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Behavioral Indicators (behavioral + indicator)
Selected AbstractsNeonatal alcohol exposure impairs acquisition of eyeblink conditioned responses during discrimination learning and reversal in weanling ratsDEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 3 2007Kevin L. Brown Abstract Discrimination and reversal of the classically conditioned eyeblink response depends on cerebellar,brainstem interactions with the hippocampus. Neonatal "binge" exposure to alcohol at doses of 5 g/kg/day or more has been shown to impair single-cue eyeblink conditioning in both weanling and adult rats. The present study exposed neonatal rats to acute alcohol intubations across different developmental periods (postnatal day [PND] 4-9 or PND7-9) and tested them from PND26-31 on discriminative classical eyeblink conditioning and reversal. A high dose of alcohol (5 g/kg/day) dramatically impaired conditioning relative to controls when exposure occurred over PND4-9, but produced mild or no impairments when delivered over PND7-9. These findings support previous claims that developmental exposure period plays a critical role in determining the deleterious effects of alcohol on the developing brain. A lower dose of alcohol (4 g/kg/day) delivered from PND4-9,lower than has previously been shown to affect single-cue eyeblink conditioning,also produced deficits on the discrimination task, suggesting that discrimination learning and acquisition of responding to CS+ during reversal may be especially sensitive behavioral indicators of alcohol-induced brain damage in this rat model. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 49: 243,257, 2007. [source] Dominance, Status Signals and Coloration in Male Mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx)ETHOLOGY, Issue 1 2005Joanna M. Setchell Where individuals contest access to a resource, escalated physical fighting presents a risk to all involved. The requirement for mechanisms of conflict management has led to the evolution of a variety of decision rules and signals that act to reduce the frequency of aggression during competitive encounters. We examined strategies of conflict management in male mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) living in two semi-free-ranging groups in Gabon. Adult male mandrills are large (31 kg), with long canines, making the costs of conflict potentially very high. We found that males formed dominance hierarchies, but that male,male relationships were characterized by avoidance, appeasement and ignoring. Fights were rare, but could result in death. Examination of the relationship between dominance and signaling showed that males use facial and gestural signals to communicate dominance and subordinance, avoiding escalated conflict. Male mandrills also possess rank-dependent red coloration on the face, rump and genitalia, and we examined the hypothesis that this coloration acts as a ,badge of status', communicating male fighting ability to other males. If this is the case, then similarity in color should lead to higher dyadic rates of aggression, while males that differ markedly should resolve encounters quickly, with the paler individual retreating. Indeed, appeasement (the ,grin' display), threats, fights and tense ,stand-off' encounters were significantly more frequent between similarly colored males, while clear submission was more frequent where color differences were large. We conclude that male mandrills employ both formal behavioral indicators of dominance and of subordination, and may also use relative brightness of red coloration to facilitate the assessment of individual differences in fighting ability, thereby regulating the degree of costly, escalated conflict between well-armed males. [source] Behavioral arousal in response to stress and drug cue in alcohol and cocaine addicted individuals versus healthy controlsHUMAN PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY: CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL, Issue 5 2010Tara M. Chaplin Abstract Negative emotional arousal in response to stress and drug cues is known to play a role in the development and continuation of substance use disorders. However, studies have not examined behavioral indicators of such arousal. Objective The current study examined behavioral and bodily arousal in response to stress and drug cue in individuals with alcohol dependence and cocaine dependence as compared to healthy controls using a new scale. Methods Fifty-two alcohol dependent (AD group), 45 cocaine dependent (COC group), and 68 healthy controls (HC group) were exposed to individually developed stressful, drug-cue, and neutral-relaxing imagery. Behavioral and bodily responses were assessed with a new scale, the Behavioral Arousal Scale (BAS). Results The BAS showed acceptable inter-rater reliability and internal consistency and correlated with subjective negative emotion and craving. BAS scores were higher in stress than neutral conditions for all three groups. COC participants showed higher BAS response to stress than AD or HC participants. COC and AD participants showed greater BAS response to drug cue than HC participants. Conclusion Behavioral arousal is a domain in which stress and drug related arousal is expressed and assessment of this domain could provide unique information about vulnerability to craving and relapse in addicted populations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Pain Assessment in Persons with Dementia: Relationship Between Self-Report and Behavioral ObservationJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 1 2009Ann L. Horgas RN OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship between self-report and behavioral indicators of pain in cognitively impaired and intact older adults. DESIGN: Quasi-experimental, correlational study of older adults. SETTING: Data were collected from residents of nursing homes, assisted living, and retirement apartments in north-central Florida. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred twenty-six adults, mean age 83; 64 cognitively intact, 62 cognitively impaired. MEASUREMENTS: Pain interviews (pain presence, intensity, locations, duration), pain behavior measure, Mini-Mental State Examination, analgesic medications, and demographic characteristics. Participants completed an activity-based protocol to induce pain. RESULTS: Eighty-six percent self-reported regular pain. Controlling for analgesics, cognitively impaired participants reported less pain than cognitively intact participants after movement but not at rest. Behavioral pain indicators did not differ between cognitively intact and impaired participants. Total number of pain behaviors was significantly related to self-reported pain intensity (,=0.40, P=.000) in cognitively intact elderly people. CONCLUSION: Cognitively impaired elderly people self-report less pain than cognitively intact elderly people, independent of analgesics, but only when assessed after movement. Behavioral pain indicators do not differ between the groups. The relationship between self-report and pain behaviors supports the validity of behavioral assessments in this population. These findings support the use of multidimensional pain assessment in persons with dementia. [source] Role of TNF alpha and PLF in bone remodeling in a rat model of repetitive reaching and grasping,JOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 1 2010Shobha Rani We have previously developed a voluntary rat model of highly repetitive reaching that provides an opportunity to study effects of non-weight bearing muscular loads on bone and mechanisms of naturally occurring inflammation on upper limb tissues in vivo. In this study, we investigated the relationship between inflammatory cytokines and matricellular proteins (Periostin-like-factor, PLF, and connective tissue growth factor, CTGF) using our model. We also examined the relationship between inflammatory cytokines, PLF and bone formation processes. Rats underwent initial training for 5 weeks, and then performed a high repetition high force (HRHF) task (12,reaches/min, 60% maximum grip force, 2,h/day, 3 days/week) for 6 weeks. We then examined the effect of training or task performance with or without treatment with a rat specific TNF, antibody on inflammatory cytokines, osteocalcin (a bone formation marker), PLF, CTGF, and behavioral indicators of pain or discomfort. The HRHF task decreased grip strength and induced forepaw mechanical hypersensitivity in both trained control and 6-week HRHF animals. Two weeks of anti-TNF, treatment improved grip strength in both groups, but did not ameliorate forepaw hypersensitivity. Moreover, anti-TNF, treatment attenuated task-induced increases in inflammatory cytokines (TNF,, IL-1,, and MIP2 in serum; TNF, in forelimb bone and muscles) and serum osteocalcin in 6-week HRHF animals. PLF levels in forelimb bones and flexor digitorum muscles increased significantly in 6-week HRHF animals, increases attenuated by anti-TNF, treatment. CTGF levels were unaffected by task performance or anti-TNF, treatment in 6-week HRHF muscles. In primary osteoblast cultures, TNF,, MIP2 and MIP3a treatment increased PLF levels in a dose dependent manner. Also in primary osteoblast cultures, increased PLF promoted proliferation and differentiation, the latter assessed by measuring Runx2, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin mRNA levels; ALP activity; as well as calcium deposition and mineralization. Increased PLF also promoted cell adhesion in MC3T3-E1 osteoblast-like cell cultures. Thus, tissue loading in vivo resulted in increased TNF,, which increased PLF, which then induced anabolic bone formation, the latter results confirmed in vitro. J. Cell. Physiol. 225: 152,167, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The anatomy of interprofessional leadership: An investigation of leadership behaviors in team-based health careJOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP STUDIES, Issue 3 2009June M. S. Anonson Increasing specialization among health care professions has heightened the need for proficient interprofessional teamwork. Within the team context for practice, leadership becomes a competency expected of all practitioners who must recognize the necessity of situational leadership dependent on patient needs and the professional competencies to meet those needs. Although this need for leadership within interprofessional practice is recognized, the behavioral components of that leadership competency have not been delineated. In this article, the authors report on a study to identify the behavioral components of interprofessional practice and highlight the indicators of leadership competency in interprofessional patient-centered care. This qualitative study involved in-depth interviews with 24 participants from nine professions engaged in collaborative team care of clients or patients in a variety of community and acute-based health care facilities. Interprofessional competencies were explored using grounded theory, with coding of participants' responses. In this article, the authors have highlighted leadership in interprofessional practice, and discussed the behavioral indicators of leadership that could be used in preparation of students, faculty, and practitioners for interprofessional practice, as well as in evaluation of that practice for purposes of professional growth. [source] Acute Stress Hyperglycemia in Cats Is Associated with Struggling and Increased Concentrations of Lactate and NorepinephrineJOURNAL OF VETERINARY INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2002Jacqueline S. Rand We characterized the changes in blood glucose concentrations in healthy cats exposed to a short stressor and determined the associations between glucose concentrations, behavioral indicators of stress, and blood variables implicated in stress hyperglycemia (plasma glucose, lactate, insulin, glucagon, cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine concentrations). Twenty healthy adult cats with normal glucose tolerance had a 5-minute spray bath. Struggling and vocalization were the most frequent behavioral responses. There was a strong relationship between struggling and concentrations of glucose and lactate. Glucose and lactate concentrations increased rapidly and significantly in all cats in response to bathing, with peak concentrations occurring at the end of the bath (glucose baseline 83 mg/dL, mean peak 162 mg/dL; lactate baseline 6.3 mg/dL, mean peak 64.0 mg/dL). Glucose response resolved within 90 minutes in 12 of the 20 cats. Changes in mean glucose concentrations were strongly correlated with changes in mean lactate (r= .84; P <.001) and mean norepinephrine concentrations (r= .81; P < .001). There was no significant correlation between changes in mean glucose concentrations and changes in mean insulin, glucagon, cortisol, or epinephrine concentrations. Struggling and lactate concentrations were predictive of hyperglycemia. Gluconeogenesis stimulated by lactate release is the likely mechanism for hyperglycemia in healthy cats in this model of acute stress. Careful handling techniques that minimize struggling associated with blood collection may reduce the incidence of stress hyperglycemia in cats. [source] | |||||||||||||