Mutual mother–offspring vocal recognition in an ungulate hider species (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Capra hircus</Emphasis>)

Parent–offspring recognition can be essential for offspring survival and important to avoid misdirected parental care when progeny mingle in large social groups. In ungulates, offspring antipredator strategies (hiding vs. following) result in differences in mother–offspring interactions, and thus different selection pressures acting on the recognition process during the first weeks of life. Hider offspring are isolated and relatively stationary and silent to avoid detection by predators, whereas follower offspring are mobile and rapidly mix in large social groups. For these reasons, hiders have been suggested to show low offspring call individuality leading to unidirectional recognition of mothers by offspring and followers high offspring call individuality and mutual recognition. We hypothesised that similar differences would exist in hider species between the hiding phase (i.e. unidirectional recognition) and the phase when offspring join social groups (i.e. mutual recognition). We tested these predictions with goats (Capra hircus), a hider species characterised by strong mother–offspring attachment. We compared the individuality of kid and mother calls, and the vocal recognition ability, during the early phase of life when kids are usually hidden and later when kids have typically joined social groups. Contrary to our predictions, we found that both kids and mothers had individualised contact calls and that mutual recognition existed even during the hiding phase. The large differences in the duration of the hiding phase and in the rate of mother–offspring interactions (possibly partially driven by domestication in some species) probably cause variations among hider species in the mother–offspring recognition process.     

AN EXPRESSIVE WRITING INTERVENTION TO COPE WITH LESBIAN-RELATED STRESS: THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF OPENNESS ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATION

Over the past two decades, expressive writing interventions have been used successfully to reduce distress and improve well-being for those dealing with traumatic events, stressors, and illnesses. The purpose of this study was to investigate an expressive writing intervention for lesbian-related stressors. As expected, writing about traumatic events related to sexual orientation reduced self-reported confusion and perceived stress over a 2-month period for those lesbians who were less open about their sexual orientation. Interestingly, writing about such traumatic experiences was associated with increases in confusion and perceived stress for those who were more open about their sexual orientation. Applying this paradigm to assist individuals in coping with stressors related to their sexual orientation represents an important addition to the expressive writing literature. Furthermore, it offers a promising, cost-effective method to assist closeted lesbians in coping with stressors related to their sexual orientation.     

Yohimbine impairs extinction of cocaine-conditioned place preference in an alpha2-adrenergic receptor independent process

Extinction, a form of learning that has the ability to reshape learned behavior based on new experiences, has been heavily studied utilizing fear learning paradigms. Mechanisms underlying extinction of positive-valence associations, such as drug self-administration and place preference, are poorly understood yet may have important relevance to addiction treatment. Data suggest a major role for the noradrenergic system in extinction of fear-based learning. Employing both pharmacological and genetic approaches, we investigated the role of the alpha(2)-adrenergic receptor (alpha(2)-AR) in extinction of cocaine-conditioned place preference (CPP) and glutamatergic transmission in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). We found that pre-extinction systemic treatment with the alpha(2)-AR antagonist yohimbine impaired cocaine CPP extinction in C57BL/6J mice, an effect that was not mimicked by the more selective alpha(2)-AR antagonist, atipamezole. Moreover, alpha(2A)-AR knockout mice exhibited similar cocaine CPP extinction and exacerbated extinction impairing effects of yohimbine. Using acute brain slices and electrophysiological approaches, we found that yohimbine produces a slowly evolving depression of glutamatergic transmission in the BNST that was not mimicked by atipamezole. Further, this action was extant in slices from alpha(2A)-AR knockout mice. Our data strongly suggest that extinction-modifying effects of yohimbine are unlikely to be due to actions at alpha(2A)-ARs.