http://www.mdpi.com/journal/behavsci Latest open access articles published in Behav. Sci. at http://www.mdpi.com/journal/behavsci http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/2/2/79 Stress is a powerful modulator of brain structure and function. While stress is beneficial for survival, inappropriate stress dramatically increases the risk of physical and mental health problems, particularly when experienced during early developmental periods. Here we focus on the neurobiology of the infant rat’s odor learning system that enables neonates to learn and approach the maternal odor and describe the unique role of the stress hormone corticosterone in modulating this odor approach learning across development. During the first nine postnatal days, this odor approach learning of infant rats is supported by a wide range of sensory stimuli and ensures attachment to the mother’s odor, even when interactions with her are occasionally associated with pain. With maturation and the emergence of a stress- or pain-induced corticosterone response, this odor approach learning terminates and a more adult-like amygdala-dependent fear/avoidance learning emerges. Strikingly, the odor approach and attenuated fear learning of older pups can be re-established by the presence of the mother, due to her ability to suppress her pups’ corticosterone release and amygdala activity. This suggests that developmental changes in stress responsiveness and the stimuli that produce a stress response might be critically involved in optimally adapting the pup’s attachment system to its respective ecological niche. http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/2/2/79 Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 CEST Behavioral Sciences 2012-05-18 2 2 Review 79 102 2076-328X Developmental Neurobiology of the Rat Attachment System and Its Modulation by Stress 2012-05-18 doi: 10.3390/bs2020079 Reto Bisaz Regina M. Sullivan http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/2/2/57 Activation of the stress response evokes a cascade of physiological reactions that may be detrimental when repeated or chronic, and when triggered after exposure to psychological/emotional stressors. Investigation of the physiological mechanisms responsible for the health damaging effects requires animal paradigms that repeatedly evoke a response to psychological/emotional stressors. To this end, adult male Sprague Dawley rats were repeatedly exposed (2X per day for 20 days) to a context that they were conditioned to fear (conditioned fear test, CFT). Repeated exposure to CFT produced body weight loss, adrenal hypertrophy, thymic involution, and basal corticosterone elevation. In vivo biotelemetry measures revealed that CFT evokes sympathetic nervous system driven increases in heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and core body temperature. Extinction of behavioral (freezing) and physiological responses to CFT was prevented using minimal reinstatement footshock. MAP responses to the CFT did not diminish across 20 days of exposure. In contrast, HR and cardiac contractility responses declined by day 15, suggesting a shift toward vascular-dominated MAP (a pre-clinical marker of CV dysfunction). Flattened diurnal rhythms, common to stress-related mood/anxiety disorders, were found for most physiological measures. Thus, repeated CFT produces adaptations indicative of the health damaging effects of psychological/emotional stress. http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/2/2/57 Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 CEST Behavioral Sciences 2012-05-18 2 2 Article 57 78 2076-328X Physiological Consequences of Repeated Exposures to Conditioned Fear 2012-05-18 doi: 10.3390/bs2020057 Robert S. Thompson Paul V. Strong Monika Fleshner http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/2/2/50 Recent empirical evidence for complex cognition in elephants suggests that greater attention to comparative studies between non-human primates and other animals is warranted. We have previously shown that elephants possess the ability to judge the difference between two discrete quantities, and unlike other animals, their choice does not appear to be affected by distance or overall quantity. In this study, we investigated Asian elephants’ ability to perform summation, as exemplified by the ability to combine four quantities into two sums and subsequently compare them. We presented two discrete sums (3–7) to the elephants by baiting two buckets; they were loaded sequentially with two discrete quantities (1–5 pieces) of food per bucket. All three elephants selected the larger grand sum significantly more often than the smaller grand sum. Moreover, their performance was not affected by either distance to the bait or the overall quantity evaluated. Studies report that the performance of other animal species on similar tasks declines as distance to the bait decreases and as the overall quantities evaluated increase. These results suggest that the numerical cognition of Asian elephants may be different from that of other animals, but further study is required to elucidate the differences precisely. http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/2/2/50 Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:00:00 CEST Behavioral Sciences 2012-03-27 2 2 Article 50 56 2076-328X Summation by Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) 2012-03-27 doi: 10.3390/bs2020050 Naoko Irie Toshikazu Hasegawa http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/2/1/38 Previous research has shown that both experimentally induced upper respiratory tract illnesses (URTIs) and naturally occurring URTIs influence mood and performance. The present study investigated possible cognitive mechanisms underlying the URTI-performance changes. Those who developed a cold (N = 47) had significantly faster, but less accurate, performance than those who remained healthy (N = 54). Illness had no effect on manipulations designed to influence encoding, response organisation (stimulus-response compatilibility) or response preparation. Similarly, there was no evidence that different components of working memory were impaired. Overall, the present research confirms that URTIs can have an effect on performance efficiency. Further research is required to identify the physiological and behavioral mechanisms underlying these effects. http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/2/1/38 Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:00:00 CET Behavioral Sciences 2012-03-15 2 1 Article 38 49 2076-328X Behavioral Effects of Upper Respiratory Tract Illnesses: A Consideration of Possible Underlying Cognitive Mechanisms 2012-03-15 doi: 10.3390/bs2010038 Andrew P. Smith http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/2/1/23 Stress enhances the behavioral effects of cocaine, perhaps via hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Yet, compared to Fischer 344 (F344) rats, Lewis rats have hyporesponsive HPA axis function and more readily acquire cocaine self-administration. We hypothesized that stress would differentially affect cocaine behaviors in these strains. The effects of three stressors on the discriminative stimulus and response rate effects of cocaine were investigated. Rats of both strains were trained to discriminate cocaine (10 mg/kg) from saline using a two-lever, food-reinforced (FR10) procedure. Immediately prior to cumulative dose (1, 3, 10 mg/kg cocaine) test sessions, rats were restrained for 15-min, had 15-min of footshock in a distinct context, or were placed in the shock-paired context. Another set of F344 and Lewis rats were tested similarly except they received vehicle injections to test if stress substituted for cocaine. Most vehicle-tested rats failed to respond after stressor exposures. Among cocaine-tested rats, restraint stress enhanced cocaine’s discriminative stimulus effects in F344 rats. Shock and shock-context increased response rates in Lewis rats. Stress-induced increases in corticosterone levels showed strain differences but did not correlate with behavior. These data suggest that the behavioral effects of cocaine can be differentially affected by stress in a strain-selective manner. http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/2/1/23 Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 CET Behavioral Sciences 2012-03-01 2 1 Article 23 37 2076-328X Stress Alters the Discriminative Stimulus and Response Rate Effects of Cocaine Differentially in Lewis and Fischer Inbred Rats 2012-03-01 doi: 10.3390/bs2010023 Therese A. Kosten Mindy J. D. Miserendino http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/2/1/1 Serious criticisms of psychology’s research practices and data analysis methods date back to at least the mid-1900s after the Galtonian school of thought had thoroughly triumphed over the Wundtian school. In the wake of Bem’s (2011) recent, highly publicized study on psi phenomena in a prestigious journal, psychologists are again raising serious questions about their dominant research script. These concerns are echoed in the current paper, and Observation Oriented Modeling (OOM) is presented as an alternative approach toward data conceptualization and analysis for the social and life sciences. This approach is rooted in philosophical realism and an attitude toward data analysis centered around causality and common sense. Three example studies and accompanying data analyses are presented and discussed to demonstrate a number of OOM’s advantages over current researcher practices. http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/2/1/1 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 CET Behavioral Sciences 2012-01-16 2 1 Article 1 22 2076-328X Toward a Brighter Future for Psychology as an Observation Oriented Science 2012-01-16 doi: 10.3390/bs2010001 James W. Grice Paul T. Barrett Liz A. Schlimgen Charles I. Abramson http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/1/1/4 Glucocorticoids (GCs) such as dexamethasone (DEX) or betamethasone are repeatedly administered for up to a month to prematurely born infants as a treatment for chronic lung dysfunction. Results of clinical trials have shown that the use of GCs in these infants induces long-term deficits in neuromotor function and cognition. We have previously shown that a single exposure to clinically relevant doses of DEX or other GCs in the mouse during a period corresponding to the human perinatal period produces a dramatic increase in apoptotic cell death of neural progenitor cells in the developing cerebellum. To provide a model approximating more chronic clinical dosing regimens, we evaluated possible behavioral effects resulting from repeated exposures to DEX and subsequent GC-induced neuronal loss where neonatal mouse pups were injected with 3.0 mg/kg DEX or saline on postnatal days 7, 9, and 11 (DEX3 treatment). Adult, DEX3-treated mice exhibited long-term, possibly permanent, neuromotor deficits on a complex activity wheel task, which requires higher-order motor co-ordination skills. DEX3 mice exhibited impaired performance on this task relative to saline controls in each of two independent studies involving separate cohorts of mice. Histopathology studies utilizing stereological neuronal counts conducted in behaviorally-tested mice showed that the DEX3 treatment resulted in a significant decrease in the number of neurons in the internal granule layer (IGL) of the cerebellum, although the number of neurons in the Purkinje cell layer were unchanged. The results suggest that multiple neonatal DEX exposures can produce chronic deficits in fine motor co-ordination that are associated with cerebellar IGL neuronal loss. http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/1/1/4 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:00:00 CET Behavioral Sciences 2011-12-30 1 1 Article 4 30 2076-328X Long-term Effects of Multiple Glucocorticoid Exposures in Neonatal Mice 2011-12-30 doi: 10.3390/behavsci1010004 Susan E. Maloney Kevin K. Noguchi David F. Wozniak Stephen C. Fowler Nuri B. Farber http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/1/1/1 On behalf of the Editorial Board and the editorial management staff of MDPI, it is my great pleasure to introduce this new journal Behavioral Sciences. Behavioral Sciences seeks to publish original research and scholarship contributing to our understanding of human behavior. The journal will provide a forum for work that furthers knowledge and stimulates research in the behavioral sciences. We are committed to building a diverse and methodologically rigorous literature of interest and benefit to behavioral and social scientists, as well as to clinical practitioners, educationalists, and the general public. [...] http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/1/1/1 Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:00:00 CET Behavioral Sciences 2011-02-22 1 1 Editorial 1 3 2076-328X Behavioral Sciences: An International, Open-Access, Peer Reviewed Journal 2011-02-22 doi: 10.3390/behavsci1010001 John Coverdale