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Many types of social interaction require the ability to anticipate others' behavior, which is commonly referred to as strategic sophistication. In this context, observational learning can represent a decisive tool for behavioral adaptation. However, little is known on whether and when individuals learn from observation in interactive settings. In the current study, 321 participants played one-shot interactive games and, at a given time along the experiment, they could observe the choices of an overtly efficient player. This social feedback could be provided before or after the participant’s choice in each game. Results reveal that players with a sufficient level of strategic skills increased their level of sophistication only when the social feedback was provided after their choices, whereas they relied on blind imitation when they received feedback before their decision. Conversely, less sophisticated players did not increase their level of sophistication, regardless of the type of social feedback. Our findings disclose the interplay between endogenous and exogenous factors modulating observational learning in strategic interaction.

Information on positional behavior contributes to the understanding of the ecological adaptation mechanisms in animals. We collected data on the positional behavior of white‐headed langurs (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) at the Guangxi Chongzuo White‐Headed Langur National Nature Reserve from September 2016 to August 2017 via instantaneous scan sampling method. This study aimed to examine the importance of positional behavior flexibility in limestone forests characterized by seasonal variations in climate and food resources. Our results indicated that langurs adopted leaping (47.92% ± 5.50%) and vertical climbing (40.13% ± 6.20%) as their predominant locomotor modes and sitting (83.08% ± 4.70%) as their predominant posture. Their positional behavior exhibited marked seasonal variations. More specifically, langurs used quadrupedal walking more frequently during the dry season than during the rainy months. In the stationary state, they sat more frequently during the dry season, whereas they laid and suspended more often during the rainy season. Their positional behavior was affected by fruit availability, day length, and temperature. Quadrupedal walking increased with the decrease in fruit availability, whereas leaping was positively correlated with fruit availability. Moreover, sitting was positively correlated with average temperature but negatively correlated with day length. Lying was also negatively correlated with temperature but positively correlated with day length. We conclude that white‐headed langurs adapt to limestone forests with positional behavior flexibility in response to seasonality. Our research provides evidence of the effects of food availability, ambient temperature, and day length on the positional behavior of white‐headed langurs, highlighting the need to understand their behavioral ecology and the influence of ecological factors on behavioral adaptation., Our research provides evidence of the effects of food availability, ambient temperature, and day length on the positional behavior of white‐headed langurs, highlighting the need to understand their behavioral ecology and the influence of ecological factors on behavioral adaptation.

The present study examined the effect of Acetaminophen on the painful experience of social rejection by examining brain, cardiac and behavioral measures reflecting different aspects of social feedback processing. Healthy students (N = 72), after ingesting either Acetaminophen or a placebo, performed a social judgment paradigm (SJP), in which they could be expectedly or unexpectedly rejected or accepted. During the task, cardiac and brain responses to different types of feedback were measured, as well as expectancies relating to the given feedback. Enhanced cardiac deceleration was found after unexpected social rejection as compared to all other conditions. Larger mean P3 amplitude was found after expected positive and negative feedback stimuli as compared to unexpected stimuli. While cardiac deceleration and P3 were not affected by Acetaminophen, behavioral responses were. While in the control group the percentage of acceptance predictions decreased over the experiment (learning from negative feedback), the Acetaminophen group did not adjust their positive prediction bias over time. The unexpected effect of Acetaminophen on prediction behavior suggests that Acetaminophen might indeed play a role in social pain perception. The normally observed social pain-based learning effect seems to disappear when participants ingest Acetaminophen, which can be interpreted as a reduced pain perception after Acetaminophen.

Behavioral traits play a major role in successful adaptation of wildlife to urban conditions. However, there are few studies showing how urban conditions affect the social behavior of urban animals during their direct encounters. It is generally believed that the higher density of urban populations translates into increased aggression between individuals. In this paper, using a camera-trap method, we compared the character of direct encounters in urban and non-urban populations of the striped field mouse Apodemus agrarius (Pallas, 1771), a species known as an urban adapter. We confirmed the thesis that urbanization affects the social behavior and urban and rural populations differ from each other. Urban animals are less likely to avoid close contact with each other and are more likely to show tolerant behavior. They also have a lower tendency towards monopolization of food resources. The behavior of urban animals varies depending on the time of day: in the daytime, animals are more vigilant and less tolerant than at night. Our results indicate that, in the case of the species studied, behavioral adaptation to urban life is based on increasing tolerance rather than aggression in social relations. However, the studied urban adapter retains the high plasticity of social behavior revealed even in the circadian cycle. The observation that tolerance rather than aggression may predominate in urban populations is a new finding, while most studies suggest an increase in aggression in urban animals. This opens an avenue for formulating new hypotheses regarding the social behavior of urban adapters.

Depression is a common mental disorder characterized by high incidence, high disability, and high fatality, causing great burden to the society, families, and individuals. The changes in brain plasticity may be a main reason for depression. Recent studies have shown that exercise plays a positive role in depression, but systematic and comprehensive studies are lacking on brain plasticity changes in depression. To further understand the antidepressive effect of exercise and the changes in brain plasticity, we retrieved related literatures using key words “depression,” “depressive disorder,” “exercise,” “brain plasticity,” “brain structure,” and “brain function” from the database of Web of Science, PubMed, EBSCO host, and CNKI, hoping to provide evidence for exercise in preventing and treating depression. Increase in exercise has been found negatively correlated with the risk of depression. Randomized controlled experiments have shown that aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, and mind‐body exercise can improve depressive symptoms and levels. The intensity and long‐term effect of exercise are now topical research issues. Exercise has been proven to reshape the brain structure of depression patients, activate the function of related brain areas, promote behavioral adaptation changes, and maintain the integrity of hippocampal and white matter volume, thus improving the brain neuroprocessing and delaying cognitive degradation in depression patients. Future studies are urgently needed to establish accurate exercise prescriptions for improving depressive symptoms, and studies on different depressive populations and studies using multimodal brain imaging combined with multiple analytical methods are also needed.

Climatic factors such as temperature and humidity vary seasonally in primate habitats; thus, behavioral adjustments and microhabitat selection by primate species have been interpreted as behavioral adaptations. François' langur (Trachypithecus francoisi), a native species to southwest China and northern Vietnam, inhabits a limestone habitat with extreme climatic conditions. To understand the potential effects of climatic seasonality on this species, we collected data on the individual behavioral budgets in a T. francoisi group between January and December 2010 in Fusui County, China. Monthly, we performed 5–11 days of observation during this period, using focal animal sampling and continuous recording methods. We also recorded ambient temperature (T a) and relative humidity (H r) data at our study site. Results indicated that T a and H r were significantly correlated with each other and fluctuated dramatically on a daily, monthly, and seasonal basis. The amount of time spent resting, grooming, basking, and huddling also varied on a daily, monthly, and seasonal basis. The proportion of resting time and total sedentary activity time significantly increased at high and low T as, respectively. The total sedentary time, resting time, and plant branch use all showed positive significant correlations with T a. Our results suggest that behavioral adjustment and support use of T. francoisi, at least partly, were related to thermoregulation. T. francoisi minimized thermal stress through behavioral adjustments and support use. It is an adaptive behavior associated with the climatic extremes of limestone habitat. This study can potentially advise conservation management strategies in this specific habitat. Conservation efforts should focus on vegetation restoration in langurs' habitat, including those in the foothills., The habitat of the François' langur in this study was characterized by dramatic climatic ranges. François' langur minimized thermal stress and increased physical comfort by either behavioral adjustment or alternation of support use.

Background Catecholamines are important for cognitive control and the ability to adapt behavior (e.g., after response errors). A prominent drug that modulates the catecholaminergic system is methylphenidate. On the basis of theoretical consideration, we propose that the effects of methylphenidate on behavioral adaptation depend on prior learning experience. Methods In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study design, we examined the effect of methylphenidate (0.25 mg/kg) on post error behavioral adaptation processes in a group of n = 43 healthy young adults. Behavioral adaptation processes were examined in a working memory, modulated response selection task. The focus of the analysis was on order effects within the crossover study design to evaluate effects of prior learning/task experience. Results The effect of methylphenidate/placebo on post-error behavioral adaptation processes reverses depending on prior task experience. When there was no prior experience with the task, methylphenidate increased post-error slowing and thus intensified behavioral adaptation processes. However, when there was prior task experience, (i.e., when the placebo session was conducted first in the crossover design), methylphenidate even decreased post-error slowing and behavioral adaptation. Effect sizes were large and the power of the observed effects was higher than 95%. Conclusions The data suggest that catecholaminergic effects on cognitive control functions vary as a function of prior learning/task experience. The data establish a close link between learning/task familiarization and catecholaminergic effects for executive functions, which has not yet been studied, to our knowledge, but is of considerable clinical relevance. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Plasticity in the brain is differentially affected by age of blindness onset. One possible, but not yet identified mechanism is that the cholinergic signals originating from the nucleus basalis of Meynert may underlie differential extent of plasticity in early and late blind individuals. This prospect is based on the fact that the nucleus basalis of Meynert modulates cortical processes such as plasticity and sensory encoding and that the degree of cross-modal plasticity varies depending on the age of blindness onset. However, this question yet remains largely unclear. Here, we tested whether the early and late blind individuals develop dissociable plasticity in the nucleus basalis of Meynert using multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging. We found the relatively preserved volumetric size and cerebrovascular reactivity, but significant disruption in the white matter integrity of the nucleus basalis of Meynert in both early and late blind individuals. Critically, despite its reduction in the white matter integrity, the nucleus basalis of Meynert of early blind individuals presented greater global and network functional connectivity including visual, language, and default-mode networks. Such changes in the functional connectivity were not observed in the late-blind individuals. Further, less duration of the visual experience was associated with greater global and network functional connectivity. These results indicate that the nucleus basalis of Meynert is differentially involved in the plasticity of early and late blind individuals – a similar amount of reduction in microstructural integrity in early and late blind individuals, but stronger and more widespread functional connectivity of the NBM in the early blind individuals. Our findings suggest that the nucleus basalis of Meynert may develop greater cholinergic influence on the cortex of early blind individuals. Such change may explain why early blind individuals present stronger and more widespread cross-modal plasticity during non-visual tasks compared to late blind individuals.

Cognitive flexibility is a prefrontal cortex-dependent neurocognitive process that enables behavioral adaptation in response to changes in environmental contingencies. Electrical vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) enhances several forms of learning and neuroplasticity, but its effects on cognitive flexibility have not been evaluated. In the current study, a within-subjects design was used to assess the effects of VNS on performance in a novel visual discrimination reversal learning task conducted in touchscreen operant chambers. The task design enabled simultaneous assessment of acute VNS both on reversal learning and on recall of a well-learned discrimination problem. Acute VNS delivered in conjunction with stimuli presentation during reversal learning reliably enhanced learning of new reward contingencies. Enhancement was not observed, however, if VNS was delivered during the session but was not coincident with presentation of to-be-learned stimuli. In addition, whereas VNS delivered at 30 HZ enhanced performance, the same enhancement was not observed using 10 or 50 Hz. Together, these data show that acute VNS facilitates reversal learning and indicate that the timing and frequency of the VNS are critical for these enhancing effects. In separate rats, administration of the norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor atomoxetine also enhanced reversal learning in the same task, consistent with a noradrenergic mechanism through which VNS enhances cognitive flexibility.

Unilateral spatial neglect (USN) is common after stroke and associated with poor functional recovery. Prism adaptation (PA) is one of the most supported modality able to ameliorate USN but underapplied due to several issues. Using immersive virtual reality and depth-sensing camera, we developed the virtual prism adaptation therapy (VPAT) to overcome the limitations in conventional PA. In this study, we investigated whether VPAT can induce behavioral adaptations and which cortical area is most significantly activated. Fourteen healthy subjects participated in this study. The experiment consisted of four sequential phases (pre-VAPT, VPAT-10°, VPAT-20°, and post-VPAT) with functional near-infrared spectroscopy recordings. Each phase consisted of alternating target pointing and resting (or clicking) blocks. To find out the most significantly activated area during pointing in different phases (VPAT-10°, VPAT-20°, and Post-VPAT) in contrast to pointing during the pre-VPAT phase, we analyzed changes in oxyhemoglobin concentration during pointing. The pointing errors of the virtual hand deviated to the right-side during early pointing blocks in the VPAT-10° and VPAT-20° phases. There was a left-side deviation of the real hand to the target in the post-VPAT phase. The most significantly activated channels were all located in the right hemisphere, and possible corresponding cortical areas included the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and frontal eye field. In conclusion, VPAT may induce behavioral adaptation with modulation of the dorsal attentional network. Future clinical trials using multiple sessions of a high degree of rightward deviation VPAT over a more extended period are required in stroke patients with unilateral spatial neglect.

Motor proficiency reflects the ability to perform precise and coordinated movements in different contexts. Previous research suggests that different profiles of motor proficiency may be associated with different cognitive functioning characteristics thus suggesting an interaction between cognitive and motor processes. The current study investigated this interaction in the general population of healthy adults with different profiles of motor proficiency by focusing on error-related cognitive control and behavioral adaptation mechanisms. In addition, the impact of these processes was assessed in terms of trait anxiety and worries. Forty healthy adults were divided into high and low motor proficiency groups based on an assessment of their motor skills. Using electroencephalography during a flanker task, error-related negativity (ERN) was measured as the neural indicator of cognitive control. Post-error slowing (PES) was measured to represent behavioral adaptation. Participants also completed an anxiety assessment questionnaire. Participants in the high motor proficiency group achieved better task accuracy and showed relatively enhanced cognitive control through increased ERN. Contrastingly, individuals in the lower motor proficiency group achieved poorer accuracy whilst showing some evidence of compensation through increased PES. Trait anxiety reflecting general worries was found to be correlated with motor functioning, but the study could not provide evidence that this was related to cognitive or behavioral control mechanisms. The interaction between cognitive and motor processes observed in this study is unique for healthy and sub-clinical populations and provides a baseline for the interpretation of similar investigations in individuals with motor disorders.

This paper is investigating the behavior and reactions of container shipping lines to two unforeseen crisis events that had occurred in a time span of a dozen years, the financial and economic crisis following the Lehman collapse in 2008/09 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. We frame both events as “black swans” and observe similarities and differences that occurred especially in the pricing of transportation services provided by container shipping lines and their impact on the wider container shipping market. Based on market data we will show how the container liner companies have evolved over a little more than a decade and how they changed their behavior, approached the markets differently and reacted faster and more actively. Furthermore, we try to introduce first avenues of explanation that may be the underlying factors for such behavioral adaptation.

Monitoring for errors and behavioral adjustments after errors are essential for daily life. A question that has not been addressed systematically yet, is whether consciously perceived errors lead to different behavioral adjustments compared to unperceived errors. Our goal was to develop a task that would enable us to study different commonly observed neural correlates of error processing and post-error adjustments in their relation to error awareness and accuracy confidence in a single experiment. We assessed performance in a new number judgement error awareness task in 70 participants. We used multiple, robust, single-trial EEG regressions to investigate the link between neural correlates of error processing (e.g., error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe)) and error awareness. We found that only aware errors had a slowing effect on reaction times in consecutive trials, but this slowing was not accompanied by post-error increases in accuracy. On a neural level, error awareness and confidence had a modulating effect on both the ERN and Pe, whereby the Pe was most predictive of participants’ error awareness. Additionally, we found partial support for a mediating role of error awareness on the coupling between the ERN and behavioral adjustments in the following trial. Our results corroborate previous findings that show both an ERN/Pe and a post-error behavioral adaptation modulation by error awareness. This suggests that conscious error perception can support meta-control processes balancing the recruitment of proactive and reactive control. Furthermore, this study strengthens the role of the Pe as a robust neural index of error awareness. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.3758/s13415-020-00838-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This paper addresses how impairments in prediction in young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) relate to their behavior during collaboration. To assess it, we developed a task where participants play in collaboration with a synthetic agent to maximize their score. The agent’s behavior changes during the different phases of the game, requiring participants to model the agent’s sensorimotor contingencies to play collaboratively. Our results (n = 30, 15 per group) show differences between autistic and neurotypical individuals in their behavioral adaptation to the other partner. Contrarily, there are no differences in the self-reports of that collaboration. This work received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme socSMCs (Grant No. EC, H2020-641321). MS-F was supported by Spanish National Grant INSOCO-DPI2016-80116-P.

Fischer 344 (F344) rats are characterized by the hyper-reactive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to stressful stimuli, while Lewis (LEW) rats are considered to be hypo-reactive. We studied stress-induced cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and behavioral responses of adult male F344 and LEW rats subjected to the single (120 min) or the repeated restraint stress (daily 120 min for 1 week). Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were measured in the restrained rats (

Rewards direct behavioral adaptation through midbrain dopamine signaling, though the timing of those effects is often ambiguous. Lee and colleagues find that different subpopulations of dopamine neurons obey similar constraints, indirectly regulating reward-related behavior through learning mechanisms restricted to a brief time window following reward.

Individual with substance use disorders have well-recognized impairments in cognitive control, including in behavioral adaptation after mistakes. One way in which this impairment manifests is via diminished post-error slowing, the increase in reaction time following a task-related error that is posited to reflect cautionary or corrective behavior. Yet, in the substance use disorder literature, findings with regard to post-error slowing have been inconsistent, and thus could benefit from quantitative integration. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of case-control studies examining post-error slowing in addiction. Twelve studies with 15 unique comparisons were identified, comprising 567 substance users and 384 healthy controls across three broad types of inhibitory control paradigms (go-no/go, conflict resolution, and stop signal tasks, respectively). Results of the random-effects meta-analysis revealed a moderate group difference across all studies (Cohen's d = 0.31), such that the individuals with substance use disorder had diminished post-error slowing compared with controls. Despite this omnibus effect, there was also large variability in the magnitude of the effects, explained in part by differences between studies in task complexity. These findings suggest that post-error slowing may serve as a promising and easy-to-implement measure of cognitive control impairment in substance use disorder, with potential links to aberrant brain function in cognitive control areas such as the anterior cingulate cortex.

Cognitive flexibility is essential to cope with changing task demands and often it is necessary to adapt to combined changes in a coordinated manner. The present fMRI study examined how the brain implements such multi‐level adaptation processes. Specifically, on a “local,” hierarchically lower level, switching between two tasks was required across trials while the rules of each task remained unchanged for blocks of trials. On a “global” level regarding blocks of twelve trials, the task rules could reverse or remain the same. The current task was cued at the start of each trial while the current task rules were instructed before the start of a new block. We found that partly overlapping and partly segregated neural networks play different roles when coping with the combination of global rule reversal and local task switching. The fronto‐parietal control network (FPN) supported the encoding of reversed rules at the time of explicit rule instruction. The same regions subsequently supported local task switching processes during actual implementation trials, irrespective of rule reversal condition. By contrast, a cortico‐striatal network (CSN) including supplementary motor area and putamen was increasingly engaged across implementation trials and more so for rule reversal than for nonreversal blocks, irrespective of task switching condition. Together, these findings suggest that the brain accomplishes the coordinated adaptation to multi‐level demand changes by distributing processing resources either across time (FPN for reversed rule encoding and later for task switching) or across regions (CSN for reversed rule implementation and FPN for concurrent task switching).

Age is the only one non-modifiable risk of cerebral ischemia. Advances in stroke medicine and behavioral adaptation to stroke risk factors and comorbidities was successful in decreasing stroke incidence and increasing the number of stroke survivors in western societies. Comorbidities aggravates the outcome after cerebral ischemia. However, due to the increased in number of elderly, the incidence of stroke has increased again paralleled by an increase in the number of stroke survivors, many with severe disabilities, that has led to an increased economic and social burden in society. Animal models of stroke often ignore age and comorbidities frequently associated with senescence. This might explain why drugs working nicely in animal models fail to show efficacy in stroke survivors. Since stroke afflicts mostly the elderly comorbid patients, it is highly desirable to test the efficacy of stroke therapies in an appropriate animal stroke model. Therefore, in this review, we make parallels between animal models of stroke und clinical data and summarize the impact of ageing and age-related comorbidities on stroke outcome.

Overeating in individuals with obesity is hypothesized to be partly caused by automatic action tendencies to food cues that have the potential to override goal-directed dietary restriction. Individuals with obesity are often characterized by alterations in the processing of such rewarding food, but also of non-food stimuli, and previous research has suggested a stronger impact on the execution of goal-directed actions in obesity. Here, we investigated whether Pavlovian cues can also corrupt the learning of new approach or withdrawal behavior in individuals with obesity. We employed a probabilistic Pavlovian-instrumental learning paradigm in which participants (29 normal-weight and 29 obese) learned to actively respond (Go learning) or withhold a response (NoGo learning) in order to gain monetary rewards or avoid losses. Participants were better at learning active approach responses (Go) in the light of anticipated rewards and at learning to withhold a response (NoGo) in the light of imminent punishments. Importantly, there was no evidence for a stronger corruption of instrumental learning in individuals with obesity. Instead, they showed better learning across conditions than normal-weight participants. Using a computational reinforcement learning model, we additionally found an increased learning rate in individuals with obesity. Previous studies have mostly reported a lower reinforcement learning performance in individuals with obesity. Our results contradict this and suggest that their performance is not universally impaired: Instead, while previous studies found reduced stimulus-value learning, individuals with obesity may show better action-value learning. Our findings highlight the need for a broader investigation of behavioral adaptation in obesity across different task designs and types of reinforcement learning.

Triggering behavioral adaptation upon the detection of adversity is crucial for survival. The insular cortex has been suggested to process emotions and homeostatic signals, but how the insular cortex detects internal states and mediates behavioral adaptation is poorly understood. By combining data from fiber photometry, optogenetics, awake two-photon calcium imaging and comprehensive whole-brain viral tracings, we here uncover a role for the posterior insula in processing aversive sensory stimuli and emotional and bodily states, as well as in exerting prominent top-down modulation of ongoing behaviors in mice. By employing projection-specific optogenetics, we describe an insula-to-central amygdala pathway to mediate anxiety-related behaviors, while an independent nucleus accumbens-projecting pathway regulates feeding upon changes in bodily state. Together, our data support a model in which the posterior insular cortex can shift behavioral strategies upon the detection of aversive internal states, providing a new entry point to understand how alterations in insula circuitry may contribute to neuropsychiatric conditions.

The time needed to reliably assess closed-loop performance in adults with sub-optimal glucose control (A1c 59 to 86 mmol/mol) including changes in behavioral adaptation is currently unknown. We combined data from 2 multi-national randomized closed-loop studies of 12-week duration (N=56; mean±SD, A1c 68±7mmol/mol, age 39±10 year, diabetes duration 21±9 year). For each participant, glucose sensor metrics were computed for the full 12-week period and restricting data to 60 time periods representing 1 to 60 days. For each metric, the association between the value from each sampling period and the value using all 12 weeks of data, determined using Pearson or Spearman correlation coefficient (r). The number of days needed to reach an ‘r’ value of 0.95 (equaling 90% of total variance) for different metrics, mean glucose, % time >180 mg/dl, 70-180mg/dL, >250mg/dL, In conclusion, closed-loop studies of 4-week duration are likely to provide representative data for mean glucose, normoglycemia and hyperglycemia while 6 weeks may be required for a reliable estimate of hypoglycemia and glucose variability. Figure: Correlation coefficients of data collected over the full 12-week period and taken over the first 60 days. Disclosure L. Leelarathna: Advisory Panel; Self; Abbott, Dexcom, Inc., Medtronic, Novo Nordisk A/S, Roche Diabetes Care, Sanofi-Aventis. Research Support; Self; Dexcom, Inc., Novo Nordisk Inc. Speaker’s Bureau; Self; Insulet Corporation, Medtronic, Novo Nordisk A/S, Roche Diabetes Care, Sanofi. H. Thabit: Research Support; Self; Dexcom, Inc. M.E. Wilinska: None. L. Bally: None. J.K. Mader: Advisory Panel; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Eli Lilly and Company, Prediktor Medical, Roche Diabetes Care, Sanofi. Speaker’s Bureau; Self; Abbott, AstraZeneca, Dexcom, Inc., Novo Nordisk Inc. Stock/Shareholder; Self; decide Clinical Software GmbH. S. Arnolds: None. C. Benesch: None. T.R. Pieber: Advisory Panel; Self; ADOCIA, Arecor Limited, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk A/S, Sanofi. Speaker’s Bureau; Self; Novo Nordisk A/S. V.N. Shah: Advisory Panel; Self; Sanofi US. Consultant; Self; Dexcom, Inc. A.L. Carlson: Consultant; Self; Sanofi US. Research Support; Self; Abbott, Dexcom, Inc., JDRF, Medtronic, National Institutes of Health, Novo Nordisk A/S. R.M. Bergenstal: Research Support; Self; Abbott, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Dexcom, Inc., Glooko, Inc., Hygieia, JDRF, Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, Lilly Diabetes, Medtronic MiniMed, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Novo Nordisk Inc., Roche Diabetes Care, Sanofi. Other Relationship; Self; Abbott, Helmsley Charitable Trust, Hygieia, Lilly Diabetes, Novo Nordisk Inc., Onduo LLC, Sanofi, UnitedHealth Group Inc. M. Evans: Advisory Panel; Self; Dexcom, Inc., Medtronic, Roche Diabetes Care, Zucara Therapeutics Inc. Research Support; Self; MedImmune, Sanofi. Speaker’s Bureau; Self; AstraZeneca. Other Relationship; Self; Abbott, Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk Inc. R. Hovorka: Advisory Panel; Self; Novo Nordisk A/S. Research Support; Self; Abbott, Dexcom, Inc., Medtronic. Speaker’s Bureau; Self; Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk A/S. Other Relationship; Self; B. Braun Medical Inc., Medtronic.

Striatal dopamine (DA) plays a central role in reward-related learning and behavioral adaptation to changing environments. Recent studies suggest that rather than being broadcast as a uniform signal throughout the entire region, DA release dynamics diverge between different striatal regions. In a previous study, we showed that phasic DA release patterns in the ventromedial striatum (VMS) rapidly adapt during reversal learning. However, it is unknown how DA dynamics in the dorsolateral striatum (DLS) are modulated during such adaptive behavior. Here, we used fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to measure phasic DA release in the DLS during spatial reversal learning. In the DLS, we observed minor DA release after the onset of a visual cue signaling reward availability, followed by more pronounced DA release during more proximal reward cues (e.g., lever extension) and execution of the operant response (i.e., lever press), both in rewarded and non-rewarded trials. These release dynamics (minor DA after onset of the predictive visual cue, prominent DA during the operant response) did not change significantly during or following a reversal of response-reward contingencies. Notably, the DA increase to the lever press did not reflect a general signal related to the initiation of any motivated motor response, as we did not observe DA release when rats initiated nose pokes into the food receptacle during inter-trial intervals. This suggests that DA release in the DLS occurs selectively during the initiation and execution of a learned operant response. Together with our previous results obtained in the VMS, these findings reveal distinct phasic DA release patterns during adaptation of established behavior in DLS and VMS. The VMS DA signal, which is highly sensitive to reversal of response-reward contingences, may provide a teaching signal to guide reward-related learning and facilitate behavioral adaptation, whereas DLS DA may reflect a 'response execution signal' largely independent of outcome, that may be involved in initiation and energizing of operant behavior.

In humans, handedness is one defining characteristic regardless of cultures and ethnicity. Population-level right handedness is considered to be related with the evolution of left hemisphere for manual control and language. In order to further understand evolutionary origins of human cerebral lateralization and its behavioral adaptation, standardized measures on hand preference are required to make reliable comparison in nonhuman primate species. In this study, we present the first evidence on hand preference during bimanual coordinated tasks in northern pig-tailed macaques Macaca leonina. The classical TUBE task was applied to examine hand preference among nine individuals from Tianjin Zoo of China. We recorded and made analysis on both frequency and bout data on manual laterality. The results consistently show that subjects displayed strong individual hand preferences, whereas no significant group-level handedness was found. There were no sex and age significant differences on both direction and strength of hand preference. The M. leonina preferred to use the index finger to extract the baited food inside the tube. Our findings fill the knowledge gap on primate handedness, and efficiently affirm the robustness of the TUBE task as one efficient measure of hand preference in primates.

This study investigates behavioral adaptation to vibrotactile position-avoidance therapy during sleep in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (n =135) across 15 to 52 weeks. The overall compliance, based on nights used ≥ 4 hr, was 71%. Overall regular use, that is, ≥ 4 hr/night over 70% of nights, was 88%. Poor early compliance strongly predicted poor long-term treatment adherence, with 92% of those noncompliant across the first 12 weeks of therapy remaining noncompliant. Conversely, 21% of those with compliant utilization in the short term became noncompliant in the long term. It appears that patients do not habituate to the stimulus during sleep, nor was there a training effect associated with long-term use.

Novelty triggers an increase in orienting behavior that is critical to evaluate the potential salience of unknown events. As novelty becomes familiar upon repeated encounters, this increase in response rapidly habituates as a form of behavioral adaptation underlying goal-directed behaviors. Many neurodevelopmental, psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders are associated with abnormal responses to novelty and/or familiarity, although the neuronal circuits and cellular/molecular mechanisms underlying these natural behaviors in the healthy brain are largely unknown, as is the maladaptive processes that occur to induce impairment of novelty signaling in diseased brains. In rodents, the development of cutting-edge tools that allow for measurements of real time activity dynamics in selectively identified neuronal ensembles by gene expression signatures is beginning to provide advances in understanding the neural bases of the novelty response. Accumulating evidence indicate that midbrain circuits, the majority of which linked to dopamine transmission, promote exploratory assessments and guide approach/avoidance behaviors to different types of novelty via specific projection sites. The present review article focuses on midbrain circuit analysis relevant to novelty processing and habituation with familiarity.

fMRI-adaptation is a valuable tool for inferring the selectivity of neural responses. Here we use it in human color vision to test the selectivity of responses to S-cone opponent (blue-yellow), L/M-cone opponent (red-green), and achromatic (Ach) contrast across nine regions of interest in visual cortex. We measure psychophysical adaptation, using comparable stimuli to the fMRI-adaptation, and find significant selective adaptation for all three stimulus types, implying separable visual responses to each. For fMRI-adaptation, we find robust adaptation but, surprisingly, much less selectivity due to high levels of cross-stimulus adaptation in all conditions. For all BY and Ach test/adaptor pairs, selectivity is absent across all ROIs. For RG/Ach stimulus pairs, this paradigm has previously shown selectivity for RG in ventral areas and for Ach in dorsal areas. For chromatic stimulus pairs (RG/BY), we find a trend for selectivity in ventral areas. In conclusion, we find an overall lack of correspondence between BOLD and behavioral adaptation suggesting they reflect different aspects of the underlying neural processes. For example, raised cross-stimulus adaptation in fMRI may reflect adaptation of the broadly-tuned normalization pool. Finally, we also identify a longer-timescale adaptation (1h) in both BOLD and behavioral data. This is greater for chromatic than achromatic contrast. The longer-timescale BOLD effect was more evident in the higher ventral areas than in V1, consistent with increasing windows of temporal integration for higher-order areas.

Background: The dorsal hippocampus has a central role in modulating cardiovascular responses and behavioral adaptation to stress. The dorsal hippocampus also plays a key role in stress-associated mental disorders. The endocannabinoid system is widely expressed in the dorsal hippocampus and modulates defensive behaviors under stressful conditions. The endocannabinoid anandamide activates cannabinoid type 1 receptors and is metabolized by the fatty acid amide hydrolase enzyme. Aims: We sought to verify whether cannabinoid type 1 receptors modulate stress-induced cardiovascular changes, and if pharmacological fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibition in the dorsal hippocampus would prevent the cardiovascular responses and the delayed anxiogenic-like behavior evoked by restraint stress in rats via cannabinoid type 1 receptors. Methods: Independent groups received intra-dorsal-hippocampal injections of N-(piperidin-1yl)-5-(4-iodophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methyl-hpyrazole-3-carboxamide (AM251; cannabinoid type 1 receptor antagonist/inverse agonist, 10–300 pmol) and/or cyclohexyl carbamic acid 3′-carbamoyl-biphenyl-3-yl ester (URB597; fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor, 10 pmol) before the restraint stress session. Cardiovascular response during restraint stress or later behavioral parameters were evaluated. Results: Acute restraint stress altered the cardiovascular response, characterized by increased heart rate and mean arterial pressure, as well as decreased tail cutaneous temperature. It also induced a delayed anxiogenic-like effect, evidenced by reduced open arm exploration in the elevated plus maze 24 h after stress. AM251 exacerbated the stress-induced cardiovascular responses after injection into the dorsal hippocampus. In contrast, local injection of URB597 prevented the cardiovascular response and the delayed (24 h) behavioral consequences of restraint stress, effects attenuated by pretreatment with AM251. Conclusion: Our data corroborate previous results indicating that the hippocampal endocannabinoid system modulates the outcome of stress exposure and suggest that this could involve modulation of the cardiovascular response during stress exposure.

The serotonin receptor subtype 7 (5-HT7R) is clearly involved in behavioral functions such as learning/memory, mood regulation and circadian rhythm. Recent discoveries proposed modulatory physiological roles for serotonergic systems in reward-guided behavior. However, the interplay between serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine (DA) in reward-related behavioral adaptations needs to be further assessed. TP-22 is a recently developed arylpiperazine-based 5-HT7R agonist, which is also showing high affinity and selectivity towards D1 receptors. Here, we report that TP-22 displays D1 receptor antagonist activity. Moreover, we describe the first in vivo tests with TP-22: first, a pilot experiment (assessing dosage and timing of action) identified the 0.25 mg/kg i.v. dosage for locomotor stimulation of rats. Then, a conditioned place preference (CPP) test with the DA-releasing psychostimulant drug, methylphenidate (MPH), involved three rat groups: prior i.v. administration of TP-22 (0.25 mg/kg), or vehicle (VEH), 90 min before MPH (5 mg/kg), was intended for modulation of conditioning to the white chamber (saline associated to the black chamber); control group (SAL) was conditioned with saline in both chambers. Prior TP-22 further increased the stimulant effect of MPH on locomotor activity. During the place-conditioning test, drug-free activity of TP-22+MPH subjects remained steadily elevated, while VEH+MPH subjects showed a decline. Finally, after a priming injection of TP-22 in MPH-free conditions, rats showed a high preference for the MPH-associated white chamber, which conversely had vanished in VEH-primed MPH-conditioned subjects. Overall, the interaction between MPH and pre-treatment with TP-22 seems to improve both locomotor stimulation and the conditioning of motivational drives to environmental cues. Together with recent studies, a main modulatory role of 5-HT7R for the processing of rewards can be suggested. In the present study, TP-22 proved to be a useful psychoactive tool to better elucidate the role of 5-HT7R and its interplay with DA in reward-related behavior.

Understanding the complex neuromuscular strategies underlying behavioral adaptation in healthy individuals and motor recovery after brain damage is essential for gaining fundamental knowledge on the motor control system. Relying on the concept of muscle synergy, which indicates the number of coordinated muscles needed to accomplish specific movements, we investigated behavioral adaptation in nine healthy participants who were introduced to a familiar environment and unfamiliar environment. We then compared the resulting computed muscle synergies with those observed in 10 moderate-stroke survivors throughout an 11-week motor recovery period. Our results revealed that computed muscle synergy characteristics changed after healthy participants were introduced to the unfamiliar environment, compared with those initially observed in the familiar environment, and exhibited an increased neural response to unpredictable inputs. The altered neural activities dramatically adjusted through behavior training to suit the unfamiliar environment requirements. Interestingly, we observed similar neuromuscular behaviors in patients with moderate stroke during the follow-up period of their motor recovery. This similarity suggests that the underlying neuromuscular strategies for adapting to an unfamiliar environment are comparable to those used for the recovery of motor function after stroke. Both mechanisms can be considered as a recall of neural pathways derived from preexisting muscle synergies, already encoded by the brain's internal model. Our results provide further insight on the fundamental principles of motor control and thus can guide the future development of poststroke therapies., We are very grateful for the technical and financial assistance of Toyota Motor Co.

Air pollution is closely associated with the development of respiratory illness. Behavioral adaptations of people to air pollution may influence its impact, yet this has not been investigated in the literature. Our hypothesis is that people experience and learn the underlying air quality to decide their adaptation, and they have a stronger incentive to behaviorally adapt to the air quality as it deteriorates. We tested our hypothesis on a sample of approximately 25,700 individuals from South Korea from 2002 to 2013 that contained information on daily doctor's visits due to respiratory disease. We matched individuals to the mean of the past seven-day concentration of the particulate matter of size between 2.5 and 10 micrometers (PM10) in their county of residence. We examined whether people living in counties with greater air pollution suffer less from respiratory disease when the concentration increases. For the analysis, we separated counties into quintiles based on their mean seven-day PM10, and regressed the binary indicator of a daily doctor's visit with a resulting diagnosis of respiratory disease on the seven-day PM10 concentration of the county of residence interacted with the quintile dummies. The key findings are that a 1-standard-deviation increase in the seven-day PM10 concentration in the two lowest quintiles is associated with an increase of 0.054 percentage points in the likelihood of a doctor's visit with a resulting diagnosis of respiratory disease, which is about 40% larger than the effect in higher quintiles, and the size of 1-standard-deviation gradually increases from 0.037 percentage points in the third quintile to 0.040 percentage points in the fifth quintile. The smaller increase in the likelihood of respiratory disease in more polluted locations can be explained by the behavioral adaptation to the environment, but the effectiveness of the adaptation seems limited among the highly polluted locations.

Detecting errors and adjusting behaviour appropriately are fundamental cognitive abilities that are known to improve through adolescence. The cognitive and neural processes underlying this development, however, are still poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we performed a thorough investigation of error processing in a Flanker task in a cross-sectional sample of participants 8 to 19 years of age (n = 98). We examined age-related differences in event-related potentials known to be associated with error processing, namely the error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe), as well as their relationships with task performance, post-error adjustments and regional cingulate cortex thickness and surface area. We found that ERN amplitude increased with age, while Pe amplitude remained constant. A more negative ERN was associated with higher task accuracy and faster reaction times, while a more positive Pe was associated with higher accuracy, independently of age. When estimating post-error adjustments from trials following both incongruent and congruent trials, post-error slowing and post-error improvement in accuracy both increased with age, but this was only found for post-error slowing when analysing trials following incongruent trials. There were no age-independent associations between either ERN or Pe amplitude and cingulate cortex thickness or area measures. Keywords: Adolescence, Cognitive development, Error positivity, Error related negativity, MRI, Post-error adjustments

Reversal learning (RL) has been widely used for assessment of behavioral adaptation, impulsivity, obsession, and compulsion in healthy controls as well as people suffering from psychiatric and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Nevertheless, studies addressing high cognitive functions such as metacognition in PD are scarce. Here, we address for the first time the effect of levodopa and PD on metacognition within the framework of a RL paradigm. In agreement with previous reports, PD patients exhibited reversal shifting impairment with respect to healthy controls (CTRL) regardless of medication condition (MED-ON and MED-OFF), which was supported by a well-known model of learning conditioning (Rescorla-Wagner). In spite that we found a significant association between accuracy and decision confidence level for MED-OFF and CTRL, analysis of metacognitive sensitivity assessed by type 2 signal detection theory (SDT) revealed only a significant underperformance for patients without medication (MED-OFF). This finding points toward a non-compromising positive effect of dopaminergic medication on metacognition for PD.

In this study, we develop an SIS model for two types of mosquitoes, a traditional one and one that is resistant to IRS and ITNs. The resistant mosquito develops behavioral adaptation to control measures put in place to reduce their biting rate. They also bite early before dusk and later after dark when people are outside the houses and nets. We determine the effect of the two types of mosquitoes on malaria transmission in Kenya. The basic reproduction number R 0 is established as a sharp threshold that determines whether the disease dies out or persists in the population. Precisely, if R 0 ≤ 1, the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable and the disease always dies out and if R 0 > 1, there exists a unique endemic equilibrium which is globally stable and the disease persists. The contribution of the two types of mosquitoes to the basic reproduction number and to the level of the endemic equilibrium is analyzed.

ObjectivesEarly-onset physical morbidity is likely to affect the emotional balance and behavioral adaptation of children and adolescents. Few published studies have investigated psychological morbidity in children with rheumatic heart diseases (RHD). Our work aims to explore the psychiatric symptoms

A longstanding view of the organization of human and animal behavior holds that behavior is hierarchically organized, meaning that it can be understood as directed towards achieving superordinate goals through subordinate goals, or subgoals. For example, the superordinate goal of making coffee can be broken down as accomplishing a series of subgoals, namely boiling water, grinding coffee, pouring cream, etc.Learning and behavioral adaptation depend on prediction-error signals, which have been observed in ventral striatum (VS) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). In past work, we have shown that prediction error signals (PEs) can be linked not only to superordinate goals, but also to subgoals.Here we present two functional magnetic resonance imagining experiments that replicate and extend these findings. In the first experiment, we replicated the finding that mPFC signals subgoal-related PEs, independently of goal PEs. Together with our past work, this experiment reveals that BOLD responses to PEs in mPFC are unsigned. In the second experiment, we showed that when a task involves both goal and subgoal PEs, mPFC shows only goal-related PEs, suggesting that context or attention can strongly impact hierarchical PE coding. Furthermore, we observed a dissociation between the coding of PEs in mPFC and VS. These experiments suggest that the mPFC selectively attends to information at different levels of hierarchy depending on the task context.

It is estimated that 2 billion people are vulnerable to dengue infections in tropical and subtropical regions, where about 50 to 100 million dengue infections occur each year, leading to 20000 to 30000 deaths annually. Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that is transmitted to humans through bites of female mosquitoes carrying the virus. Control of dengue epidemic has been elusive, mainly because of the failure to control mosquito breeding habitats in urban environments. Safe, efficacious and cost-effective dengue vaccine is still under testing. The model that links the virus transmission dynamics between mosquito and human is a key to a transparent valuation of dengue vaccine pricing. In this paper, an in-house mosquito-human virus transmission model is enhanced to elucidate the effects of environmental and entomological parameters on dengue transmission dynamics. The basic reproduction number R0 is a key to bi-stability in disease-free versus endemic bifurcation. The system of ordinary differential equations developed to simulate mosquito-human interactions leads to two equilibria, i.e., disease-free equilibrium and endemic equilibrium. Control of R0 may be achieved by a combination of human behavioral adaptation and sustained vaccine adoption.

An advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) provided information about the right of way regulation and safety to cross an upcoming intersection. Effects were studied in a longer-term study involving 18 healthy older drivers between the ages of 65 and 82 years and 18 healthy young drivers between the ages of 20 and 25 years. Participants repeatedly drove 25 km city routes in eight sessions on separate days over a period of two months in a driving simulator. In each age group, participants were randomly assigned to the control (no ADAS) and treatment (ADAS) group. The control group completed the whole experiment without the ADAS. The treatment group drove two sessions without (sessions 1 and 7) and six times with ADAS. Results indicate effects of ADAS on driving safety for young and older drivers, as intersection time and percentage of stops decreased, speed and critical intersection crossings increased, the number of crashes was lower for treatment groups than for control groups. The implications of results are discussed in terms of behavioral adaptation and safety. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Psychopathy has been associated with behavioral adaptation deficits, which might be associated with problems in feedback and reward processing. In the present study, we examined the relation between psychopathic traits and reward processing in a passive gambling task. A total of 39 male participants who scored high (HP) and 39 male participants who scored low (LP) on the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM), total score were tested. Feedback-related Event-Related Potentials (ERPs; i.e., P2, FRN, and P3) on predicted and unpredicted rewards and reward omissions were compared between both groups. It was found that in HP individuals, the P2 was enhanced for predicted rewards and reward omissions, but not for unpredicted stimuli. Moreover, HP individuals as compared to the LP individuals demonstrated a generally reduced P3 amplitude. The FRN amplitude, however, did not differ between the two groups. In addition, HP individuals showed enhanced reward sensitivity on the self-report level. Taken together, these findings suggest that HP individuals show enhanced sensitivity to early and reduced sensitivity to later markers of processing reinforcement learning signals, which points in the direction of compromised behavioral adaptation.

International audience; Behavioral adaptation generally follows the contextual changes arising from the consequences (rewards and punishments) of an action. According to the reciprocal determinism model, there is a mutual influence between external context, cognitive processes and behavior. The maladaptive behaviors observed in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have been hypothesized to result from the disruption of the interactions between these three entities. For this, we assessed the influence of error signals and checking behavior on prefrontal cortical functions during decision-making in 14 OCD patients and 14 matched healthy participants. We used a behavioral task designed to elicit intolerance of uncertainty (IU) followed by the free expression of checking behaviors, which was coupled with functional magnetic resonance imaging. At the behavioral level, IU intensity was correlated to the number of checking behaviors in both checking OCD patients and healthy controls during decision-making. However, external error signals did not influence checking behaviors in OCD patients, whereas they appeared to trigger checking behaviors in healthy subjects. At the neural level, IU intensity was positively correlated with activation in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in both the OCD and control groups. At the region of interest (ROI) level, error signals increased IU-related OFC activations; in contrast, checking behaviors contributed to decreasing these neural activations in the healthy subjects, but no such modulation was observed in the OCD patients. Our results show that IU-related OFC dysfunctions are not under the influence of the context and the behavioral response in OCD, suggesting that alterations of the dynamic features for this neural network may contribute to the expression of OCD symptoms.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to determine and evaluate sun safety knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) among agricultural workers (AWs) in the Autonomous Province of Trento (North-Eastern Italy). METHODS A cross sectional study was performed among AWs who attended pesticide training courses (2016). Participants received a structured questionnaire focusing on KAP towards sun protective behaviors. Synthetic scores for knowledge (GKS), risk perception (RPS), behavioral adaptation and use of personal protective equipment (SPPS) were calculated. Regression analysis was modelled in order to assess GKS, RPS and individual factors as predictors of SPPS. RESULTS The sample included 204 AWs (89.7% males, 10.3% females, mean age 43.9±15.9 years). Sun protective behaviors were irregularly referred by participants, in particular receiving medical skin assessment by a dermatologist (33.8%), avoiding sun radiations at noon and taking rest breaks in shady areas (30.9%), and wearing sunscreen (13.3%). GKS was correlated with RPS, and RPS was characterized as a significant predictor of SPPS (B=0.307; 95% CI 0.224-0.389, P

Habit formation is a behavioral adaptation that automates routine actions. Habitual behavior correlates with broad reconfigurations of dorsolateral striatal (DLS) circuit properties that increase gain and shift pathway timing. The mechanism(s) for these circuit adaptations are unknown and could be responsible for habitual behavior. Here we find that a single class of interneuron, fast-spiking interneurons (FSIs), modulates all of these habit-predictive properties. Consistent with a role in habits, FSIs are more excitable in habitual mice compared to goal-directed and acute chemogenetic inhibition of FSIs in DLS prevents the expression of habitual lever pressing. In vivo recordings further reveal a previously unappreciated selective modulation of SPNs based on their firing patterns; FSIs inhibit most SPNs but paradoxically promote the activity of a subset displaying high fractions of gamma-frequency spiking. These results establish a microcircuit mechanism for habits and provide a new example of how interneurons mediate experience-dependent behavior., eLife digest From biting fingernails to the daily commute, habits are sets of actions that can be completed almost without thinking and that are difficult to change or stop. Behavioral neuroscientists refer to habits as “stimulus-response” behaviors, and know that forming a new habit requires a region deep within the brain called the dorsolateral striatum. Indeed, in this region, the outgoing neurons – which make up 95% of the cells - respond differently to incoming signals in mice that have learned habits compared to non-habitual mice. However a question remained: what exactly was producing these differences? O’Hare et al. have now found, unexpectedly, that the answer resides not in the 95% of outgoing neurons, but rather in a rare type of cell known as the fast-spiking interneuron. This cell is connected to many others and it appears to act like a conductor, orchestrating the previously identified changes in the output neurons. These findings were made using mice that had been trained to press a lever for a sugar pellet reward. Habit was measured by how long mice kept pressing even if they had just been allowed to eat their fill of pellets and the test lever was no longer dispensing pellets. Habitual mice continue to press the lever in this circumstance, while other mice do not. O’Hare et al. found that inactivating the “conductor” cell made the output neurons respond in the opposite way to how they normally respond in habitual mice. Further experiments showed that fast-spiking interneurons were also more easily activated in habitual mice. To test whether this putative “conductor” cell was necessary for habitual behaviors, a technique known as chemogenetics was used to turn down its activity in habitual mice. Indeed, reducing activity in the conductor cell blocked the habitual behavior. While some habits are a helpful and economical way to get through daily life, habits are also thought to be corrupted in a number of diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases, addictions and compulsions. Identifying this specific, yet rare, cell as a critical part of maintaining habits points out a new target to consider for therapies. Further work is needed before such treatments might become available to treat habit-related disorders; though O'Hare et al. are now taking steps in this direction by trying to work out how the fast-spiking interneuron changes its own activity when a habit is formed.

Habit formation is a behavioral adaptation that automates routine actions. Habitual behavior correlates with broad reconfigurations of dorsolateral striatal (DLS) circuit properties that increase gain and shift pathway timing. The mechanism(s) for these circuit adaptations are unknown and could be responsible for habitual behavior. Here we find that a single class of interneuron, fast-spiking interneurons (FSIs), modulates all of these habit-predictive properties. Consistent with a role in habits, FSIs are more excitable in habitual mice compared to goal-directed and acute chemogenetic inhibition of FSIs in DLS prevents the expression of habitual lever pressing. In vivo recordings further reveal a previously unappreciated selective modulation of SPNs based on their firing patterns; FSIs inhibit most SPNs but paradoxically promote the activity of a subset displaying high fractions of gamma-frequency spiking. These results establish a microcircuit mechanism for habits and provide a new example of how interneurons mediate experience-dependent behavior.

Contains fulltext : 175357.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Prior research has shown that the ratio between resting-state theta (4-7 Hz)-beta (13-30 Hz) oscillations in the electroencephalogram (EEG) is associated with reward- and punishment-related feedback learning and risky decision making. However, it remains unclear whether the theta/beta EEG ratio is also an electrophysiological index for poorer behavioral adaptation when reward and punishment contingencies change over time. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether resting-state theta (4-7 Hz)-beta (13-30 Hz) EEG ratio correlated with reversal learning. A 4-min resting-state EEG was recorded and a gambling task with changing reward-punishment contingencies was administered in 128 healthy volunteers. Results showed an inverse relationship between theta/beta EEG ratio and reversal learning. Our findings replicate and extend previous findings by showing that higher midfrontal theta/beta EEG ratios are associated with poorer reversal learning and behavioral adaptive responses under changing environmental demands. 10 p.

The default mode network (DMN) in humans has been extensively studied using seed-based correlation analysis (SCA) and independent component analysis (ICA). While DMN has been observed in monkeys as well, there are conflicting reports on whether they exist in rodents. Dogs are higher mammals than rodents, but cognitively not as advanced as monkeys and humans. Therefore, they are an interesting species in the evolutionary hierarchy for probing the comparative functions of the DMN across species. In this study, we sought to know whether the DMN, and consequently its functions such as self-referential processing, are exclusive to humans/monkeys or can we also observe the DMN in animals such as dogs. To address this issue, resting state functional MRI data from the brains of lightly sedated dogs and unconstrained and fully awake dogs were acquired, and ICA and SCA were performed for identifying the DMN. Since anesthesia can alter resting state networks, confirming our results in awake dogs was essential. Awake dog imaging was accomplished by training the dogs to keep their head still using reinforcement behavioral adaptation techniques. We found that the anterior (such as anterior cingulate and medial frontal) and posterior regions (such as posterior cingulate) of the DMN were dissociated in both awake and anesthetized dogs.

An adaptation paradigm was used to investigate the influence of a previously experienced visual context on the interpretation of ambiguous emotional expressions. Affective classification of fear-neutral ambiguous expressions was performed following repeated exposure to either fearful or neutral faces. There was a shift in the behavioural classification of morphs towards ‘fear’ following adaptation to neutral compared to adaptation to fear with a non-significant trend towards the high anxiety group compared to the low being more influenced by the context. The event-related potential (ERP) data revealed a more pronounced late positive potential (LPP), beginning at ~400 ms post-stimulus onset, in the high but not the low anxiety group following adaptation to neutral compared to fear. In addition, as the size of the behavioural adaptation increased there was a linear increase in the magnitude of the late-LPP. However, context-sensitivity effects are not restricted to trait anxiety, with similar effects observed with state anxiety and depression. These data support the proposal that negative moods are associated with increased sensitivity to visual contextual influences from top-down elaborative modulations, as reflected in an enhanced late positive potential deflection.

The Kavli Prize in Neuroscience was awarded for the third time in September 2012, by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo. The accompanying Kavli Prize Symposium on Neuroscience, held in Bergen and Trondheim, was a showcase of excellence in neuroscience research. The common theme of the Symposium presentations was the mechanisms by which animals adapt to their environment. The symposium speakers--Michael Greenberg, Erin Schuman, Chiara Cirelli, Michael Meaney, Catherine Dulac, Hopi Hoekstra, and Stanislas Dehaene--covered topics ranging from the molecular and cellular levels to the systems level and behavior. Thus a single amino acid change in a transcriptional repressor can disrupt gene regulation through neural activity (Greenberg). Deep sequencing analysis of the neuropil transcriptome indicates that a large fraction of the synaptic proteome is synthesized in situ in axons and dendrites, permitting local regulation (Schuman). The nature of the 'reset' function that makes animals dependent of sleep is being revealed (Cirelli). Maternal behavior can cause changes in gene expression that stably modify behavior in the offspring (Meaney). Removal of a single sensory channel protein in the vomero-nasal organ can switch off male-specific and switch on female-specific innate behavior of mice in response to environmental stimulation (Dulac). Innate behaviors can be stably transmitted from parent to offspring through generations even when those behaviors cannot be expressed, as illustrated by the elaborate burrowing behavior in a rodent species, in which independent genetic regions regulate distinct modules of the burrowing pattern (Hoekstra). Finally, at the other extreme of the nature-nurture scale, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis in children and adults identified a brain area specifically involved in reading (Dehaene). As the area must originally have developed for a purpose other than reading, such as shape recognition, this illustrates the use of a previously formed neural structure to tackle a new challenge.

Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) mediates updating and maintenance of cognitive models of the world used to drive adaptive reward-guided behavior. We investigated the neurochemical underpinnings of this process. We used magnetic resonance spectroscopy in humans, to measure levels of glutamate and GABA in dACC. We examined their relationship to neural signals in dACC, measured with fMRI, and cognitive task performance. Both inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters in dACC were predictive of the strength of neural signals in dACC and behavioral adaptation. Glutamate levels were correlated, first, with stronger neural activity representing information to be learnt about the tasks’ costs and benefits and, second, greater use of this information in the guidance of behavior. GABA levels were negatively correlated with the same neural signals and the same indices of behavioral influence. Our results suggest that glutamate and GABA in dACC affect the encoding and use of past experiences to guide behavior. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.20365.001