Your search

Although cooperating individuals may gain benefits, they risk being cheated by their allies. Therefore, to understand the persistence of cooperation by mutual benefits, it is important to document both the potential benefits of cooperation and the risks of cheating. We experimentally examined evidence of cooperation in the ocellated wrasse (Symphodus ocellatus), a fish species with males that exercise three reproductive strategies: satellite and sneaker males attempt to parasitically spawn in the nests of nesting males. Nesting males have been hypothesized to tolerate satellites as a result of satellite aid in defense against sneaker males and help in courting females. Here, we provide evidence that cooperation between reproductive competitors may arise in response to sperm competition from other males. After we experimentally removed satellites, nesting males had more sneakers at their nest and experienced a higher rate of sneaking when they spawned (increased sperm competition risk). When we experimentally distracted nesting males to prevent their acting aggressively toward satellites, satellites spawned with females and ate eggs in the nest. Our results suggest that nesting males and satellites gain fitness benefits of reduced direct reproductive and sperm competition through cooperation. However, nesting males risk losing paternity, while satellites experience increased aggression and must invest in aggression themselves (i.e., they act aggressively toward sneakers).

Large number of promising preclinical psychiatric studies in rodents later fail in clinical trials, raising concerns about the efficacy of this approach to generate novel pharmacological interventions. In this mini-review we argue that over-reliance on behavioral tests that are brief and highly sensitive to external factors play a critical role in this failure and propose that automated home-cage monitoring offers several advantages that will increase the translational utility of preclinical psychiatric research in rodents. We describe three of the most commonly used approaches for automated home cage monitoring in rodents [e.g., operant wall systems (OWS), computerized visual systems (CVS), and automatic motion sensors (AMS)] and review several commercially available systems that integrate the different approaches. Specific examples that demonstrate the advantages of automated home-cage monitoring over traditional tests of anxiety, depression, cognition, and addiction-like behaviors are highlighted. We conclude with recommendations on how to further expand this promising line of preclinical research. Copyright © 2020 Mingrone, Kaffman and Kaffman.

Children with autism spectrum disorders have been reported to be less influenced by a speaker’s face during speech perception than those with typically development. To more closely examine these reported differences, a novel visual phonemic restoration paradigm was used to assess neural signatures (event-related potentials [ERPs]) of audiovisual processing in typically developing children and in children with autism spectrum disorder. Video of a speaker saying the syllable /ba/ was paired with (1) a synthesized /ba/ or (2) a synthesized syllable derived from /ba/ in which auditory cues for the consonant were substantially weakened, thereby sounding more like /a/. The auditory stimuli are easily discriminable; however, in the context of a visual /ba/, the auditory /a/ is typically perceived as /ba/, producing a visual phonemic restoration. Only children with ASD showed a large /ba/-/a/ discrimination response in the presence of a speaker producing /ba/, suggesting reduced influence of visual speech. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature.

Research suggests that addictive traits are indeed heritable, but very few preclinical studies have explored transgenerational effects of paternal alcohol exposure. The present study addressed this gap in knowledge. We explored whether offspring of ethanol-exposed sires would be more likely to accept ethanol than descendants of water-exposed and control sires. We also investigated whether the second generation of ethanol-exposed descendants would accept ethanol more than controls and were more or less likely to experience anxiety-like behavior in behavioral assessments. We exposed male rats to repeated binge doses of alcohol (4 g/kg/day across 8 days), water, or left them untreated and mated them with untreated females. We then bred the offspring of these rats to test transgenerational effects of paternal alcohol exposure. We tested 14-day-old offspring from the first and second filial generation for their acceptance of ethanol and water, and measured anxiety-like behavior in 38-day-old, second-generation offspring using an elevated plus maze. The results indicate that offspring of ethanol-exposed sires increase ethanol acceptance in the first generation compared to untreated controls, whereas in the second-generation increased ethanol acceptance vs. these controls is seen in descendants of both ethanol- and vehicle-treated sires. At adolescence, the second generation of rats derived from alcohol-exposed sires exhibited significantly more time spent in the open arms and significantly more arm entries than any other group. The present study suggests that parental ethanol exposure is associated with lingering effects in the infant and adolescent offspring. The second filial generation was also found to be affected, albeit similarly by grandparental ethanol exposure or by the stress of the vehicle administration. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Physical activity, and likely the motivation for it, varies throughout the day. The aim of this investigation was to create a short assessment (CRAVE: Cravings for Rest and Volitional Energy Expenditure) to measure motivation states (wants, desires, urges) for physical activity and sedentary behaviors. Five studies were conducted to develop and evaluate the construct validity and reliability of the scale, with 1,035 participants completing the scale a total of 1,697 times. In Study 1, 402 university students completed a questionnaire inquiring about the want or desire to perform behaviors "at the present moment (right now). " Items related to physical activity (e.g., "move my body") and sedentary behaviors (e.g., "do nothing active"). An exploratory structural equation model (ESEM) revealed that 10 items should be retained, loading onto two factors (5 each for Move and Rest). In Study 2, an independent sample (n = 444) confirmed these results and found that Move and Rest desires were associated with stage-of-change for exercise behavior. In Study 3, 127 community-residing participants completed the CRAVE at 6-month intervals over two years- two times each session. Across-session interclass correlations (ICC) for Move (ICC = 0.72-0.95) and Rest (ICC = 0.69-0.88) were higher than when they were measured across 24-months (Move: ICC = 0.53; Rest: ICC = 0.49), indicating wants/desires have state-like qualities. In Study 4, a maximal treadmill test was completed by 21 university students. The CRAVE was completed immediately pre and post. Move desires decreased 26% and Rest increased 74%. Changes in Move and Rest desires were moderately associated with changes in perceived physical fatigue and energy. In Study 5, 41 university students sat quietly during a 50-min lecture. They completed the CRAVE at 3 time points. Move increased 19.6% and Rest decreased 16.7%. Small correlations were detected between move and both perceived energy and tiredness, but not calmness or tension. In conclusion, the CRAVE scale has good psychometric properties. These data also support tenets of the WANT model of motivation states for movement and rest (Stults-Kolehmainen et al., 2020a). Future studies need to explore how desires to move/rest relate to dynamic changes in physical activity and sedentarism. Copyright © 2021 Stults-Kolehmainen, Blacutt, Fogelman, Gilson, Stanforth, Divin, Bartholomew, Filgueiras, McKee, Ash, Ciccolo, Brotnow Decker, Williamson and Sinha.