Journal articles on the topic 'Degree Discipline: Behavioural Neuroscience'
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1
Price, John S. "Behavioural ecology as a basic science for evolutionary psychiatry." Behavioral and Brain Sciences 29, no. 4 (August 2006): 420–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x06389091.
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To the evolutionarily oriented clinical psychiatrist, the discipline of behavioural ecology is a fertile basic science. Human psychology discusses variation in terms of means, standard deviations, heritabilities, and so on, but behavioural ecology deals with mutually incompatible alternative behavioural strategies, the heritable variation being maintained by negative frequency-dependent selection. I suggest that behavioural ecology should be included in the interdisciplinary dialogue recommended by Keller & Miller (K&M).
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Quartz, Steven R. "FROM COGNITIVE SCIENCE TO COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE TO NEUROECONOMICS." Economics and Philosophy 24, no. 3 (November 2008): 459–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0266267108002083.
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As an emerging discipline, neuroeconomics faces considerable methodological and practical challenges. In this paper, I suggest that these challenges can be understood by exploring the similarities and dissimilarities between the emergence of neuroeconomics and the emergence of cognitive and computational neuroscience two decades ago. From these parallels, I suggest the major challenge facing theory formation in the neural and behavioural sciences is that of being under-constrained by data, making a detailed understanding of physical implementation necessary for theory construction in neuroeconomics. Rather than following a top-down strategy, neuroeconomists should be pragmatic in the use of available data from animal models, information regarding neural pathways and projections, computational models of neural function, functional imaging and behavioural data. By providing convergent evidence across multiple levels of organization, neuroeconomics will have its most promising prospects of success.
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Groth, Camilla, Veikko Jousmäki, Veli-Matti Saarinen, and Riitta Hari. "Craft sciences meet neuroscience." Craft Research 13, no. 2 (September 1, 2022): 261–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/crre_00079_1.
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Collaboration between disciplines is necessary when research questions cannot be answered within a single discipline. Joining of forces can produce results that neither discipline could provide alone. Here we exemplify collaboration between a ceramic craft researcher and three neuroscientists working in the field of human brain imaging. In our case study of clay throwing, the researcher‐practitioner’s eye gaze, muscular activity and hand acceleration were recorded online, synchronized with video and thermal-camera recordings. We describe the experimental setting and discuss, besides the possible future interests in this kind of research, also the different levels of collaborative work between disciplines. We found that the monitoring methods worked well in the naturalistic setting in a ceramic studio, providing some new perspectives into the craft practice. For neuroscientists, clay throwing ‐ involving accurate sensorimotor hand control, haptics and eye‐hand coordination ‐ provides an attractive setup to extend previous neuroscientific and behavioural findings in strictly controlled laboratory experiments into naturalistic situations. The applied monitoring devices might allow practitioner‐researchers in crafts to become aware of unconscious steps in the making process. The applied methods could also help to accumulate general craft-making knowledge and build related theory.
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Zeki, S., O. R. Goodenough, Abigail A. Baird, and Jonathan A. Fugelsang. "The emergence of consequential thought: evidence from neuroscience." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 359, no. 1451 (November 29, 2004): 1797–804. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1549.
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The ability to think counterfactually about the consequence of one's actions represents one of the hallmarks of the development of complex reasoning skills. The legal system places a great emphasis on this type of reasoning ability as it directly relates to the degree to which individuals may be judged liable for their actions. In the present paper, we review both behavioural and neuroscientific data exploring the role that counterfactual thinking plays in reasoning about the consequences of one's actions, especially as it pertains to the developing mind of the adolescent. On the basis of assimilation of both behavioural and neuroscientific data, we propose a brain–based model that provides a theoretical framework for understanding the emergence of counterfactual reasoning ability in the developing mind.
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Brandão, Angela, Raquel Costa, Evelina Rodrigues, and Luis Vicente. "Using behaviour observations to study personality in a group of capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) in captivity." Behaviour 156, no. 3-4 (2019): 203–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-00003537.
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Abstract This article presents a novel approach to the study of primate personality and illustrates it with a study of capuchin monkeys. While most personality studies with capuchin monkeys have used rating questionnaires, the research method of this study relies instead on direct behaviour observations. In an effort to capitalize on the full richness of behavioural observation data, we used both statistical and non-statistical methods to analyse data from behavioural observations of a group of capuchin monkeys in captivity. Interest in capuchin monkeys as a species has increased due to their cognitive capacities, behavioural flexibility and complex social structure, as well as many similarities with great apes in dimensions of personality. In this study we focus in three aspects of personality: diversity, flexibility and complexity. Our results provide a detailed picture of these aspects of capuchins’ personality, including the degree of “predictability” and “unusualness” of individual capuchins’ behaviour.
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Kerman, Kaan, Kathryn E. Sieving, Colette St. Mary, and Michael L. Avery. "Social conformity affects experimental measurement of boldness in male but not female monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus)." Behaviour 155, no. 13-15 (2018): 1025–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-00003519.
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Abstract The standard approach for characterizing boldness rarely considers the influence of social environment on the expression of boldness in group-living animals. We studied a wild-caught, captive population of monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) to investigate the impact of conspecific presence on boldness — a personality trait in monk parakeets — in a controlled environment. We quantified seven boldness metrics across three types of behavioural assay: novel object, emergence, and predator exposure tests in the presence of a companion pair of flock mates. Because of the high degree of sociality in this species, we hypothesized that the presence of companion birds would facilitate the focal individuals’ behavioural responses (i.e., increase the average boldness level). We found that behavioural response in a risky foraging context was inversely correlated between solitary and social condition in males, but not in females. Our results have implications for characterizing sex-specific differences of risk-taking behaviour in social animals.
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Bowen, Louise. "The constellation of psychopathy: All in the brain? A critical review of the neuroscientific literature." PsyPag Quarterly 1, no. 113 (December 2019): 22–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.53841/bpspag.2019.1.113.22.
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Psychopathy is a complex personality disorder encompassing a constellation of behavioural, affective and interpersonal features. This critical review considers the neuroscientific literature in relation to the disorder. The neuroscience of psychopathy is a burgeoning field with promise, both in terms of diagnosis and potential treatment. Akin to any discipline in its early stages, the study of psychopathology is also is fraught with interpretative variation caused by methodological inconsistencies. Moving forward, two issues will be fundamental in the maintenance of momentum in this field: (i) overcoming issues in methodology, and (ii) application of the knowledge gleaned to diverse fields, such as legal ethics and neurogenetics.
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Briem, Valdimar. "Temporal Organisation in the Behaviour of Newborn Infants in Active Sleep." Behaviour 99, no. 3-4 (1986): 189–220. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853986x00559.
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AbstractThe human neonate normally spends nearly 2/3 of its time asleep, and of this time ca 2/3 are spent in active sleep (AS). The present study was designed to investigate the temporal organisation and behavioural composition of this state. The hypothesis was put forward that the amount of facial behaviour that could be observed at any point in time during AS was representative of the neonate's general state of activation, and that the degree of activation varied with cyclic regularity. To test this, the facial behaviour of 8 normal neonates was filmed, and the films observed repeatedly. All activity occurring in three facial regions was registered and the resultant behavioural sequences analysed. It was found that facial behaviour tended to occur in bursts, and the median activity-quiescence cycle length was about 9 seconds. The amount of facial behaviour tended to wax and wane in a compound rhythm, and the lengths of the activity cycles involved could be predicted from a geometric function model. The results were compared with the evidence for cyclic behavioural activity found by previous investigators, and several explanatory models were examined. It is proposed that the activity cycles observed here are related to the rhythmicity observed in other behavioural states of the human infant.
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andrew, richard john. "partial reversal and the functions of lateralisation." Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28, no. 4 (August 2005): 589–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x05220101.
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the use of lateralised cues by predators and fellows may not strongly affect lateralisation. conservatism of development is a possible source of consistency across vertebrates. individuals with partial reversal, affecting only one ability, or with varying degree of control of response by one hemisphere do exist. their incidence may depend on varying selection of behavioural phenotypes such as risk taking.
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Höbel, Gerlinde, and Timothy Barta. "Adaptive plasticity in calling site selection in grey treefrogs (Hyla versicolor)." Behaviour 151, no. 6 (2014): 741–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-00003167.
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Calling behaviour is an essential component of gaining access to mates, and calling site selection may be an important component of effective communication. Environmental factors like microclimate, or the presence of competitors and predators often show seasonal or spatial variation, and behavioural plasticity that allows the caller to adjust to this variation may be adaptive. Prompted by the observation of across-season variation in elevated calling site use in our grey treefrog population, we formulated three hypotheses about their calling site choice and tested them using field observations and behavioural trials in the lab. We found that calling site selection is largely determined by local temperature regimes, and suggest that this temperature-based plasticity in calling site selection is adaptive because it allows males to increase their metabolic efficiency and mate attraction effectiveness. The mere presence of heterospecific competitors and predators did not affect calling site selection at the pond, but close proximity to a predator during behavioural trials did reduce calling activity. This suggests that grey treefrog males attend to the presence of predators, that they can assess the degree of risk associated with predator proximity, and that they can adjust calling behaviour adaptively to reduce the chances of being detected by a predator.
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Lea, Stephen, Lisa Leaver, and Kristen Jule. "Using a behaviour discovery curve to predict optimal observation time." Behaviour 146, no. 11 (2009): 1531–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853909x447775.
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AbstractBehavioural observations are vital to furthering our knowledge of species' ecology. Determining a method for formalising the length of behavioural observation time (coined Behaviour Discovery Curve) is practical for both reducing disturbance to the animals observed and limiting costs to the researcher. This paper suggests a method of calculating behaviour discovery curves, which allows researchers to estimate the optimal amount of data to collect when establishing an ethogram. The curve is fitted to a logarithmic model that predicts the rate of new behaviours that will be observed in any given length of observation time. To illustrate the methods, 31 captive red pandas (Ailurus fulgens fulgens) were observed for 30 h each and a behaviour discovery curve was estimated for each animal based on the rate at which new behaviours were observed. We demonstrate how to use the curve in the evaluation of an ethogram, whilst also providing an indication of how many more behaviours would be observed in a specified longer observation period. This is an important consideration in the creation of any ethogram, since there are currently no standard methodologies for establishing ethograms, and no guidelines on how much data is 'sufficient' for determining a species' behavioural repertoire. The curve does not allow an estimate of the total size of the behavioural repertoire, but does allow a systematic analysis of the likely costs and benefits of further observation. We also suggest a method for quantifying the degree of idiosyncrasy of a population.
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MacLeod, Colin. "Cognition in Clinical Psychology: Measures, Methods or Models?" Behaviour Change 10, no. 3 (September 1993): 169–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0813483900005519.
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This paper critically examines the recent impact of cognitivism upon the field of clinical psychology, and concludes that certain criteria of scientific adequacy have been compromised. The argument is developed that the introduction of information processing constructs to theoretical models of psychopathology has made a potentially valuable contribution to the discipline; but that the acceptance of mental events as dependent measures has severely undermined the scientific credibility of experimental attempts to evaluate such models. It is proposed that future progress will require the adoption of a particular methodological constraint. Specifically, it is suggested that cognitive explanations of psychopathology can only be tested adequately by evaluating the validity of the behavioural predictions that they generate. Using examples of recent research that has investigated the cognitive characteristics of vulnerability to anxiety and depression, an attempt is made to demonstrate that adherence to this proposed constraint not only is possible, but actually provides a far greater degree of understanding than could be attained through the use of alternative methodologies. It is postulated that the future scientific status of clinical psychology may depend upon our collective response to the issues that are raised in this paper.
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Lapsiņa, Inese, Asanta Agne Miesniece, and Ieva Bite. "Childrens’ behaviour problems’ and parents’ parenting behaviour changes after participation in a modified multimodal early intervention program “STOP 4–7”." Baltic Journal of Psychology 23, no. 1/2 (December 20, 2022): 84–105. http://dx.doi.org/10.22364/bjp.23.05.
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The aim of this study was to examine reported changes in children’s behaviour after the children, parents and teachers had participated in the modified early intervention program “STOP 4–7”, which has been developed for children 4 to 7 years old. The aim was also to examine if there are changes in the parents’ parenting behaviour, and if there are differences in the degree of behavioural change ratings between the original and modified “STOP 4–7” groups. For purposes of this study 31 children participated in the first group and 48 children in the second group, as well as at least one of the child’s parents and their teacher. Before and after participation in the program, one of the child’s parents and their teacher completed questionnaires about the child’s behaviour. Parents also completed the Ghent Parental Behaviour Scale. Results show that after participation in the program, in both groups there was a decrease in the child’s externalizing behaviour problems, according to both the parents’ and teachers’ report. After participation in the modified program there was an increase in the parents’ report of discipline strategies and material reward ratings.
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Doliński, Dariusz. "Is Psychology Still a Science of Behaviour?" Social Psychological Bulletin 13, no. 2 (May 29, 2018): e25025. http://dx.doi.org/10.5964/spb.v13i2.25025.
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Since the 1970s, social psychology has examined real human behaviour to an increasingly smaller degree. This article is an analysis of the reasons why this is so. The author points out that the otherwise valuable phenomenon of cognitive shift, which occurred in social psychology precisely in the 1970s, naturally boosted the interest of psychologists in such phenomena like stereotypes, attitudes, and values; at the same time, it unfortunately decreased interest in others, like aggression, altruism, and social influence. In recent decades, we have also witnessed a growing conviction among psychologists that explaining why people display certain reactions holds greater importance than demonstrating the conditions under which people display these reactions. This assumption has been accompanied by the spread of statistical analysis applied to empirical data, which has led to researchers today generally preferring to employ survey studies (even if they are a component of experiments being conducted) to the analysis of behavioural variables. The author analyses the contents of the most recent volume of “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology”, and argues that it is essentially devoid of presentations of empirical studies in which human behaviours are examined. This gives rise to the question of whether social psychology remains a science of behaviour, and whether such a condition of the discipline is desirable.
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Foreman, Nigel, and Robin Stevens. "Relationships between the superior colliculus and hippocampus: Neural and behavioral considerations." Behavioral and Brain Sciences 10, no. 1 (March 1987): 101–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x00056521.
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AbstractTheories of superior collicular and hippocampal function have remarkable similarities. Both structures have been repeatedly implicated in spatial and attentional behaviour and in inhibitory control of locomotion. Moreover, they share certain electrophysiological properties in their single unit responses and in the synchronous appearance and disappearance of slow wave activity. Both are phylogenetically old and the colliculus projects strongly to brainstem nuclei instrumental in the generation of theta rhythm in the hippocampal EECOn the other hand, close inspection of behavioural and electrophysiological data reveals disparities. In particular, hippocampal processing mainly concerns stimulus ambiguity, contextual significance, and spatial relations or other subtle, higher order characteristics. This requires the use of largely preprocessed sensory information and mediation of poststimulus investigation. Although collicular activity must also be integrated with that of “higher” centres (probably to a varying degree, depending on the nature of stimuli being processed and the task requirements), its primary role in attention is more “peripheral” and specific in controlling orienting/localisation via eye and body movements toward egocentrically labelled spatial positions. In addition, the colliculus may exert a nonspecific influence in alerting higher centres to the imminence of information potentially worthy of focal attention. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that collicular and hippocampal lesions produce deficits on similar tasks, although the type of deficit is usually different (often opposite) in each case. Functional overlap between hippocampus and colliculus (i.e., strategically synchronised or mutually interdependent activity) is virtually certain vis-à-vis stimulus sampling, for example in the acquisition of information via vibrissal movements and visual scanning. In addition, insofar as stimulus significance is a factor in collicular orienting mechanisms, the hippocampus — cingulate – cortex — colliculus pathway may play a significant role, modulating collicular responsiveness and thus ensuring an attentional strategy appropriate to current requirements (stimulus familiarity, stage of learning). A tentative “reciprocal loop” model is proposed which bridges physiological and behavioural levels of analysis and which would account for the observed degree and nature of functional overlap between the superior colliculus and hippocampus.
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Mustafa, Yasser Fakri. "Chemotherapeutic Applications of Folate Prodrugs: A Review." NeuroQuantology 19, no. 8 (September 4, 2021): 99–112. http://dx.doi.org/10.14704/nq.2021.19.8.nq21120.
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Several techniques to assisting in the drug design and discovery stages have been developed during the last several decades. The bulk of these techniques aimed to find novel chemical entities that had the greatest significant interaction with the targeted receptors or enzymes while providing the least degree of risk of unwanted interactions. This approach, on the other hand, is time-consuming and expensive, as it requires the screening of thousands of molecules for biological activity, with only one making it to market. The prodrug strategy, in which the active drug molecule is disguised by a promoiety to change its undesirable characteristics, is one of the most appealing and promising methods. The folate receptor (FR)-targeted systems may also open the path for more advanced drug conjugates, especially because this receptor is now being targeted by a variety of technological innovations, including nanoparticles, small molecules, and protein-based technologies, resulting in a wealth of experience in the discipline.
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Burman, Oliver H. P., Richard M. A. Parker, Elizabeth S. Paul, and Michael Mendl. "Sensitivity to reward loss as an indicator of animal emotion and welfare." Biology Letters 4, no. 4 (May 20, 2008): 330–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0113.
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The scientific study of animal emotion is an important emerging discipline in subjects ranging from neuroscience to animal welfare research. In the absence of direct measures of conscious emotion, indirect behavioural and physiological measures are used. However, these may have significant limitations (e.g. indicating emotional arousal but not valence (positivity versus negativity)). A new approach, taking its impetus from human studies, proposes that biases in information processing, and underlying mechanisms relating to the evaluation of reward gains and losses, may reliably reflect emotional valence in animals. In general, people are more sensitive to reward losses than gains, but people in a negative affective state (e.g. depression) are particularly sensitive to losses. This may underlie broader findings such as an enhanced attention to, and memory of, negative events in depressed individuals. Here we show that rats in unenriched housing, who typically exhibit indicators of poorer welfare and a more negative affective state than those in enriched housing, display a prolonged response to a decrease in anticipated food reward, indicating enhanced sensitivity to reward loss. Sensitivity to reward reduction may thus be a valuable new indicator of animal emotion and welfare.
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Solans-Domènech, Maite, Joan MV Pons, Paula Adam, Josep Grau, and Marta Aymerich. "Development and validation of a questionnaire to measure research impact." Research Evaluation 28, no. 3 (April 16, 2019): 253–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvz007.
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Abstract Although questionnaires are widely used in research impact assessment, their metric properties are not well known. Our aim is to test the internal consistency and content validity of an instrument designed to measure the perceived impacts of a wide range of research projects. To do so, we designed a questionnaire to be completed by principal investigators in a variety of disciplines (arts and humanities, social sciences, health sciences, and information and communication technologies). The impacts perceived and their associated characteristics were also assessed. This easy-to-use questionnaire demonstrated good internal consistency and acceptable content validity. However, its metric properties were more powerful in areas such as knowledge production, capacity building and informing policy and practice, in which the researchers had a degree of control and influence. In general, the research projects represented an stimulus for the production of knowledge and the development of research skills. Behavioural aspects such as engagement with potential users or mission-oriented projects (targeted to practical applications) were associated with higher social benefits. Considering the difficulties in assessing a wide array of research topics, and potential differences in the understanding of the concept of ‘research impact’, an analysis of the context can help to focus on research needs. Analyzing the metric properties of questionnaires can open up new possibilities for validating instruments used to measure research impact. Further to the methodological utility of the current exercise, we see a practical applicability to specific contexts where multiple discipline research impact is requires.
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Thomas, Jodi T., Erica V. Todd, Simon Muncaster, P. Mark Lokman, Erin L. Damsteegt, Hui Liu, Kiyoshi Soyano, et al. "Conservation and diversity in expression of candidate genes regulating socially-induced female-male sex change in wrasses." PeerJ 7 (June 11, 2019): e7032. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7032.
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Fishes exhibit remarkably diverse, and plastic, patterns of sexual development, most striking of which is sequential hermaphroditism, where individuals readily reverse sex in adulthood. How this stunning example of phenotypic plasticity is controlled at a genetic level remains poorly understood. Several genes have been implicated in regulating sex change, yet the degree to which a conserved genetic machinery orchestrates this process has not yet been addressed. Using captive and in-the-field social manipulations to initiate sex change, combined with a comparative qPCR approach, we compared expression patterns of four candidate regulatory genes among three species of wrasses (Labridae)—a large and diverse teleost family where female-to-male sex change is pervasive, socially-cued, and likely ancestral. Expression in brain and gonadal tissues were compared among the iconic tropical bluehead wrasse (Thalassoma bifasciatum) and the temperate spotty (Notolabrus celidotus) and kyusen (Parajulus poecilepterus) wrasses. In all three species, gonadal sex change was preceded by downregulation of cyp19a1a (encoding gonadal aromatase that converts androgens to oestrogens) and accompanied by upregulation of amh (encoding anti-müllerian hormone that primarily regulates male germ cell development), and these genes may act concurrently to orchestrate ovary-testis transformation. In the brain, our data argue against a role for brain aromatase (cyp19a1b) in initiating behavioural sex change, as its expression trailed behavioural changes. However, we find that isotocin (it, that regulates teleost socio-sexual behaviours) expression correlated with dominant male-specific behaviours in the bluehead wrasse, suggesting it upregulation mediates the rapid behavioural sex change characteristic of blueheads and other tropical wrasses. However, it expression was not sex-biased in temperate spotty and kyusen wrasses, where sex change is more protracted and social groups may be less tightly-structured. Together, these findings suggest that while key components of the molecular machinery controlling gonadal sex change are phylogenetically conserved among wrasses, neural pathways governing behavioural sex change may be more variable.
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Queiroz, Alexya Cunha de, Yoichi Sakai, Marcelo Vallinoto, and Breno Barros. "Morphometric comparisons of plant-mimetic juvenile fish associated with plant debris observed in the coastal subtropical waters around Kuchierabu-jima Island, southern Japan." PeerJ 4 (July 26, 2016): e2268. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2268.
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The general morphological shape of plant-resembling fish and plant parts were compared using a geometric morphometrics approach. Three plant-mimetic fish species,Lobotes surinamensis(Lobotidae),Platax orbicularis(Ephippidae) andCanthidermis maculata(Balistidae), were compared during their early developmental stages with accompanying plant debris (i.e., leaves of several taxa) in the coastal subtropical waters around Kuchierabu-jima Island, closely facing the Kuroshio Current. The degree of similarity shared between the plant parts and co-occurring fish species was quantified, however fish remained morphologically distinct from their plant models. Such similarities were corroborated by analysis of covariance and linear discriminant analysis, in which relative body areas of fish were strongly related to plant models. Our results strengthen the paradigm that morphological clues can lead to ecological evidence to allow predictions of behavioural and habitat choice by mimetic fish, according to the degree of similarity shared with their respective models. The resemblance to plant parts detected in the three fish species may provide fitness advantages via convergent evolutionary effects.
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Todosijević, Bojan, Snežana Ljubinković, and Aleksandra Arančić. "Mate Selection Criteria: A Trait Desirability Assessment Study of Sex Differences in Serbia." Evolutionary Psychology 1, no. 1 (January 1, 2003): 147470490300100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/147470490300100108.
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This paper examines predictions from evolutionary and socio-structural perspectives on sex differences in mate selection criteria on a sample of 127 respondents from Serbia. The respondents, mainly college students, were asked to assess the degree of un/desirability of sixty behavioural and personality traits in a potential mate, on the 7-point Likert type scale. The sexes strongly agree in general ranking of the traits' desirability. The obtained statistically significant differences tend to favour the evolutionary interpretation. The largest differences are in the perceived desirability of thinness, strength, fearfulness, self-pity, fragility, aggressiveness, and beauty. Males perceived all these traits as more desirable (or less undesirable) than females, except that females valued strength more positively. Male respondents are less troubled by negative character traits of a potential partner, while females are less concerned with a partner's physical appearance. The higher status of women correlated positively with their concern with a mate's potential socio-economic status, contrary to the prediction of the socio-structural model.
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Lefeuvre, Maëlle, Patrick Gouat, Baptiste Mulot, Raphaël Cornette, and Emmanuelle Pouydebat. "Behavioural variability among captive African elephants in the use of the trunk while feeding." PeerJ 8 (August 18, 2020): e9678. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9678.
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The Proboscideans, an order of mammals including elephants, are the largest of the Earth lands animals. One probable consequence of the rapid increase of their body size is the development of the trunk, a multitask highly sensitive organ used in a large repertoire of behaviours. The absence of bones in the trunk allows a substantial degree of freedom for movement in all directions, and this ability could underlie individual-level strategies. We hypothesised a stronger behavioural variability in simple tasks, and a correlation between the employed behaviours and the shape and size of the food. The observations of a captive group of African elephants allowed us to create a complete catalogue of trunk movements in feeding activities. We noted manipulative strategies and impact of food item properties on the performed behaviours. The results show that a given item is manipulated with a small panel of behaviours, and some behaviours are specific to a single shape of items. The study of the five main feeding behaviours emphasises a significant variability between the elephants. Each individual differed from every other individual in the proportion of at least one behaviour, and every behaviour was performed in different proportions by the elephants. Our findings suggest that during their lives elephants develop individual strategies adapted to the manipulated items, which increases their feeding efficiency.
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Saldaña Sánchez, Amor Aline, Filippo Aureli, Laura Busia, and Colleen M. Schaffner. "Who’s there? Third parties affect social interactions between spider monkey males." Behaviour 157, no. 8-9 (September 8, 2020): 761–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10021.
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Abstract Spider monkeys provide an intriguing opportunity to examine behavioural flexibility in relation to their social environment given their high degree of fission–fusion dynamics and the nature of male–male relationships. These characteristics allow us to examine how flexibility in social interactions is modulated by the perception of risk and uncertainty related to other group members. We investigated whether male–male interactions vary according to partner identity and presence of third parties in wild Geoffroy’s spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi). We used proportion of approaches followed by an embrace, an indicator of risk and uncertainty, or by grooming, an affiliative behaviour. To confirm the monkeys’ perception of risk or uncertainty we used aggression rates and time spent vigilant. We collected data on eight adult spider monkey males: three of them belonged to one clique and the other five to another clique based on distinct patterns of residence. We found higher proportions of approaches followed by embraces and lower proportions of approaches followed by grooming between males of different cliques than between males of the same clique. In addition, we found higher aggression rates between males from different cliques. The proportions of approaches followed by embraces in the five-male clique were higher when the three-male clique was no longer in the group. The five males were more vigilant when the other three males were present in the group, indicating the monkeys perceived higher risk or uncertainty under these circumstances. We found lower proportions of approaches followed by grooming between two males when there was at least one other male in the subgroup than when there were only the two males. Our results provide evidence for behavioural flexibility in the interactions between spider monkey males as an example of how animals can cope with social challenges by adjusting their behaviour.
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Rose, Steven. "Précis of Lifelines: Biology, freedom, determinism." Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22, no. 5 (October 1999): 871–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x99002204.
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There are many ways of describing and explaining the properties of living systems; causal, functional, and reductive accounts are necessary but no one account has primacy. The history of biology as a discipline has given excessive authority to reductionism, which collapses higher level accounts, such as social or behavioural ones, into molecular ones. Such reductionism becomes crudely ideological when applied to the human condition, with its claims for genes “for” everything from sexual orientation to compulsive shopping. The current enthusiasm for genetics and ultra-Darwinist accounts, with their selfish-gene metaphors for living processes, misunderstand both the phenomena of development and the interactive role that DNA and the fluid genome play in the cellular orchestra. DNA is not a blueprint, and the four dimensions of life (three of space, one of time) cannot be read off from its one-dimensional strand. Both developmental and evolutionary processes are more than merely instructive or selective; the organism constructs itself, a process known as autopoiesis, through a lifeline trajectory. Because organisms are thermodynamically open systems, living processes are homeodynamic, not homeostatic. The self-organising membrane-bound and energy-utilising metabolic web of the cell must have evolved prior to so-called naked replicators. Evolution is constrained by physics, chemistry, and structure; not all change is powered by natural selection, and not all phenotypes are adaptive. Finally, therefore, living processes are radically indeterminate; like all other living organisms, but to an even greater degree, we make our own future, though in circumstances not of our own choosing.
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Lisney, Thomas J., and Shaun P. Collin. "Retinal Topography in Two Species of Baleen Whale (Cetacea: Mysticeti)." Brain, Behavior and Evolution 92, no. 3-4 (2018): 97–116. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000495285.
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Little is known about the visual systems of large baleen whales (Mysticeti: Cetacea). In this study, we investigate eye morphology and the topographic distribution of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in two species of mysticete, Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni) and the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeanglia). Both species have large eyes characterised by a thickened cornea, a heavily thickened sclera, a highly vascularised fibro-adipose bundle surrounding the optic nerve at the back of the eye, and a reflective blue-green tapetum fibrosum. Using stereology and retinal whole mounts, we estimate a total of 274,268 and 161,371 RGCs in the Bryde’s whale and humpback whale retinas, respectively. Both species have a similar retinal topography, consisting of nasal and temporal areas of high RGC density, suggesting that having higher visual acuity in the anterior and latero-caudal visual fields is particularly important in these animals. The temporal area is larger in both species and contains the peak RGC densities (160 cells mm–2 in the humpback whale and 200 cells mm–2 in Bryde’s whale). In the Bryde’s whale retina, the two high-density areas are connected by a weak centro-ventral visual streak, but such a specialisation is not evident in the humpback whale. Measurements of RGC soma area reveal that although the RGCs in both species vary substantially in size, RGC soma area is inversely proportional to RGC density, with cells in the nasal and temporal high-density areas being relatively more homogeneous in size compared to the RGCs in the central retina and the dorsal and ventral retinal periphery. Some of the RGCs were very large, with soma areas of over 2,000 µm2. Using peak RGC density and eye axial diameter (Bryde’s whale: 63.5 mm; humpback whale: 48.5 mm), we estimated the peak anatomical spatial resolving power in water to be 4.8 cycles/degree and 3.3 cycles/degree in the Bryde’s whale and the humpback whale, respectively. Overall, our findings for these two species are very similar to those reported for other species of cetaceans. This indicates that, irrespective of the significant differences in body size and shape, behavioural ecology and feeding strategy between mysticetes and odontocetes (toothed whales), cetacean eyes are adapted to vision in dim light and adhere to a common “bauplan” that evolved prior to the divergence of the two cetacean parvorders (Odontoceti and Mysticeti) over 30 million years ago.
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Romagnoli, Samuele, Gentile Francesco Ficetola, and Raoul Manenti. "Invasive crayfish does not influence spawning microhabitat selection of brown frogs." PeerJ 8 (April 15, 2020): e8985. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8985.
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Microhabitat selection is a key component of amphibian breeding biology and can be modulated in response to the features of breeding sites and the presence of predators. Despite invasive alien species being among the major threats to amphibians, there is limited information on the role of invasive species in shaping amphibians’ breeding microhabitat choice. The invasive red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) is a major predator of amphibians’ larvae, including those of the brown frogs Rana dalmatina and Rana latastei. Although qualitative information about the spawning site preferences and breeding microhabitat choice of brown frogs is available in the literature, only a few studies performed quantitative analyses, and the relationship between microhabitat choice and the presence of alien predators has not been investigated yet. The aims of this study were: (1) to characterize the microhabitats selected for clutch deposition by R. dalmatina and R. latastei and (2) to test if the position and the aggregation of egg clutches differ in sites invaded or not invaded by P. clarkii. During spring 2017, we surveyed multiple times 15 breeding sites of both brown frogs in Northern Italy; in each site we assessed the features of the microhabitat where each egg clutch was laid, considering its position (distance from the shore, depth of the water column) and the degree of aggregation of clutches. In each site we also assessed the presence/absence of the invasive crayfish and the relative abundance in the breeding period. We detected egg clutches in all sites; the crayfish occurred in eight ponds. Our results showed substantial differences between the spawning microhabitat features of the two brown frogs: Rana latastei clutches showed a higher degree of aggregation and were associated with deeper areas of the ponds , while Rana dalmatina deposited more spaced out clutches in areas of the ponds that were less deep. For both species, spawning microhabitat features were not significantly different between sites with and without P. clarkii. Although we did not detect behavioural responses to P. clarkii in the choice of spawning microhabitat , additional studies are required to assess whether these frogs modulate other behavioural traits (e.g. during larval development) in response to the invasive predator.
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Paciorek, Timothy, Michael McQuillan, Layla Al-Shaer, Andrew Bloch, Zachary Carroll, Rachel Moyer, Jai Vaze, John Leiser, Michael Kuchka, and Murray Itzkowitz. "The influence of operational sex ratio on reproductive success in male sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus)." Behaviour 158, no. 1 (December 11, 2020): 19–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10051.
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Abstract Operational sex ratio (OSR) is predicted to influence the direction and intensity of sexual selection. Thus, as the relative numbers of reproductively active males vs females change, the behavioural competition among males and their differences in reproductive success are also predicted to change. While these outcomes seem intuitively obvious, there have been few experimental tests that examine these predictions. Here, we experimentally tested the relationship between OSR and reproductive behaviour in sheepshead minnows (Cyprinodon variegatus) competing in laboratory-based pools. Males and females were assigned to one of three OSRs (female-biased, equal, or male-biased). We monitored aggression, territory size, and number of eggs acquired by the most aggressive male, termed the “focal male,” in the pool. We used microsatellite analyses to determine the parentage of the eggs within the focal males’ territories. Focal males, by definition, were the most aggressive individual in their pools, but the degree of their aggressiveness and number of spawning sites they controlled were not influenced by OSR. Compared to focal males in the equal and male-biased OSRs, focal males in the female-biased OSR did receive more eggs but the OSR did not appear to influence the percentage of eggs they fathered on their own spawning sites. We speculate that a focal male’s competitive ability is more important to reproductive success than the number of other males and females present.
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Whittingham, Koa, Matthew Sanders, Lynne McKinlay, and Roslyn N. Boyd. "Stepping Stones Triple P and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Parents of Children with Cerebral Palsy: Trial Protocol." Brain Impairment 14, no. 2 (August 28, 2013): 270–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/brimp.2013.19.
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This project aims to optimise outcomes for children with cerebral palsy (CP) and their families by testing the efficacy of two complementary interventions novel to the CP population: (1) parenting intervention (Stepping Stones Triple P, SSTP); and (2) parental stress management (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, ACT) tailored for parents of children with CP. The efficacy of SSTP and the additional effects of ACT will be tested in a wait-list randomised controlled trial, with parents of children with CP (N= 110) randomised into three groups; SSTP, SSTP + ACT and wait-list control. Intervention delivery will combine group sessions with phone consultations. Outcomes will be assessed post-intervention with retention of effect examined at 6-month follow-up. Child outcomes will include: externalising behaviour (primary child outcome), functional performance, parent-reported child quality of life; and parent outcomes will include: dysfunctional parenting (primary parent outcome), parental confidence in performing disability-related parenting practices, degree of problems in performing disability-related parenting practices, parental adjustment, psychological flexibility and parental attitude to child emotions. The theoretical background, study design and study procedures are discussed. The validation of a parenting intervention and a parenting stress intervention for parents of children with CP is crucial to better support parents of children with CP in their parenting role and in providing evidence-based intervention for behavioural and emotional problems in children with CP.
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Rostovtseva, Victoria V., Anna A. Mezentseva, and Marina L. Butovskaya. "Perception of Emergent Leaders’ Faces and Evolution of Social Cheating: Cross-Cultural Experiments." Evolutionary Psychology 20, no. 1 (January 2022): 147470492210817. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/14747049221081733.
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The aim of the present study was to investigate whether neutral faces of individuals with different propensities for leadership may convey information about their personal qualities, and are there impacts of sex, population and social environment on the facial perception. This study is based on a previous experiment ( Rostovtseva et al., 2022 ), where emergent leadership in the context of male group cooperation was investigated in Buryats (Mongolian population of Siberia). In the previous study three behavioural types of participants were revealed: non-leaders, prosocial leaders and leaders-cheaters, each having a set of distinguishing personality, communicative, and cooperative features. In the current study, three composite portraits representing different leadership qualities of Buryat men from the prior experiment were created. The composites were then scored on a number of traits by male and female Russian and Buryat independent raters ( N = 435). The results revealed that ratings on masculinity, physical strength, dominance, competitiveness, and perceived leadership were positively correlated, while perceived trustworthiness was negatively associated with these traits. However, the composite portraits of actual leaders generally were scored as more trustworthy, masculine, and physically strong, with the prosocial leaders’ portrait being perceived as healthier than others. Surprisingly, the composite of leaders-cheaters was scored as the most trustworthy and generous, and the least competitive than others. No significant effects of raters’ sex, origin, or degree of familiarity with Mongolian appearance were revealed. We conclude that static facial morphology contributes to appearing trustworthy, which may allow exploitation of others.
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Corp, Nadia, Richard Byrne, and Jennifer Byrne. "ESTIMATING THE COMPLEXITY OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR: HOW MOUNTAIN GORILLAS EAT THISTLES." Behaviour 138, no. 4 (2001): 525–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853901750382142.
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AbstractMountain gorillas use elaborate, multi-stage procedures for dealing with plant defences. This paper investigates the use of mathematically-inspired, informational measures to gauge the complexity of one of these tasks, eating thistle Carduus nyassanus, from field observations of 38 adults and juveniles. Behaviour was analysed at two levels, a detailed, movementbased description of the form of actions, and an organizational description of techniques that were composed of a series of many actions. Complexity, as measured by counting the sizes of behavioural repertoires, correlated at the two levels. Repertoires were shown to be incomplete, but the rates of cumulative increase in actions differed between tasks. Thistle eating was the most complex, and apparently involved many more actions than even chimpanzee tool-use. Techniques were highly selective arrangements of actions, so that their organization (sequence, bimanual coordination, hierarchical structure) reflected cognitive capacity. Although ideally it would preferable to estimate complexity of task organization, this may seldom be feasible, and was not in this case. Instead, the length of a regularly occurring sequence of actions may be the best practical estimate of an underlying complexity of mental process. Confidence in this measure will be increased if it broadly agrees with other, independent estimates of task complexity; in the case of gorilla plant processing, both the size of repertoire of functionally distinct actions and the degree of lateral specialization were, like sequence length, greater for thistle processing than for other tasks studied to date.
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Van Doorn, G. Sander, Franz Weissing, and Geerten Hengeveld. "The Evolution of Social Dominance II: Multi-Player Models." Behaviour 140, no. 10 (2003): 1333–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853903771980611.
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AbstractThe social hierarchies observed in natural systems often show a high degree of transitivity. Transitive hierarchies do not only require rank differentiation within pairs of individuals but also a higher level ordering of relations within the group. Several authors have suggested that the formation of linear hierarchies at the group level is an emergent property of individual behavioural rules, referred to as winner and loser effects. Winner and loser effects occur if winners of previous conflicts are more likely to escalate the current conflict, whereas the losers of previous conflicts are less likely to do so. According to this idea, an individual's position in a hierarchy may not necessarily reflect its fighting ability, but may rather result from arbitrary historical asymmetries, in particular the history of victories and defeats. However, if this is the case, it is difficult to explain from an evolutionary perspective why a low ranking individual should accept its subordinate status. Here we present a game theoretical model to investigate whether winner and loser effects giving rise to transitive hierarchies can evolve and under which conditions they are evolutionarily stable. The main version of the model focuses on an extreme case in which there are no intrinsic differences in fighting ability between individuals. The only asymmetries that may arise between individuals are generated by the outcome of previous conflicts. We show that, at evolutionary equilibrium, these asymmetries can be utilized for conventional conflict resolution. Several evolutionarily stable strategies are based on winner and loser effects and these strategies give rise to transitive hierarchies.
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Novelo Galicia, Eric, Moisés Armando Luis Martínez, and Carlos Cordero. "False head complexity and evidence of predator attacks in male and female hairstreak butterflies (Lepidoptera: Theclinae: Eumaeini) from Mexico." PeerJ 7 (June 25, 2019): e7143. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7143.
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In many butterfly species, the posterior end of the hindwings of individuals perching with their wings closed resembles a butterfly head. This “false head” pattern is considered an adaptation to deflect predator attacks to less vulnerable parts of the body. The presence of symmetrical damage in left and right wings is considered evidence of failed predator attacks to perching butterflies. In this research, we tested the prediction derived from the deflection hypothesis that the degree of resemblance of the false head area (FH) to a real head, as measured by the number of FH “components” (eyespots, “false antennae”, modified outline of the FH area and lines converging on the FH area) present in the hindwings, is positively correlated to the frequency of symmetrical damage in the FH area. We studied specimens from two scientific collections of butterflies of the subfamily Theclinae (Lycaenidae) belonging to the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Colección Nacional de Insectos [CNIN] and Museo de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias [MZFC]). We scored the presence of symmetrical damage in a sample of 20,709 specimens (CNIN: 3,722; MZFC: 16,987) from 126 species (CNIN: 78 species; MZFC: 117 species; 71 species shared by both collections) whose hindwings vary in the number of FH components, and found that, as predicted, the proportion of specimens with symmetrical damage increases as the number of FH components increases. We also tested the hypothesis that behavioural differences between the sexes makes males more prone to receive predator attacks and, thus, we predicted a higher frequency of symmetrical damage in the FH of males than in that of females. We found that the frequency of symmetrical damage was not significantly different between males and females, suggesting that behavioural differences between the sexes produce no differences in the risk of being attacked. Overall, our results provide support to the idea that the FH of butterflies is an adaptation that deflects predator attacks to less vulnerable parts of the body in both sexes.
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Hong, Ivan, Andrew Garrett, Garth Maker, Ian Mullaney, Jennifer Rodger, and Sarah J. Etherington. "Repetitive low intensity magnetic field stimulation in a neuronal cell line: a metabolomics study." PeerJ 6 (March 12, 2018): e4501. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4501.
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Low intensity repetitive magnetic stimulation of neural tissue modulates neuronal excitability and has promising therapeutic potential in the treatment of neurological disorders. However, the underpinning cellular and biochemical mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study investigates the behavioural effects of low intensity repetitive magnetic stimulation (LI-rMS) at a cellular and biochemical level. We delivered LI-rMS (10 mT) at 1 Hz and 10 Hz to B50 rat neuroblastoma cellsin vitrofor 10 minutes and measured levels of selected metabolites immediately after stimulation. LI-rMS at both frequencies depleted selected tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolites without affecting the main energy supplies. Furthermore, LI-rMS effects were frequency-specific with 1 Hz stimulation having stronger effects than 10 Hz. The observed depletion of metabolites suggested that higher spontaneous activity may have led to an increase in GABA release. Although the absence of organised neural circuits and other cellular contributors (e.g., excitatory neurons and glia) in the B50 cell line limits the degree to which our results can be extrapolated to the human brain, the changes we describe provide novel insights into how LI-rMS modulates neural tissue.
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Sharp, Alexander R., and Kamal Islam. "Does the intrusion of an avian nest predator elicit a change in the behaviour of a canopy-nesting passerine?" Behaviour 158, no. 6 (March 15, 2021): 503–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10078.
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Abstract Many studies have shown that nest predators affect their prey indirectly by inducing changes in the behaviour of the prey. Studies suggest that the type and degree of nest defence strategies depends heavily on species, along with nest type and location. One such strategy, nest vigilance, allows individuals to collect information and make informed decisions based on their surroundings. In this study, we simulated the intrusion of a common avian nest predator (blue jay, Cyanocitta cristata) into the territory of nesting cerulean warblers (Setophaga cerulea) and evaluated eight different behavioural variables to determine their response to the nest predator. Female cerulean warblers were more vigilant on their nest when exposed to a potential predator compared to a nest with lower threat of predation. Females exposed to a nest predator increased incubation bout by 109% and brooding bout by 60%. Our data also suggest that male cerulean warblers reduce their provisioning rate during the early nestling stage (−1 feeding/hour) and late nestling stage (−3 feedings/hour), although more data are needed. Modification of incubation bout length and nestling provisioning rate are common strategies employed by songbirds to reduce activity around the nest, by decreasing detection opportunities of visually-oriented nest predators. Currently, the only understanding we have on how cerulean warblers respond to a nest predator is based on observational data. The results of this study provide the first evidence that cerulean warblers are able to identify species that pose a threat to the safety of their nest, and that they modify their behaviour to reduce nest detection by predators. The results of this study provide a better understanding of a relatively unknown aspect of the breeding behaviour of this species. This study is also first to describe how an open-cup, canopy-nesting species responds to an increase in nest predation threat.
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Rogers, Sebastian, Rebecca Keogh, and Joel Pearson. "Hallucinations on demand: the utility of experimentally induced phenomena in hallucination research." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 376, no. 1817 (December 14, 2020): 20200233. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0233.
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Despite the desire to delve deeper into hallucinations of all types, methodological obstacles have frustrated development of more rigorous quantitative experimental techniques, thereby hampering research progress. Here, we discuss these obstacles and, with reference to visual phenomena, argue that experimentally induced phenomena (e.g. hallucinations induced by flickering light and classical conditioning) can bring hallucinations within reach of more objective behavioural and neural measurement. Expanding the scope of hallucination research raises questions about which phenomena qualify as hallucinations, and how to identify phenomena suitable for use as laboratory models of hallucination. Due to the ambiguity inherent in current hallucination definitions, we suggest that the utility of phenomena for use as laboratory hallucination models should be represented on a continuous spectrum, where suitability varies with the degree to which external sensory information constrains conscious experience. We suggest that existing strategies that group pathological hallucinations into meaningful subtypes based on hallucination characteristics (including phenomenology, disorder and neural activity) can guide extrapolation from hallucination models to other hallucinatory phenomena. Using a spectrum of phenomena to guide scientific hallucination research should help unite the historically separate fields of psychophysics, cognitive neuroscience and clinical research to better understand and treat hallucinations, and inform models of consciousness. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Offline perception: voluntary and spontaneous perceptual experiences without matching external stimulation’.
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Colville, Jonathan F., Mike D. Picker, and Richard M. Cowling. "Feeding ecology and sexual dimorphism in a speciose flower beetle clade (Hopliini: Scarabaeidae)." PeerJ 6 (June 20, 2018): e4632. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4632.
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The relationship between feeding ecology and sexual dimorphism is examined in a speciose South African monkey beetle clade. We test whether feeding and mating at a fixed site (embedding guild) is associated with greater levels of sexual dimorphism and possibly sexual selection than species using unpredictable feeding resources (non-embedding guild). Sexual dimorphism was measured using a point scoring system for hind leg and colour across the two feeding guilds for >50% of the regional fauna. Quantification of hind leg dimorphism using a scoring system and allometric scaling were used to identify traits subject to sexual selection. Feeding guild had a significant effect on hind leg dimorphism, with embedders having high and non-embedders low scores. The sessile and defendable distribution of females on stable platform flowers may favour contests and associated hind leg weaponry. In contrast, degree of colour dimorphism between the sexes was not associated with any particular feeding guild, and may serve to reduce male conflict and combat. Embedder males had high proportions (∼76%) of species with positive allometric slopes for almost all hind leg traits. For male non-embedders, only ∼37% of species showed positive scaling relationships. Phylogenetic data, in conjunction with behavioural data on the function of leg weaponry and visual signalling among males is needed to better understand the link between sexual dimorphism and sexual selection in the radiation of the monkey beetles.
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Bishop, Peter J. "Testing the function of dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) ‘sickle claws’ through musculoskeletal modelling and optimization." PeerJ 7 (August 28, 2019): e7577. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7577.
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Dromaeosaurids were a clade of bird-like, carnivorous dinosaurs that are well known for their characteristic morphology of pedal digit II, which bore an enlarged, sickle-shaped claw and permitted an extreme range of flexion–extension. Proposed functions for the claw often revolve around predation, but the exact manner of use varies widely. Musculoskeletal modelling provides an avenue to quantitatively investigate the biomechanics of this enigmatic system, and thereby test different behavioural hypotheses. Here, a musculoskeletal model of the hindlimb and pes of Deinonychus was developed, and mathematical optimization was used to assess the factors that maximize production of force at the claw tip. Optimization revealed that more crouched hindlimb postures (i.e., more flexed knees and ankles) and larger flexor muscle volumes consistently increased claw forces, although the optimal degree of digit flexion or extension depended on assumptions of muscle activity and fibre operating range. Interestingly, the magnitude of force capable of being produced at the claw tip was relatively small, arguing against regular transmission of a large proportion of body weight into a substrate principally via the claw tip. Such transmission would therefore likely have needed to occur via more proximal parts of the foot. Collectively, the results best support a grasping function for digit II (e.g., restraint of prey smaller than the dromaeosaurid’s own body size), although other behaviours involving flexed hindlimbs cannot be excluded.
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Mostowik, Joanna, Krzysztof Rutkowski, Tadeusz Ostrowski, and Michał Mielimąka. "Time Perspective among Patients Diagnosed with Neurotic and Personality Disorders − an Exploratory, Clinical Study." Timing & Time Perception 9, no. 3 (February 24, 2021): 315–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22134468-bja10029.
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Abstract (1) An assessment of the structure of time perspective (TP) in a group of patients with neurotic and personality disorders (ICD-10: F4x, F60.x, F61) treated with group psychotherapy. (2) An analysis of the differences between the structure of TP in patients and the general population in order to expand the understanding of the relations between TP and mental health. Data were collected from 49 patients at the University Hospital Day Centre for the Treatment of Neurotic Disorders and Behavioural Syndromes. The measurement of TP was performed with the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. A licensed psychiatrist conducted the diagnosis of neurotic and personality disorders, with additional data obtained from the Symptom Checklist KO ‘O’ and the Neurotic Personality Questionnaire KON-2006. The statistical analysis revealed significant differences in the structure of TP between patients and the general population. Among patients, the intensity of the past experienced negatively was significantly higher, and subsequently, the degree of the past experienced positively was lower. Patients remain in the negative past and concentrate much more on the pain and the worrying memories. They give much less attention to what was and what is valuable and pleasant in their life. Results of this research reveal distinct features of the structure of TP in the studied group. Findings underline the clinical relevance of TP at various stages of therapy. Restoring a balanced time perspective could be regarded as a tenable goal for psychotherapy and perhaps an innovative indicator of the treatment’s effectiveness.
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Moss Erickson, Heidi. "What Garcia Got Right: Understanding Cortical Signaling of the Glottis." Journal of Singing 79, no. 3 (December 30, 2022): 379–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.53830/jupv9911.
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Phonation is a wonder of physics and physiology. In reductionist terms, the mechanics of the glottis can be viewed as a valve system: the streaming airflow from the lungs is passed through a dynamic and complex structure which is constantly changing aperture and configuration. The resulting pressure waves from air passing through the glottis are ultimately shaped and refined by the vocal tract giving rise to our unique voices. The nuance of this is extraordinary: as we sing and speak the vocal fold configuration is constantly changing in length and degree of contact under pressure conditions which are not always predictable. Yet the folds remain remarkably diligent in their ability to maintain equilibrium throughout these rapid changes. Without such discipline of this mechanism, we wouldn’t be capable of getting stability in any sound. Large, distal muscles of respiration are not designed to regulate such nuance at the millisecond level. So it is left to the larynx and vocal folds to balance the source sound of the system.This installment of “Minding the Gap” will be about how the brain controls this valve element at the center of our instrument: the intricate behaviors of the glottis. Neuroscience has shown that voicing, pitch, and phrasing are all signaled independently through the two laryngeal motor cortices which are a hallmark of our vocal learning abilities. Understanding these elements can help singers and teachers design targeted pedagogical strategies.
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Stamps, Judy, Anne Clark, Pat Arrowood, and Barbara Kus. "Parent-Offspring Conflict in Budgerigars." Behaviour 94, no. 1-2 (1985): 1–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853985x00253.
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AbstractDespite widespread theoretical interest in genetic conflict between parents and offspring, there is little empirical evidence that it exists in nature. Theoretical models suggest two outcomes of conflict not predicted by alternate theories: (1) offspring that control the allocation of parental investment might show escalated demand behaviours (e.g., begging) and demand more resources than they could efficiently use and (2) parents might evolve behavioural counterstrategies which prevented offspring from obtaining extra resources, but which were more costly than a "laissez-faire" parental strategy allowing offspring control. These predictions were tested in budgerigars, (Melopsittacus undulatus) in large flight cages at Davis, California. Budgerigar clutches hatch extremely asynchronously, yet all nestlings grew at similar rates and fledged at similar sizes and ages. This independence of hatch order and performance seemed due primarily to the mother budgerigar's allofeeding strategy: females allofed offspring mainly on the basis of size, and only secondarily attended to begging rate. Offspring of a given age and size were treated the same by their mothers regardless of hatch order, and offspring undersized for their age were fed as if they were younger. In contrast, male budgerigars attended to offspring begging rates. Males tended to initiate feeding bouts when offspring begged, and to allofeed vigorous beggers more often. Variance in male allofeeding behaviour allowed comparisons of size-matched families in which females performed nearly all of the allofeeds to nestlings (= female-fed families) with families in which males and females both allofed nestlings (= male-aided families). The parent controlled the allocation of food in female-fed families, while offspring had greater control over food allocation in male-fed families. As was predicted by conflict theory, the female counterstrategy was effective but potentially costly: the food delivery rate of females was only half as fast as males'. Conversely, offspring control resulted in an escalation of beg rate for the same degree of need (as measured by size and growth), and male-aided offspring obtained nearly three times more regurgitations than female-fed nestlings, yet grew at comparable rates and fledged at comparable sizes and ages. Hence, offspring demanded and obtained more food than they could effectively use. Other avian parents also seem to use effective but potentially costly counterstrategies, and other avian offspring may demand more food than they require. Even if initial hatch asynchronies functioned in brood reduction, the parental strategies described here would allow parents to retain control over the timing and conditions for offspring loss.
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Gómez Sánchez, Alicia, Yolanda Álvarez, Basilio Colligris, and Breandán N. Kennedy. "Affordable and effective optokinetic response methods to assess visual acuity and contrast sensitivity in larval to juvenile zebrafish." Open Research Europe 1 (August 12, 2021): 92. http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.13923.1.
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The optokinetic response (OKR) is an effective behavioural assay to investigate functional vision in zebrafish. The rapid and widespread use of gene editing, drug screening and environmental modulation technologies has resulted in a broader need for visual neuroscience researchers to access affordable and more sensitive OKR, contrast sensitivity (CS) and visual acuity (VA) assays. Here, we demonstrate how 2D- and 3D-printed, striped patterns or drums coupled with a motorised base and microscope provide a simple, cost-effective but efficient means to assay OKR, CS and VA in larval-juvenile zebrafish. In wild-type, five days post-fertilisation (dpf) zebrafish, the 2D or 3D drums printed with the standard OKR stimulus of 0.02 cycles per degree (cpd), 100% black-white contrast evoked equivalent responses of 24.2 or 21.8 saccades per minute, respectively. Furthermore, although the OKR number was significantly reduced compared to the 0.02 cpd drum (p<0.0001), the 2D and 3D drums evoked equivalent responses with the 0.06 and 0.2 cpd drums. Notably, standard OKRs varied with time of day; peak responses of 29.8 saccades per minute occurred in the early afternoon with significantly reduced responses occurring in the early morning or late afternoon (18.5 and 18.4 saccades per minute, respectively). A customised series of 2D printed drums enabled analysis of VA and CS in 5-21 dpf zebrafish. The saccadic frequency in VA and CS assays was inversely proportional to age, spatial frequency and contrast of the stimulus. OKR, VA and CS of zebrafish larvae can be efficiently measured using 2D- or 3D-printed striped drums. For data consistency the luminance of the OKR light source, the time of day when the analysis is performed, and the order of presentation of VA and CS drums must be considered. These simple methods allow effective and more sensitive analysis of functional vision in zebrafish.
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Welbergen, PH, W. Scharloo, and F. R. VAN DIJKEN. "Collation of the Courtship Behaviour of the Sympatric Species Drosophila Melanogaster and Drosophila Simulans." Behaviour 101, no. 4 (1987): 253–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853987x00017.
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Abstract1. A female choice experiment between two stocks of the sibling species Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans revealed a complete sexual isolation between the two species. 2. The courtship behaviour of males and females of the two species has been recorded in single pair matings by one observer using a microcomputer. It can be classified into the same 16 elements without stressing the species-typical aspects of the performances. 3. A detailed comparison of four courtship parameters per behavioural element, (I) percentage of total number of courtship acts, (II) percentage of total courtship time, (III) mean boutlength, and (IV) mean frequency per minute, showed a substantial quantitative differentiation of both sexes between the two closely-related species. 4. Drosophila simulans males and females are both less active in performing their behaviours than D. melanogaster. Scissoring is the major type of wingdisplay in the courtship of D. simulans males, and vibration is more common in the courtship of D. melanogaster males. Drosophila simulans females show lower frequencies per minute of all elements, except walking, extruding, and flicking. 5. Courtship duration in D. melanogaster males is controlled by the elements: orientation, following, and attempted copulation, as was shown by correlation analysis. In D. simulans males, courtship duration is mainly controlled by the elements licking and attempted copulation. However, with respect to the correlation coefficients of individual male behaviours the two species do not differ significantly. Therefore, we could not single out decisive and distinctive elements for enhancement of female's receptivity as a discriminating feature of male sexual behaviour of the two species. 6. First-order sequential analysis of intra-male dyadic transitions between adjacent behaviour elements of D. melanogaster and D. simulans shows quantitative differences primarily in transitions with either vibration or scissoring as the preceding or succeeding acts. Differences between the two female species are mainly limited to transitions in which the rejection-movements decamping and kicking are involved. 7. Analysis of inter-individual dyadic sequences gives the communicative value of male elements relative to the female elements and vice versa. In the communicative interactions with females, scissoring is the major type of wingdisplay in D. simulans males. It accomplishes the same role either in responding to the female or in stimulating the female as vibration does in D. melanogaster males. The elements standing, preening, and extruding are the central behaviours of females in both species in elucidating the male elements orientation, major type of wingdisplay, licking, and attempted copulation. However, the degree to which these male elements are initiated by the female's elements differs quantitatively between the two species. These quantitative differences emphasizes the differentiation in patterns of interaction between sexes between the two species.
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Gómez Sánchez, Alicia, Yolanda Álvarez, Basilio Colligris, and Breandán N. Kennedy. "Affordable and effective optokinetic response methods to assess visual acuity and contrast sensitivity in larval to juvenile zebrafish." Open Research Europe 1 (January 6, 2022): 92. http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.13923.2.
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The optokinetic response (OKR) is an effective behavioural assay to investigate functional vision in zebrafish. The rapid and widespread use of gene editing, drug screening and environmental modulation technologies has resulted in a broader need for visual neuroscience researchers to access affordable and more sensitive OKR, contrast sensitivity (CS) and visual acuity (VA) assays. Here, we demonstrate how 2D- and 3D-printed, striped patterns or drums coupled with a motorised base and microscope provide a simple, cost-effective but efficient means to assay OKR, CS and VA in larval-juvenile zebrafish. In wild-type, five days post-fertilisation (dpf) zebrafish, the 2D or 3D set-ups of 0.02 cycles per degree (cpd) (standard OKR stimulus) and 100% black-white contrast evoked equivalent responses of 24.2±3.9 or 21.8±3.9 saccades per minute, respectively. Furthermore, although the OKR number was significantly reduced compared to the 0.02 cpd drum (p<0.0001), 0.06 and 0.2 cpd drums elicited equivalent responses with both set-ups. Notably, standard OKRs varied with time of day; peak responses of 29.8±7 saccades per minute occurred in the early afternoon with significantly reduced responses occurring in the early morning or late afternoon (18.5±3 and 18.4±4.5 saccades per minute, respectively). A customised series of 2D printed drums enabled analysis of VA and CS in 5-21 dpf zebrafish. The saccadic frequency in VA assays was inversely proportional to age and spatial frequency and in CS assays was inversely proportional to age and directly proportional to contrast of the stimulus. OKR, VA and CS of zebrafish larvae can be efficiently measured using 2D- or 3D-printed striped drums. For data consistency the luminance of the OKR light source, the time of day when the analysis is performed, and the order of presentation of VA and CS drums must be considered. These simple methods allow effective and more sensitive analysis of functional vision in zebrafish.
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Zeman, Adam. "18 The eye’s mind: perspectives on visual imagery." Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry 91, no. 8 (July 20, 2020): e8.1-e8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2020-bnpa.18.
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Prof. Zeman trained in Medicine at Oxford University Medical School, after a first degree in Philosophy and Psychology, and later in Neurology in Oxford, at The National Hospital for Neurology in Queen Square, London and Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge. He moved to Edinburgh in 1996, as a Consultant and Senior Lecturer (later Reader) in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences and to the Peninsula Medical School (now University of Exeter Medical School) in September 2005 as Professor of Cognitive and Behavioural Neurology. His specialised clinical work is in cognitive and behavioural neurology, including neurological disorders of sleep.His main research interests are disorders of visual imagery and forms of amnesia occurring in epilepsy. He has an active background interest in the science and philosophy of consciousness, publishing a wide-ranging review of the field in Brain (2001; 124:1263–1289) and an accessible introduction to the subject for a general readership (Consciousness: a user’s guide, Yale University Press, 2002). In 2008 he published an introduction to neurology for the general reader, A Portrait of the Brain (Yale UP), and in 2012, Epilepsy and Memory (OUP) with Narinder Kapur and Marilyn Jones-Gotman. From 2007–2010 he was Chairman of the British Neuropsychiatry Association. He launched and continues to direct its training course in neuropsychiatry.For most of us visual imagery is a conspicuous ingredient of the imaginative experience which allows us to escape from the here and now into the past, the future and the worlds conceived by science and art. But there appears to be wide inter-individual variation in the vividness of visual imagery. Although the British psychologist Galton together with the Parisian neurologist Charcot and his psychiatrist colleague Cotard - recognised that some individuals may lack wakeful imagery entirely, the existence of ‘extreme imagery’ has been oddly neglected since this early work. In 2015 we coined the term ‘aphantasia’ to describe the lack of the mind’s eye, describing 21 individuals who reported a lifelong inability to visualise (Cortex, 2015;73:378–80). Since then we have heard from around 14,000 people, most reporting lifelong aphantasia, or its converse hyperphantasia, but also less common ‘acquired’ imagery loss resulting from brain injury or psychological disorder. Preliminary analyses suggests association between vividness extremes, occupational preference and reported abilities in face recognition and autobiographical memory. Many people with lifelong aphantasia nevertheless dream visually. Imagery in other modalities is variably affected. Extreme imagery appears to run in families more often than would be expected by chance. I will describe the findings of our recent pilot study of neuropsychological and brain imaging signatures of extreme imagery, and place our study of a- and hyper-phantasia in the context of the Eye’s Mind project, an interdisciplinary collaboration funded by the AHRC (http://medicine.exeter.ac.uk/research/neuroscience/theeyesmind/). In addition to our work on extreme imagery, we have reviewed the intellectual history of visual imagery (MacKisack et al, Frontiers in Psychology, 515:1–16. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00515), undertaken a recent ALE meta-analysis of functional imaging studies of visualisation (Winlove et al, Cortex, 20182018; 105:4–25) and organised an exhibition of work by artists with extreme imagery vividness (Extreme Imagination: inside the mind’s eye Exeter University Press, 2018.)
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Phillips, Kristin F., and Harald Sontheimer. "Neuroscience: The New English Major?" Neuroscientist, March 23, 2021, 107385842110039. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10738584211003992.
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Once strictly the domain of medical and graduate education, neuroscience has made its way into the undergraduate curriculum with over 230 colleges and universities now offering a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience. The disciplinary focus on the brain teaches students to apply science to the understanding of human behavior, human interactions, sensation, emotions, and decision making. In this article, we encourage new and existing undergraduate neuroscience programs to envision neuroscience as a broad discipline with the potential to develop competencies suitable for a variety of careers that reach well beyond research and medicine. This article describes our philosophy and illustrates a broad-based undergraduate degree in neuroscience implemented at a major state university, Virginia Tech. We highlight the fact that the research-centered Experimental Neuroscience major is least popular of our four distinct majors, which underscores our philosophy that undergraduate neuroscience can cater to a different audience than traditionally thought.
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Marcet-Rius, Míriam, Patrick Pageat, Cécile Bienboire-Frosini, Eva Teruel, Philippe Monneret, Julien Leclercq, and Alessandro Cozzi. "The provision of toys to pigs can improve the human-animal relationship." Porcine Health Management 6, no. 1 (November 10, 2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40813-020-00167-x.
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Abstract It is now widely recognised that a positive human-animal relationship is beneficial not only for farm animals’ welfare but also for productivity and the quality of products. A better understanding of animal emotions is an important goal in disciplines ranging from neuroscience to animal welfare science, but few reliable tools exist for measuring these emotions. In this study, whether the provision of toys to solicit play behaviour in pigs is associated with a change in the human-animal relationship and the emotional state of pigs was investigated. We involved a group of sixteen mini-pigs housed in an experimental setting and the use of a preliminary test called the ‘strange person’ test. After a Control and a Play session (with medium-sized dog toys, balls with ropes), the strange person test was performed. During the test, a person wearing a colourful overall, a hood, a mask, gloves and boots (unknown person with an odd appearance) entered the pen, where 2 mini-pigs were housed, for a 2-min video recording. The strange person test results after the Play and Control sessions were compared. The results showed that the latency to approach the person (duration in seconds) and the duration for which the pig was distant from the strange person (duration in seconds) were significantly lower after the Play session than after the Control session (Degrees of Freedom =30; Statistic of the F test =39.1; p < 0.0001 and Degrees of Freedom =15; Statistic of the F test =54.3; p < 0.0001, respectively). The duration of direct contact (duration in seconds) (Degrees of Freedom =15; Statistic of the F test =14.8; p = 0.002), the need to separate the pig from the strange person (frequency) (Degrees of Freedom =30; Statistic of the F test =9.3; p = 0.005) and the duration of tail movement (duration in seconds) (Degrees of Freedom =15; Statistic of the F test =12.6; p = 0.003) were all significantly higher after the Play sessions than after the Control sessions. Overall, the results suggest a change in the human-animal relationship after the Play sessions: the pigs seemed to be less fearful and more inclined to interact with the strange person, showing a more positive emotional state. This preliminary study suggests that the provision of toys, and more precisely, the opportunity to perform object play behaviour, and sometimes, spontaneously, social play behaviour, can improve the human-animal relationship. Additional research to explore this topic thoroughly may yield interesting results because a positive emotional state of the animals and a good human-animal relationship are essential to ensure good quality of life of farm animals.
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Murugavel, Baheerathan, Mindaugas Mitkus, Hema Somanathan, and Almut Kelber. "Retinal ganglion cell topography and spatial resolution in three Indian pteropodid bats." Brain, Behavior and Evolution, December 29, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000528417.
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Pteropodidae is the only phytophagous bat family that predominantly depends on visual and olfactory cues for orientation and foraging. During daytime, pteropodids of different species roost in sites with varying light exposure. Pteropodids have larger eyes relative to body size than insectivorous bats. Retinal topography has been studied in less than 10% of the approximately 200 pteropodid species, a behavioural estimation of spatial resolution is available only for Pteropus giganteus, and little is known about the relationship between their roost site preference and visual ecology. We present retinal ganglion cell topographic maps and anatomical estimates of spatial resolution in three southern Indian pteropodid species with different roosting preferences. Ganglion cell densities are between 1000 and 2000 cells/mm2 in the central retina and lower in the dorsal and ventral periphery. All three species have a temporal area in the retina with peak ganglion cell densities of 4600 to 6600 cells/mm2. As a result, the foliage-roosting Cynopterus sphinx and the cave-roosting Rousettus leschenaultii have similar anatomical resolution (2.7 and 2.8 cycles/degree, respectively). The anatomical estimate for the larger tree-roosting P. giganteus (4.0 cycles/degree) is higher than the spatial resolution determined earlier in behavioural tests. Like other pteropodids and unlike other vertebrates, all three species have choroidal papillae. Based on 15 pteropodid species studied to date, we find no relationship between roost type and eye size or visual acuity. For a general understanding of the sensory ecology of pteropodids that perform key ecosystem services in the tropics, it will be essential to study additional species.
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Sadeh, Sadra, and Claudia Clopath. "Contribution of behavioural variability to representational drift." eLife 11 (August 30, 2022). http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/elife.77907.
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Neuronal responses to similar stimuli change dynamically over time, raising the question of how internal representations can provide a stable substrate for neural coding. Recent work has suggested a large degree of drift in neural representations even in sensory cortices, which are believed to store stable representations of the external world. While the drift of these representations is mostly characterized in relation to external stimuli, the behavioural state of the animal (for instance, the level of arousal) is also known to strongly modulate the neural activity. We therefore asked how the variability of such modulatory mechanisms can contribute to representational changes. We analysed large-scale recording of neural activity from the Allen Brain Observatory, which was used before to document representational drift in the mouse visual cortex. We found that, within these datasets, behavioural variability significantly contributes to representational changes. This effect was broadcasted across various cortical areas in the mouse, including the primary visual cortex, higher order visual areas, and even regions not primarily linked to vision like hippocampus. Our computational modelling suggests that these results are consistent with independent modulation of neural activity by behaviour over slower time scales. Importantly, our analysis suggests that reliable but variable modulation of neural representations by behaviour can be misinterpreted as representational drift, if neuronal representations are only characterized in the stimulus space and marginalised over behavioural parameters.
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Knott, Rachael, Beth P. Johnson, Jeggan Tiego, Olivia Mellahn, Amy Finlay, Kathryn Kallady, Maria Kouspos, et al. "The Monash Autism-ADHD genetics and neurodevelopment (MAGNET) project design and methodologies: a dimensional approach to understanding neurobiological and genetic aetiology." Molecular Autism 12, no. 1 (August 5, 2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13229-021-00457-3.
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Abstract Background ASD and ADHD are prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders that frequently co-occur and have strong evidence for a degree of shared genetic aetiology. Behavioural and neurocognitive heterogeneity in ASD and ADHD has hampered attempts to map the underlying genetics and neurobiology, predict intervention response, and improve diagnostic accuracy. Moving away from categorical conceptualisations of psychopathology to a dimensional approach is anticipated to facilitate discovery of data-driven clusters and enhance our understanding of the neurobiological and genetic aetiology of these conditions. The Monash Autism-ADHD genetics and neurodevelopment (MAGNET) project is one of the first large-scale, family-based studies to take a truly transdiagnostic approach to ASD and ADHD. Using a comprehensive phenotyping protocol capturing dimensional traits central to ASD and ADHD, the MAGNET project aims to identify data-driven clusters across ADHD-ASD spectra using deep phenotyping of symptoms and behaviours; investigate the degree of familiality for different dimensional ASD-ADHD phenotypes and clusters; and map the neurocognitive, brain imaging, and genetic correlates of these data-driven symptom-based clusters. Methods The MAGNET project will recruit 1,200 families with children who are either typically developing, or who display elevated ASD, ADHD, or ASD-ADHD traits, in addition to affected and unaffected biological siblings of probands, and parents. All children will be comprehensively phenotyped for behavioural symptoms, comorbidities, neurocognitive and neuroimaging traits and genetics. Conclusion The MAGNET project will be the first large-scale family study to take a transdiagnostic approach to ASD-ADHD, utilising deep phenotyping across behavioural, neurocognitive, brain imaging and genetic measures.
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Marca, Rossella Della, Nadia Loy, and Marco Menale. "Intransigent vs. volatile opinions in a kinetic epidemic model with imitation game dynamics." Mathematical Medicine and Biology: A Journal of the IMA, December 7, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/imammb/dqac018.
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Abstract In the mathematical epidemiology community, there is an increasing interest in shaping the complex interplay between human behaviour and disease spreading. We give a contribution in this direction by illustrating a method to derive behavioural change epidemic models from a stochastic particle description by the means of kinetic equations. We consider an Susceptible–Infected–Removed–like model where contact rates depend on the behavioural patterns adopted across the population. The selection of the social behaviour happens during the interactions between individuals adopting alternative strategies and it is driven by an imitation game dynamics. Agents have a double microscopic state: a discrete label, that denotes the epidemiological compartment to which they belong, and the degree of flexibility of opinion, that is a measure of the personal attitude to change opinion and, hence, to switch between the alternative social contact patterns. We derive kinetic evolution equations for the distribution functions of the degree of flexibility of opinion of the individuals for each compartment, whence we obtain macroscopic equations for the densities and average flexibilities of opinion. After providing the basic properties of the macroscopic model, we numerically investigate it by focusing on the impact of the flexibility of opinion on the epidemic course and on the consequent behavioural responses.