Search results for "Exploratory"
showing 10 items of 446 documents
Multivariate analysis of the modifications induced by an environmental acoustic cue on rat exploratory behavior.
2007
The aim of the present paper is to study by means of a multivariate analysis the modifications induced by an environmental acoustic cue on the structure of rat exploratory behavior. Adult male Wistar rats were observed during the exploration of a soundproof observation box. Each rat was acoustically stimulated after 150 s from the beginning of the experimental session, lasting 300 s, and recorded through a digital videocamera. A frame by frame analysis was thereafter carried out using a professional video-recording system. Thirteen behavioral patterns were selected: immobility, immobile-sniffing, walking, rearing, climbing, chewing, paw-licking, face-grooming, body-grooming, head-turning, t…
GHB differentially affects morphine actions on motor activity and social behaviours in male mice
2003
There are several reports suggesting that gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) influences the endogenous opioid system. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of GHB on motor and social activities and to examine its influence on morphine's actions on these behaviours. In a first experiment, several doses of GHB were studied but only the highest (200 and 400 mg/kg) produced a decrease in spontaneous motor activity measured in an actimeter cage. When hyperactivity induced by injecting 50 mg/kg of morphine was evaluated, all the GHB doses efficiently counteracted this morphine action. Using the paradigm of isolation-induced aggression, administration of 200 mg/kg of GHB significantly de…
Effects of chronic nicotine on the temporal structure of anxiety-related behavior in rats tested in hole-board.
2019
Abstract The present study aimed to assess the behavioral effects of chronic treatments of different doses of nicotine by using both quantitative and multivariate T-pattern analysis (TPA), which can reveal hidden behavioral structures, in Sprague-Dawley rats tested in the hole-board apparatus. To this purpose, nicotine ditartrate was administered at the doses of 0.1, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg i.p., three times per day, for 14 consecutive days. As to quantitative evaluations, we observed significant reductions in the mean durations and mean frequencies of walking, climbing, immobile-sniffing and rearing in comparison to control. A significant reduction of edge-sniff and head-dip mean frequencies was a…
Behavioral effects of combined environmental enrichment and chronic nicotine administration in male NMRI mice
2013
Abstract Environmental enrichment (EE) is an experimental paradigm which provides sensory, social, physical and cognitive stimulation for rodents. Experimental evidence indicates that this type of housing induces different neurobiological and behavioral changes. However, few studies have evaluated the consequences of combined exposure to an enriched environment and nicotine administration during a critical period of development such as adolescence. Taking into account previous studies, it can be hypothesized that a chronic treatment with nicotine would modulate the effects of rearing animals in enriched environments. In the current study, our main aim was to evaluate the effects of EE and c…
The use of the Emotional-Object Recognition as an assay to assess learning and memory associated to an aversive stimulus in rodents
2016
Abstract Background Emotionally salient experiences induce the formation of explicit memory traces, besides eliciting automatic or implicit emotional memory in rodents. This study aims at investigating the implementation of a novel task for studying the formation of limbic memory engrams as a result of the acquisition- and retrieval- of fear-conditioning – biased declarative memory traces, measured by animal discrimination of an “emotional-object”. Moreover, by using this new method we investigated the potential interactions between stimulation of cannabinoid transmission and integration of emotional information and cognitive functioning. New method The Emotional-Object Recognition task is …
Sex-specific differences in offspring personalities across the laying order in magpies Pica pica
2013
Maternal effects provide an important mechanism for mothers to create variation in offspring personality, and to potentially influence offspring life history strategies e.g. creating more/less dispersive phenotypes. However, within-clutch maternal effects often vary and hence there is potential for within-clutch variation in personality. We studied the effects of hatching order on explorative and neophobic behaviour of the magpies Pica pica in relation to sex using novel environment and novel object experiments. Hatching order did affect explorative behaviour in magpie, but did so in opposite directions for either sex. First-hatched females were more explorative and had a tendency to be les…
Depressive-like symptoms in a reserpine-induced model of fibromyalgia in rats.
2015
Since the pathogenesis of fibromyalgia is unknown, treatment options are limited, ineffective and in fact based on symptom relief. A recently proposed rat model of fibromyalgia is based on central depletion of monamines caused by reserpine administration. This model showed widespread musculoskeletal pain and depressive-like symptoms, but the methodology used to measure such symptoms has been criticized. Evidence relates the high prevalence of pain and depression in fibromyalgia to common pathogenic pathways, most probably focused on the monoaminergic system. The present study aims at a validation of the reserpine model of fibromyalgia. For this purpose, rats undergoing this model have been …
Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Caregiver Skills in Eating Disorders
2015
Objective: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a new ques- tionnaire designed to measure caregiver skills that, in line with the interperso- nal component of the cognitive inter- personal maintenance model (Schmidt and Treasure, J Br J Clin Psychol, 45, 343–366, 2006), may be helpful in the support of people with anorexia nerv- osa (AN). A further aim is to assess whether this scale is sensitive to change following skills-based caregiver interventions. Method: The Caregiver Skills (CASK) scale was developed by a group of clinicians and caregivers. Preliminary versions of the scale devised for both caregivers and parents were given at baseline and at follow-up after two studies…
Identifying profiles of children at risk of being less physically active: an exploratory study using a self-organised map approach for motor competen…
2018
This study aims to develop profiles in children according to physical fitness, actual and perceived motor competence, and to examine the level of engagement in physical activity and weight status according to these profiles. In the study, 156 typically developing Spanish children (47.4% girls) of primary school age (5-11 years-old) participated voluntarily. Children's perceived and actual motor competence, physical fitness, physical activity participation and weight status were assessed. A Self-Organising Map and K-means cluster analysis were used to classify and visualise the values. Four profiles were found: profile 2 was aligned - high capacity, high perception, profile 1 was partially a…
Psychometric properties of the structured Satisfaction Questionnaire with Gastrostomy Feeding (SAGA-8) for caregivers of children with gastrostomy tu…
2013
BACKGROUND: To analyse the psychometric properties of the structured Satisfaction Questionnaire with Gastrostomy Feeding (SAGA-8) in parents/caregivers of children with home enteral nutrition (HEN) by gastrostomy tube (GT). METHODS: Eighty-six caregivers (mothers) of paediatric patients with HEN by GT were recruited. Patients suffered from neurological disease (61.6%) and other chronic diseases. The SAGA-8 scale, a structured questionnaire to explore satisfaction with HEN by GT, and the Caregiver Burden Inventory (Zarit) were completed. The discriminating power of each of the SAGA-8 items, internal consistency and external validity were evaluated. An exploratory factor analysis and Kaiser-M…