Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
External Cues (external + cue)
Selected AbstractsNon-random distribution of ring recoveries from trans-Saharan migrants indicates species-specific stopover areasJOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2005Thord Fransson Many long-distance migrant birds regularly have to pass ecological barriers, like the Saharan desert, where fuelling is very difficult, and large fuel loads have to be stored in advance. In this paper, we have investigated how seven species of birds are distributed in autumn close to the Saharan desert in the eastern Mediterranean area by using ring recoveries from northern Europe. The result clearly shows that the species included are not randomly distributed at this point, about 3,000 km from the breeding area. Birds from rather large breeding areas were shown to converge in confined areas, which in several cases completely differ between species. This means that birds of the same species have to follow different migratory directions depending on the location of their starting point. The observed pattern support earlier findings indicating that birds, in combination with a clock-and-compass orientation procedure, must use some external cues in order to find confined species-specific areas. The possibility for birds to use information from the Earth's magnetic field as an external cue in this area is discussed. [source] A proposed mechanism for cell polarization with no external cuesCYTOSKELETON, Issue 2 2004Barbara W. Bernstein First page of article [source] Conceptual background, development, and preliminary data from the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders,DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 10 2010Zofia A. Wilamowska M.A. Abstract Anxiety and mood disorders are common, chronic, costly, and characterized by high comorbidity. The development of cognitive behavioral approaches to treating anxiety and mood disorders has left us with highly efficacious treatments that are increasingly widely accepted. The proliferation of treatment manuals targeting single disorders, sometimes with trivial differences among them, leaves the mental health professional with no clear way to choose one manual over another and little chance of ever becoming familiar with most of them, let alone trained to competence in their delivery. Deepening understanding of the nature of emotional disorders reveals that commonalities in etiology and latent structures among these disorders supersedes differences. Based on empirical evidence from the domains of learning, emotional development and regulation, and cognitive science, we have distilled a set of psychological procedures that comprise a unified intervention for emotional disorders. The Unified Protocol (UP) is a transdiagnostic, emotion-focused cognitive behavioral treatment, which emphasizes the adaptive, functional nature of emotions, and seeks to identify and correct maladaptive attempts to regulate emotional experiences, thereby facilitating appropriate processing and extinction of excessive emotional responding to both internal (somatic) and external cues. The treatment components of the UP are briefly outlined. Theory and rationale supporting this new approach are described along with some preliminary evidence supporting its efficacy. Implications for the treatment of emotional disorders using the UP are discussed. Depression and Anxiety, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Tonically active neurons in the primate striatum and their role in the processing of information about motivationally relevant eventsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 11 2002Paul ApicellaArticle first published online: 11 DEC 200 Abstract Analysis of recordings of single neuronal activity in the striatum of monkeys engaged in behavioural tasks has shown that tonically active neurons (TANs) can be distinguished by their distinct spontaneous firing and functional properties. As TANs are assumed to be cholinergic interneurons, the study of their physiological characteristics allows us to gain an insight into the role of a particular type of local-circuit neuron in the processing of information at the striatal level. In monkeys performing various behavioural tasks, the change in the activity of TANs, unlike the diversity of task-related activations exhibited by the phasically active population of striatal neurons, involves a transient depression of the tonic firing related to environmental events of motivational significance. Such events include primary rewards and stimuli that have acquired a reward value during associative learning. These neurons also respond to an aversive air puff, indicating that their responsiveness is not restricted to appetitive conditions. Another striking feature of the TANs is that their responses can be modulated by predictions about stimulus timing. Temporal variations in event occurrence have been found to favour the responses of TANs, whereas the responses are diminished or abolished in the presence of external cues that predict the time at which events will occur. These data suggest that the TANs respond as do detectors of motivationally relevant events, but they also demonstrate that these neurons are influenced by predictive information based on past experience with a given temporal context. TANs represent a unique subset of striatal neurons that might serve a modulatory function, monitoring for temporal relationships between environmental events. [source] Non-random distribution of ring recoveries from trans-Saharan migrants indicates species-specific stopover areasJOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2005Thord Fransson Many long-distance migrant birds regularly have to pass ecological barriers, like the Saharan desert, where fuelling is very difficult, and large fuel loads have to be stored in advance. In this paper, we have investigated how seven species of birds are distributed in autumn close to the Saharan desert in the eastern Mediterranean area by using ring recoveries from northern Europe. The result clearly shows that the species included are not randomly distributed at this point, about 3,000 km from the breeding area. Birds from rather large breeding areas were shown to converge in confined areas, which in several cases completely differ between species. This means that birds of the same species have to follow different migratory directions depending on the location of their starting point. The observed pattern support earlier findings indicating that birds, in combination with a clock-and-compass orientation procedure, must use some external cues in order to find confined species-specific areas. The possibility for birds to use information from the Earth's magnetic field as an external cue in this area is discussed. [source] Functional bases of host-acceptance behaviour in the aphid parasitoid Aphidius erviPHYSIOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 4 2007ANNA LAROCCA Abstract The host acceptance behaviour in Aphidius ervi is investigated, assessing the role of both external and internal host-associated cues, offered to the experimental parasitoids with parafilm-made aphid dummies. The reaction to internal cues present in the host haemolymph is clearly evident, and its intensity is enhanced by external cues. Parasitoid females lay few eggs in aphid dummies filled with host haemolymph. A significant increase in the number of both oviposition reactions (host stinging) and egg laying is observed only when these dummies are coated with cornicle secretion. However, this enhancement is not observed when the aphid dummies contain distilled water. Thus, the host acceptance behaviour of A. ervi females appears to be controlled by the integration of both external and internal chemical cues. The physiological basis of this behavioural response is investigated with a detailed study on the anatomy and ultrastructure of A. ervi ovipositor. The detection of chemical cues present in the host haemolymph that act as kairomones is made possible by the presence of gustatory sensilla on the tip of the ovipositor. These sensilla consist of porous areas, reached by unbranched dendrites running inside both the lower valves (i.e. first valvulae) and the unpaired upper valve (i.e. second valvulae). The mechanosensory function during oviposition appears to be provided mostly by the basiconic sensilla found on the tip of external valves (i.e. third valvulae). A tentative functional model accounting for the observed oviposition behaviour of A. ervi is proposed. [source] Delaying execution of intentions: overcoming the costs of interruptionsAPPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2004Mark A. McDaniel In real-world settings, execution of retrieved intentions must often be briefly delayed until an ongoing activity is completed (delayed-execute prospective memory tasks). Further, in demanding work settings, the ongoing activity itself can be interrupted. Experiment 1 examined the effects of the delay length (5, 15, 40,s), the presence of an interruption within that delay, and the length of the interruption on prospective memory performance. Delay length did not significantly affect performance, but interruptions produced significant decrements in performance relative to a delay alone. The length of the interruptions (10 vs. 20,s) did not significantly affect performance. Experiment 2 replicated the negative effects of interruptions, and found that these effects could be overcome with a simple external mnemonic. We suggest that in demanding work environments where interruptions are likely, external cues are advisable, especially where prospective memory failures have critical consequences. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Alternating current electric field effects on neural stem cell viability and differentiation,BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 3 2010Marvi A. Matos Abstract Methods utilizing stem cells hold tremendous promise for tissue engineering applications; however, many issues must be worked out before these therapies can be routinely applied. Utilization of external cues for preimplantation expansion and differentiation offers a potentially viable approach to the use of stem cells in tissue engineering. The studies reported here focus on the response of murine neural stem cells encapsulated in alginate hydrogel beads to alternating current electric fields. Cell viability and differentiation was studied as a function of electric field magnitude and frequency. We applied fields of frequency (0.1,10) Hz, and found a marked peak in neural stem cell viability under oscillatory electric fields with a frequency of 1 Hz. We also found an enhanced propensity for astrocyte differentiation over neuronal differentiation in the 1 Hz cultures, as compared to the other field frequencies we studied. Published 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010 [source] | ||||||||||