaling. Consistent with this, we find that kisspeptin neurons impinge onto nitric oxide-synthesizing neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus. Our data establish kisspeptin neurons as a central regulatory hub orchestrating sexual behavior in the female mouse brain.
Mate preference and copulatory behavior in female rodents are coordinated with the ovulation cycles of the animal. This study shows that hypothalamic kisspeptin neurons control both mate choice and copulation, and therefore, that sexual behavior and ovulation may be synchronized by the same neuropeptide.
Journal Article