Agonistic behavior,plasma testosterone,and hypothalamic estradiol binding in male rabbits

The purpose of this study was to establish a relation between agonistic behavior, gonadal hormones, and their receptorial capacity at the central level. Male rabbits were observed in seminatural conditions and three components of their agonistic behavior were recorded: follow, attack, and chase. The three behaviors were mutually correlated and clearly differed among the four members of each group. Within the social group, one rabbit was agonistically more active than the others and his supremacy was associated with an increased level of peripheral testosterone and higher estradiol binding in the hypothalamus. On the whole, the values of the hypothalamic estradiol binding were positively correlated with the behaviors. The results show that, in the male rabbit, agonistic activity is associated with changes in testosterone concentration and in the binding at the central level of its aromatized metabolite estradiol. Aggr. Behav. 23:33–40, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Agonistic behavior and social reactivity of LG/J mice in both an arena and a seminatural setting

In order to determine the relatively long-term effects of having been primed for agonistic behaviors in an arena setting, 28 male LG/J mice were observed for these behaviors in a seminatural environment for a period of 5 days following a 20 min arena test. The mice were first placed in an arena in which they were allowed either immediate physical contact with another strain (control condition) or were briefly separated from another strain by a transparent partition before being allowed physical access to them (priming condition). Subjects, recorded as either having fought or not fought in the arena, were then placed in a 101 cm square seminatural setting. Seven trials, using 8 LGs each (4 arenaexperienced males and 4 naive females), were made, and agonistic behaviors were recorded for the priming and control condition subjects. The results showed that the control condition fighters (CF) like the priming condition fighters (PF) fought in the arena situation, but different agonistic patterns in the seminatural setting were noted. While in the seminatural environment, both CF and PF mice were attacked frequently and submitted frequently, but PF mice attacked opponents more frequently than did CF subjects (p < 0.025) and elicited significantly more submissions from opponent mice than did CF mice (p < 0.025). It is concluded that: (1) there are more and different agonistic behavior patterns available in the more natural environment than in the arena setting, and more specifically (2) there is a greater effect on agonistic behaviors in a seminatural environment for mice that fought when exposed to the arena priming procedure as compared with mice having fought in the arena control condition.     

物体识别中的视点问题

视点问题是物体识别研究中的热点问题。文章回顾了两个主要的物体识别理论：结构描述模型和基于图像的模型,前者认为物体识别是视点独立的（viewpoint-invariant）,后者认为物体识别是视点依赖的（viewpoint-dependent）。在介绍了物体识别领域的一些最新研究进展和分析了当前研究存在的问题之后,文章进一步探讨解决视点争论的可能的途径:完善现存的物体心理表征模型     

物体识别的视角依赖与心理旋转

物体识别的绩效随物体的视角变化而变化,这一物体识别的视角依赖现象引发了研究者对物体识别的机制的广泛讨论。有研究者认为,心理旋转是导致物体识别视角依赖的原因,而另一种观点认为物体识别中不包含心理旋转过程。两种观点都有来自于行为和神经机制两方面研究的证据。然而,现有的行为证据都是间接的证据,缺乏说服力。进一步的研究应注重直接操纵影响心理旋转与物体识别过程的因素,并把行为研究与能进行实时监测的眼动、脑成像等研究结合起来     

Antiaggressive Effects of Zolpidem and Zopiclone in Agonistic Encounters Between Male Mice

The effects of benzodiazepines on various types of aggression have been extensively studied. These substances produce their pharmacological effects by allosterically modulating the action of GABA via specific recognition sites on the GABA_A receptor called omega 1 and omega 2. The antiaggressive profile of non‐benzodiazepine compounds that also act at omega sites, such as zopiclone (a non‐selective omega 1 and 2 ligand) and zolpidem (a selective omega 1 ligand) has been scarcely explored. In this study, we examined the action of zolpidem (0.75‐3 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) and zopiclone (1.5‐6 mg/kg), administered acutely or subchronically for 10 days, on agonistic behavior elicited by isolation in male mice. Individually housed mice were exposed to anosmic “standard opponents” 30 min after drug administration, and the encounters were videotaped and evaluated using an ethologically based analysis. Acute treatment with zopiclone produced a marked antiaggressive effect, reducing offensive behaviors (threat and attack) at all doses used (1.5, 3, and 6 mg/kg) without affecting immobility. Likewise, the intermediate dose of zolpidem (1.5 mg/kg) significantly decreased aggression in a specific manner, without altering immobility, whereas the highest dose (3 mg/kg) provoked a reduction of aggression accompanied by a weak (but significant) increase of immobility. With repeated treatment, no tolerance to the antiaggressive effects of zopiclone and zolpidem was developed. It is concluded that omega sites at the GABA_A receptor could be involved in the control of aggression. Aggr. Behav. 28:416–425, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Object Recognition: Insights From Advances in fMRI Methods

ABSTRACT— Recent advancements in imaging methods and analysis approaches have provided important insights about the neural bases of object recognition. We address the potential limitations of standard functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and discuss methodological advancements, including fMRI-adaptation, pattern analyses, and high-resolution fMRI, that may be more appropriate for studying object and face representations. fMRI-adaptation and high-resolution fMRI measure responses of neural subpopulations within standard fMRI voxels, and pattern analyses examine the information in the distributed activations across voxels, which may differ from the mean response across these voxels. These methods have provided evidence for a multitude of representations across the human ventral stream that provide empirical constraints for cognitive theories of recognition.     

靶刺激变换与情景信息属性对真实情景再认的影响

采用眼动研究范式,通过两个实验考察靶刺激变换与情景信息属性对情景再认的影响。实验一结果显示,靶刺激变换对情景再认、靶刺激所属兴趣区的凝视时间均有显著影响,这表明在情景再认过程中,观察者会有意识地搜索靶刺激,靶刺激具有诊断效应;实验二应用了知觉信息与语义信息重合和分离两种情景材料。结果显示,观察者对语义信息的首次注视次数显著多于知觉信息;观察者对知觉信息和语义信息分离条件下语义信息的首次注视时间显著长于重合条件下。这一结果提示,在情景识别过程中,语义信息具有注意优先性,但其优先性会受到知觉信息启动的干扰。     

非面孔物体倒置效应形成过程的认知神经机制

物体识别, 尤其是人造新异物体专家识别形成过程的神经机制是了解大脑可塑性的一个重要窗口。当前, 从行为学上或神经机制上探讨物体特定角度体验程度与物体专家识别形成关系的研究较少, 本项目采用事件相关电位与行为训练相结合的方法, 分别选择在社会生活中自然形成的某类物体识别专家和经人为训练形成的人造新异物体识别专家作为被试, 研究非面孔物体识别倒置效应从无到有、从小到大整个过程的脑机制。通过对倒置效应大小的操纵, 分离出专家识别状态下的ERP成分, 并分析专家识别形成过程的脑电动态变化过程, 探讨非面孔物体识别大脑可塑性变化的神经机制。在上述研究的基础上, 研究者试图提出物体特定角度体验程度与物体识别加工方式选择关系模型并完善当前物体识别整体布局加工连续量假设(configural processing continuum)理论。     

From Fragments to Geometric Shape: Changes in Visual Object Recognition Between 18 and 24 Months

ABSTRACT— Visual object recognition is foundational to processes of categorization, tool use, and real-world problem solving. Despite considerable effort across many disciplines and many specific advances, there is no comprehensive or well-accepted account of this ability. Moreover, none of the extant approaches consider how human object recognition develops. New evidence indicates a period of rapid change in toddlers' visual object recognition between 18 and 24 months that is related to the learning of object names and to goal-directed action. Children appear to shift from recognition based on piecemeal fragments to recognition based on geometric representations of three-dimensional shape. These findings may lead to a more unified understanding of the processes that make human object recognition as impressive as it is.     

An Environmental Enrichment Programme to Promote Adaptive Responding in Two Children with Multiple Disabilities

Abstract

An environmental enrichment programme was used for two passive children who had visual and hearing impairments and profound intellectual disabilities. The enrichment items, selected through stimulus preference assessments, were accessible contingent on simple adaptive responses. Data showed that both children increased their adaptive responding (thus reducing their passivity) during the programme. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Effects of prenatal cocaine and genotype on intermale agonistic behavior in Mus musculus

We exposed the pups of three F₁ genotypes of mice to a daily regime of cocaine by injecting their mothers (all C57BL/10J strain) on days 7–18 of gestation with 20 mg/kg subcutaneously. Pups of the cocaine and control groups did not differ on measures of maternal and pup health or size. Male pups were weaned and isolated at 21 days of age and their behaviors measured in an intermale aggression situation at about 80 days of age. Treated and untreated males of each F₁ genotype were paired in dyads with either a C3H/HeJ (hawk-like) or AKR/J (retaliator-like) standard tester male. Standard tester males were not exposed to cocaine. Cocaine treatment alone reduced the overall level of aggression in dyads, and in interaction with genotype or the standard tester it altered the behavior of dyads in all phases of social interaction: the initiation, content, and outcome. Standard testers used as behavioral probes, differentiated cocaine and control males with respect to their stimulus and behavioral qualities. Aggr. Behav. 23:183–196, 1997.© 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Aggressive and affiliative behavior in green monkeys with differing housing complexity

Eleven green monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) were combined into three social groups (two heterosexual, one all-male) in enclosures with similar volume but different levels of environmental complexity (two or four compartments). Agonistic and affiliative interactions were recorded over a 21-week period. The two heterosexual groups had their environmental complexity reduced (number of compartments reduced by one-half and volume/floorspace reduced by one-third) for a 5-week period in the middle of the study. Rates of contact aggression were low throughout the study. In the group with complexity reduced to one compartment, rates of noncontact aggression and affiliative behavior increased, and remained high after complexity was restored. In the group reduced to two compartments, rates of affiliative behavior increased but rates of noncontact aggression decreased, trends which continued after complexity was restored. The all-male group exhibited low rates of affiliative behavior throughout. Two compartments appear to foster successful group formation, but any change in a group's enclosure can have long-term effects on rates of aggression. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Effects of ritanserin on offense and defense in male mice

Effects of ritanserin on agonistic behavior of isolated mice exhibiting aggressive or nonaggressive behavioral strategies were studied in pair-wise encounters with group-housed opponents. An ethological approach to behavioral scoring is adopted, which allows for examination of the profiles of individual subjects. Although the data generally support the view that ritanser in has little effect on offense or defense in male mice, the stimulation of pre-aggressive behavior (threats, alerts, tail rattles) was detected in some nonaggressive mice. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

交往不良同伴对男性未成年犯攻击行为的影响:道德推脱的中介作用

以社会学习理论为基础,运用问卷调查法,通过对368名男性未成年犯的调查,分析了交往不良同伴对攻击行为的影响以及道德推脱在这一影响过程中的中介作用。结果发现:(1)交往不良同伴与男性未成年犯的道德推脱存在显著正相关(γ=0.29, p<0.001),与攻击行为也存在显著正相关 (γ=0.32, p<0.001),同时,道德推脱与攻击行为存在显著正相关 (γ=0.45, p<0.001);(2)交往不良同伴会对男性未成年犯的攻击行为产生显著的正向影响(γ=0.34, p<0.001),道德推脱也会对攻击行为产生显著的正向影响(γ=0.44, p<0.001),同时,道德推脱在交往不良同伴影响攻击行为的过程中发挥着部分中介作用。     

A sensory contact model for the study of aggressive and submissive behavior in male mice

The technique for simultaneous development of aggressive and submissive behaviors as a result of successive experiences of defeats or victories in daily intermale confrontations in male mice permanently living under sensory contact conditions is offered for behavioral, pharmacological, and neurophysiological studies of mechanisms of agonistic social relations. Distant sensory contact is achieved by placing a pair of males into a common cage separated by a transparent partition with holes permitting visual contact and the individuals perceiving each other's odors but preventing any physical at contact all times except for 10-min daily tests. These conditions essentially elicit aggression in winner males and quickly result in submission by losers of the same strain of mice. The meaning of consecutive stages of the technique, the problem of controls, and applications of this model are discussed.     

Decreasing signs of negative affect and correlated self-injury in an individual with mental retardation and mood disturbances

We evaluated the effects of an enriched environment, based on a paired-choice preference assessment, on both rates of self-injurious behavior (SIB) and percentage of session intervals during which signs of negative affect were displayed by a woman with mental retardation and a mood disorder. Results suggested that SIB and signs of negative affect were highly correlated and that the enriched environment effectively reduced both.     

Effects of acute administration of nicotine and lobeline on agonistic encounters in male mice

The effects of acute administration of two nicotinic ligands, (‐)‐nicotine and (‐)‐lobeline were examined on isolation‐induced aggression in mice. Individually housed male mice confronted anosmic “standard opponents” in a neutral arena 10 min after drug administration. Encounters were videotaped and evaluated using an ethologically based analysis facilitating estimation of time allocated to 11 broad behavioral categories. Nicotine did not have significant effects on threat or attack but significantly diminished time allocated to digging. The lowest dose of lobeline significantly diminished attack and induced a slight increase of immobility without significantly diminishing other behaviors with motor components. The intermediate and highest dose of lobeline reduced time allocated to all behaviors with motor components. It is concluded that these two nicotinic agonists produce different behavioral profiles during agonistic encounters in mice but that this test may not facilitate assessing the impact of such drugs on irritability. Aggr. Behav. 26:376–385, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Adolescent Friendship as a Dynamic System: Entropy and Deviance in the Etiology and Course of Male Antisocial Behavior

A dynamic systems framework was applied to understand the influence of friendship on antisocial behavior from childhood (age 9-10) through adulthood (age 24-25) for Oregon Youth Study males (N = 206). Boys were videotaped interacting with a friend at ages 14, 16, and 18, and deviant content and interpersonal processes were independently coded. Conditional dyadic interpersonal processes were studied as a communication system and summarized by an index of information entropy (F. Attneave, 1959). High entropy scores represent disorganized, unpredictable patterns of interaction, whereas low entropy scores reflect an organized dialogue. Conversations of early-onset antisocial boys and their best friends were less organized and included more deviant content than those of well-adjusted controls. Prediction analyses, however, revealed an interaction between entropy and deviant talk. Consistent with expectation, males with well-organized interactions (i.e., low entropy) but elevated levels of deviant content were most likely to continue antisocial behavior into adulthood. Findings suggest that individual risk for maladaptation may be amplified by early adolescent friendship dynamics organized around deviance.     

Association of Normative Beliefs and Anger with Aggression and Antisocial Behavior in Russian Male Juvenile Offenders and High School Students

Examined the association of anger experience and two types of normative beliefs with physical aggression and nonaggressive antisocial behavior in 361 juvenile offenders and 206 high school students in Russia. All participants were male and ranged in age from 14 to 18 years. Higher frequency of aggressive acts was significantly associated with higher levels of anger and stronger beliefs that physical aggression is an appropriate course of action in conflicts. After statistically controlling for nonaggressive antisocial behavior, the relationship between physical aggression and antisocial beliefs was not significant. Similarly, with physical aggression controlled, nonaggressive antisocial behavior was uniquely associated with approval of deviancy, but not with anger or beliefs legitimizing aggression. Juvenile offenders reported higher levels of anger experience and higher frequency of aggression and antisocial behavior compared to high school students. There were no differences in normative beliefs between these two groups. This specificity of association of social-cognitive and emotion-regulation processes to aggressive and nonaggressive forms of antisocial behavior may be relevant to understanding the mechanisms of cognitive-behavioral therapy for conduct disorder and antisocial behavior.