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The United States is predicted to experience an annual decline in milk production due to heat stress of 1.4 and 1.9 kg/day by the 2050s and 2080s, with economic losses of USD 1.7 billion and USD 2.2 billion, respectively, despite current cooling efforts implemented by the dairy industry. The ability of cattle to withstand heat (i.e., thermotolerance) can be influenced by physiological and behavioral factors, even though the factors contributing to thermoregulation are heritable, and cows vary in their behavioral repertoire. The current methods to gauge cow behaviors are lacking in precision and scalability. This paper presents an approach leveraging various machine learning (ML) (e.g., CNN and YOLOv8) and computer vision (e.g., Video Processing and Annotation) techniques aimed at quantifying key behavioral indicators, specifically drinking frequency and brush use- behaviors. These behaviors, while challenging to quantify using traditional methods, offer profound insights into the autonomic nervous system function and an individual cow's coping mechanisms under heat stress. The developed approach provides an opportunity to quantify these difficult-to-measure drinking and brush use behaviors of dairy cows milked in a robotic milking system. This approach will open up a better opportunity for ranchers to make informed decisions that could mitigate the adverse effects of heat stress. It will also expedite data collection regarding dairy cow behavioral phenotypes. Finally, the developed system is evaluated using different performance metrics, including classification accuracy. It is found that the YoloV8 and CNN models achieved a classification accuracy of 93% and 96% for object detection and classification, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States is predicted to experience an annual decline in milk production due to heat stress of 1.4 and 1.9 kg/day by the 2050s and 2080s, with economic losses of USD 1.7 billion and USD 2.2 billion, respectively, despite current cooling efforts implemented by the dairy industry. The ability of cattle to withstand heat (i.e., thermotolerance) can be influenced by physiological and behavioral factors, even though the factors contributing to thermoregulation are heritable, and cows vary in their behavioral repertoire. The current methods to gauge cow behaviors are lacking in precision and scalability. This paper presents an approach leveraging various machine learning (ML) (e.g., CNN and YOLOv8) and computer vision (e.g., Video Processing and Annotation) techniques aimed at quantifying key behavioral indicators, specifically drinking frequency and brush use- behaviors. These behaviors, while challenging to quantify using traditional methods, offer profound insights into the autonomic nervous system function and an individual cow’s coping mechanisms under heat stress. The developed approach provides an opportunity to quantify these difficult-to-measure drinking and brush use behaviors of dairy cows milked in a robotic milking system. This approach will open up a better opportunity for ranchers to make informed decisions that could mitigate the adverse effects of heat stress. It will also expedite data collection regarding dairy cow behavioral phenotypes. Finally, the developed system is evaluated using different performance metrics, including classification accuracy. It is found that the YoloV8 and CNN models achieved a classification accuracy of 93% and 96% for object detection and classification, respectively.

External sources of information influence human actions. However, psychological traits (PTs), considered internal variables, also play a crucial role in decision making. PTs are stable across time and contexts and define the set of behavioral repertoires that individuals express. Here, we explored how multiple metrics of adaptive behavior under uncertainty related to several PTs. Participants solved a reversal‐learning task with volatile contingencies, from which we characterized a detailed behavioral profile based on their response sequences. We then tested the relationship between this multimetric behavioral profile and scores obtained from self‐report psychological questionnaires. The PT measurements were based on the Hierarchical Taxonomy Of Psychopathology (HiTOP) model. By using multiple linear regression models (MLRMs), we found that the learning curves predicted important differences in the PTs and task response times. We confirmed the significance of these relationships by using random permutations of the predictors of the MLRM. Therefore, the behavioral profile configurations predicted the PTs and served as a "fingerprint" to identify participants with a high certainty level. We discuss briefly how this characterization and approach could contribute to better nosological classifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of behavioral detection paradigms have been developed for zebrafish (Danio rerio) to examine anxiety-like behavioral responses. Among them, the novel tank diving test is rapidly gaining popularity in translational neuroscience and behavioral research for the investigation of psychopharmacological activity focusing on stress. Zebrafish respond to conspecific epidermal-released alarm substances with antipredator reactions. Although the alarm responses of zebrafish were well characterized in a novel tank diving experiment, the relationship between the intensity of the alarm behavior and the concentration of the alarm substance needed to be understood more adequately. In the current paper, we investigated the behavioral phenotypes and potencies of zebrafish elicited by the serial dilution of an alarm substance in the novel tank diving test. Using a video-tracking assisted behavioral quantification approach, we demonstrated no linear concentration-dependent relationship between antipredator behavior and skin extracts, suggesting that an optimal concentration induced each typical behavioral response. The results showed that the freezing duration (%) significantly increased when stimulated with 104-fold times dilutions of skin extract (equivalent 5 × 10−5 fish/L), while erratic movements (%), time in the bottom half (%), and latency to the upper half (s) significantly elevated when stimulated with 103-fold times dilutions (equivalent 5 × 10−4 fish/L). Therefore, the concentration threshold for an alarm substance that elicited innate fear behavior in zebrafish was presumed to be an equivalent concentration of approximately 5 × 10−4 fish/L. The conclusions may fill a knowledge gap between the innate fear response triggered by injured skin and a novel tank diving paradigm that provides insights into the characterization of alarm substance, behavioral responses, and physiological response mechanisms in zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• No difference in alpha-diversity but increased beta-diversity in ASD people. • Altered gut microbiotas associated with autistic and other behavioral symptoms. • No association between GI symptoms and altered taxonomic diversity in ASD. • A complex relationship between altered microbiome, immune dysregulation, and ASD. Despite inconsistent results across studies, emerging evidence suggests that the microbial micro-environment may be associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Geographical and cultural factors highly impact microbial profiles, and there is a shortage of data from East Asian populations. This study aimed to comprehensively characterize microbial profiles in an East Asian sample and explore whether gut microbiota contributes to clinical symptoms, emotional/behavioral problems, and GI symptoms in ASD. We assessed 82 boys and young men with ASD and 31 typically developing controls (TDC), aged 6–25 years. We analyzed the stool sample of all participants with 16S V3-V4 rRNA sequencing and correlated its profile with GI symptoms, autistic symptoms, and emotional/behavioral problems. Autistic individuals, compared to TDC, had worse GI symptoms. There were no group differences in alpha diversity of species richness estimates (Shannon-wiener and Simpson diversity indices). Participants with ASD had an increased relative abundance of Fusobacterium , Ruminococcus torques group (at the genus level), and Bacteroides plebeius DSM 17135 (at the species level), while a decreased relative abundance of Ruminococcaceae UCG 013, Ervsipelotrichaceae UCG 003, Parasutterella, Clostridium sensu stricto 1, Turicibacter (at the genus level), and Clostridium spiroforme DSM 1552 and Intestinimonas butyriciproducens (at the species level). Altered taxonomic diversity in ASD significantly correlated with autistic symptoms, thought problems, delinquent behaviors, self dysregulation, and somatic complaints. We did not find an association between gut symptoms and gut microbial dysbiosis. Our findings suggest that altered microbiota are associated with behavioral phenotypes but not GI symptoms in ASD. The function of the identified microbial profiles mainly involves the immune pathway, supporting the hypothesis of a complex relationship between altered microbiome, immune dysregulation, and ASD that may advance the discovery of molecular biomarkers for ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveST8 alpha-N-acetyl-neuraminide alpha-2,8-sialyltransferase 2 (ST8SIA2) encodes a type II membrane protein that is thought to catalyze the transfer of sialic acid (SA) from CMP-SA to N-linked oligosaccharides and glycoproteins. Some population and animal studies have indicated an association between the ST8SIA2 gene and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is limited information on the correlation between ST8SIA2 and autistic behavioral symptoms.MethodsIn this study, 69 ASD and 76 normal control children who were age- and sex-matched were recruited. ST8SIA2 expression and methylation levels were measured by reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR and pyrosequencing, respectively, and the behavioral phenotypes of ASD children were assessed.ResultsThe ASD group had lower ST8SIA2 gene expression levels than the control group [t(0.05/2,143) = 2.582, p = 0.011]. Moreover, ST8SIA2 expression levels were positively correlated with daily life skills (rs = 0.381, p = 0.008) and negatively associated with stereotyped behaviors in the ASD group (rs = -0.510, p = 0.004). The methylation levels of the Chr. 15: 92984625 and Chr. 15: 92998561 sites of the ST8SIA2 gene in ASD children were higher than those of controls. The Chr. 15: 92984625 site was positively correlated with the stereotyped behaviors of ASD children (rs = 0.41, p = 0.039).ConclusionThis study provides a scientific basis to elucidate the relationship between the ST8SIA2 gene and behavioral phenotypes of ASD.

A series of behavioral detection paradigms have been developed for zebrafish (Danio rerio) to examine anxiety-like behavioral responses. Among them, the novel tank diving test is rapidly gaining popularity in translational neuroscience and behavioral research for the investigation of psychopharmacological activity focusing on stress. Zebrafish respond to conspecific epidermal-released alarm substances with antipredator reactions. Although the alarm responses of zebrafish were well characterized in a novel tank diving experiment, the relationship between the intensity of the alarm behavior and the concentration of the alarm substance needed to be understood more adequately. In the current paper, we investigated the behavioral phenotypes and potencies of zebrafish elicited by the serial dilution of an alarm substance in the novel tank diving test. Using a video-tracking assisted behavioral quantification approach, we demonstrated no linear concentration-dependent relationship between antipredator behavior and skin extracts, suggesting that an optimal concentration induced each typical behavioral response. The results showed that the freezing duration (%) significantly increased when stimulated with 104-fold times dilutions of skin extract (equivalent 5 × 10−5 fish/L), while erratic movements (%), time in the bottom half (%), and latency to the upper half (s) significantly elevated when stimulated with 103-fold times dilutions (equivalent 5 × 10−4 fish/L). Therefore, the concentration threshold for an alarm substance that elicited innate fear behavior in zebrafish was presumed to be an equivalent concentration of approximately 5 × 10−4 fish/L. The conclusions may fill a knowledge gap between the innate fear response triggered by injured skin and a novel tank diving paradigm that provides insights into the characterization of alarm substance, behavioral responses, and physiological response mechanisms in zebrafish.

Background: Behavioral phenotypes that predict future weight gain are needed to identify children susceptible to obesity., Objectives: This prospective study developed an eating behavior risk score to predict change in adiposity over 1 y in children., Methods: Data from 6 baseline visits (Time 1, T1) and a 1-y follow-up visit (Time 2, T2) were collected from 76, 7- to 8-y-old healthy children recruited from Central Pennsylvania. At T1, children had body mass index (BMI) percentiles <90 and were classified with either high (n = 33; maternal BMI ≥30 kg/m 2 ) or low (n = 43; maternal BMI ≤25 kg/m 2 ) familial risk for obesity. Appetitive traits and eating behaviors were assessed at T1. Adiposity was measured at T1 and T2 using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, with a main outcome of fat mass index (FMI; total body fat mass divided by height in meters squared). Hierarchical linear regressions determined which eating measures improved prediction of T2 FMI after adjustment for covariates in the baseline model (T1 FMI, sex, income, familial risk, and Tanner stage)., Results: Four eating measures-Portion susceptibility, Appetitive traits, loss of control eating, and eating rate-were combined into a standardized summary score called PACE. PACE improved the baseline model to predict 80% variance in T2 FMI. PACE was positively associated with the increase in FMI in children from T1 to T2, independent of familial risk (r = 0.58, P < 0.001). Although PACE was higher in girls than boys (P < 0.05), it did not differ by familial risk, income, or education., Conclusions: PACE represents a cumulative eating behavior risk score that predicts adiposity gain over 1 y in middle childhood. If PACE similarly predicts adiposity gain in a cohort with greater racial and socioeconomic diversity, it will inform the development of interventions to prevent obesity. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03341247., (Copyright © 2024 American Society for Nutrition. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is considered a promising therapeutic tool for treating neuropsychiatric diseases. Previously, we found intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) rTMS to be most effective in modulating cortical excitation-inhibition balance in rats, accompanied by improved cortical sensory processing and sensory learning performance. Using an animal schizophrenia model based on maternal immune activation (MIA) we tested if iTBS applied to either adult or juvenile rats can affect the behavioral phenotype in a therapeutic or preventive manner, respectively. In a sham-controlled fashion, iTBS effects in MIA rats were compared with rats receiving vehicle NaCl injection instead of the synthetic viral strand. Prior to iTBS, adult MIA rats showed deficits in sensory gating, as tested with prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex, and deficits in novel object recognition (NOR). No differences between MIA and control rats were evident with regard to signs of anxiety, anhedonia and depression but MIA rats were somewhat superior to controls during the training phase of Morris Water Maze (MWM) test. MIA but not control rats significantly improved in PPI following iTBS at adulthood but without significant differences between verum and sham application. If applied during adolescence, verum but not sham-iTBS improved NOR at adulthood but no difference in PPI was evident in rats treated either with sham or verum-iTBS. MIA and control rat responses to sham-iTBS applied at adulthood differed remarkably, indicating a different physiological reaction to the experimental experiences. Although verum-iTBS was not superior to sham-iTBS, MIA rats seemed to benefit from the treatment procedure in general, since differences—in relation to control rats declined or disappeared. Even if classical placebo effects can be excluded, motor or cognitive challenges or the entire handling procedure during the experiments appear to alleviate the behavioral impairments of MIA rats.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is considered a promising therapeutic tool for treating neuropsychiatric diseases. Previously, we found intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) rTMS to be most effective in modulating cortical excitation-inhibition balance in rats, accompanied by improved cortical sensory processing and sensory learning performance. Using an animal schizophrenia model based on maternal immune activation (MIA) we tested if iTBS applied to either adult or juvenile rats can affect the behavioral phenotype in a therapeutic or preventive manner, respectively. In a sham-controlled fashion, iTBS effects in MIA rats were compared with rats receiving vehicle NaCl injection instead of the synthetic viral strand. Prior to iTBS, adult MIA rats showed deficits in sensory gating, as tested with prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex, and deficits in novel object recognition (NOR). No differences between MIA and control rats were evident with regard to signs of anxiety, anhedonia and depression but MIA rats were somewhat superior to controls during the training phase of Morris Water Maze (MWM) test. MIA but not control rats significantly improved in PPI following iTBS at adulthood but without significant differences between verum and sham application. If applied during adolescence, verum but not sham-iTBS improved NOR at adulthood but no difference in PPI was evident in rats treated either with sham or verum-iTBS. MIA and control rat responses to sham-iTBS applied at adulthood differed remarkably, indicating a different physiological reaction to the experimental experiences. Although verum-iTBS was not superior to sham-iTBS, MIA rats seemed to benefit from the treatment procedure in general, since differences—in relation to control rats declined or disappeared. Even if classical placebo effects can be excluded, motor or cognitive challenges or the entire handling procedure during the experiments appear to alleviate the behavioral impairments of MIA rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizophrenia is frequently accompanied by depressive symptoms, but the pathological mechanisms remain to be elucidated. In this study, we used chronic unpredicted mild stress plus MK801 injection to generate a mouse model of schizophrenia with depression, in which in vivo 2-photon calcium imaging and electrophysiological recordings were performed in conjunction with behavioral phenotyping. Compared to mice models with classical depression or to schizophrenia models, the animal models with schizophrenia and depression comorbidity presented worse psychotic and depressive symptoms. These behavioral deficits are associated with impaired neuronal calcium activities in the frontal cortex and thalamic nuclei. Moreover, in sharp contrast to classical models that have a satisfactory response to antipsychotic or antidepressant drugs, this novel schizophrenia with depression model is resilient to combined drug treatment in terms of behavioral and functional recovery. Taken together, these data indicate that schizophrenia with depression likely involves a unique pathophysiology that is different from schizophrenia or depression alone.

Public goods, ranging from judiciary to sanitation to parkland, permeate daily life. They have been a subject of intense interdisciplinary study, with a traditional focus being on participation levels in isolated public goods games (PGGs) as opposed to a more recent focus on participation in PGGs embedded into complex social networks. We merged the two perspectives by arranging voluntary participants into one of three network configurations, upon which volunteers played a number of iterated PGGs within their network neighborhood. The purpose was to test whether the topology of social networks or a freedom to express preferences for some local public goods over others affect participation. The results show that changes in social networks are of little consequence, yet volunteers significantly increase participation when they freely express preferences. Surprisingly, the increase in participation happens from the very beginning of the game experiment, before any information about how others play can be gathered. Such information does get used later in the game as volunteers seek to correlate contributions with higher returns, thus adding significant value to public goods overall. These results are ascribable to a small number of behavioral phenotypes, and suggest that societies may be better off with bottom-up schemes for public goods provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited information is available concerning the specificity of the forms and functions of aggressive behavior exhibited by boys with fragile X syndrome (FXS). To investigate these relationships, we conducted indirect functional assessments of aggressive behavior exhibited by 41 adolescent boys with FXS and 59 age and symptom-matched controls with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) and compared the data between groups. Results showed that boys with FXS were more likely to exhibit specific forms of aggressive behavior (i.e., scratching others and biting others) compared to controls, but the sources of reinforcement identified for aggression were similar across groups. Boys with FXS who were prescribed psychotropic medications were more likely to be older and to exhibit more forms of aggression. The implications for the treatment of aggressive behavior during this critical developmental period in FXS are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizophrenia is frequently accompanied by depressive symptoms, but the pathological mechanisms remain to be elucidated. In this study, we used chronic unpredicted mild stress plus MK801 injection to generate a mouse model of schizophrenia with depression, in which in vivo 2-photon calcium imaging and electrophysiological recordings were performed in conjunction with behavioral phenotyping. Compared to mice models with classical depression or to schizophrenia models, the animal models with schizophrenia and depression comorbidity presented worse psychotic and depressive symptoms. These behavioral deficits are associated with impaired neuronal calcium activities in the frontal cortex and thalamic nuclei. Moreover, in sharp contrast to classical models that have a satisfactory response to antipsychotic or antidepressant drugs, this novel schizophrenia with depression model is resilient to combined drug treatment in terms of behavioral and functional recovery. Taken together, these data indicate that schizophrenia with depression likely involves a unique pathophysiology that is different from schizophrenia or depression alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: It is well known that one-third of the world population is infected with toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), and the seroprevalence varies according to socioeconomic status and hygienic habits. Nowadays, it's thought that T. gondii which is related asymptomatic latent infections in brain and muscle tissue may be related with neuro- psychiatric conditions. Methods: T. gondii IgG levels of serum samples obtained from 150 volunteer university students who participated in the study according to inclusion criteria were determined according to the manufacturer's recommendations by ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) method. Criminal profiles (accident claims, criminal conviction), impulsive behaviors (non-suicidal self-injury, attempted suicide) and personality traits (extra version, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience) of the participants were recorded by appropriate scales and/or clinical interviews. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between T. gondii seropositivity and impulsive behaviors such as suicide attempt and physical injury, criminal events such as crime and traffic accidents and 5 factor personality types in psychiatric healthy individuals. Results: Sixty- nine (46%) of participants were male and 81 were female (54%), ages ranged from 20 to 37 (25.71±3.08) and the rate of seropositivity was determined as 30.66%. The relationship between seropositivity and accident claims was not statistically significant; the criminal conviction, non-suicidal self-injury and attempted suicide were statistically correlated. There was no statistically difference in terms of the features of extraversion or openness to experience between seronegative and seropositive groups. However, the T. gondii IgG were statistically highly correlated with lower agreeableness, lower conscientiousness and higher neuroticism scores. Conclusion: The data obtained from our study which is the first study conducted with this context in our country, confirms that latent T. gondii may be associated with negative behavioral outcomes. In order to fully understand the possible effects of T. gondii in psychiatric disorders, prospective-based studies are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous disorder. Research has explored potential ASD subgroups with preliminary evidence supporting the existence of behaviorally and genetically distinct subgroups; however, research has yet to leverage machine learning to identify phenotypes on a scale large enough to robustly examine treatment response across such subgroups. The purpose of the present study was to apply Gaussian Mixture Models and Hierarchical Clustering to identify behavioral phenotypes of ASD and examine treatment response across the learned phenotypes.Materials and Methods: The present study included a sample of children with ASD (N = 2400), the largest of its kind to date. Unsupervised machine learning was applied to model ASD subgroups as well as their taxonomic relationships. Retrospective treatment data were available for a portion of the sample (n  = 1034). Treatment response was examined within each subgroup via regression.Results: The application of a Gaussian Mixture Model revealed 16 subgroups. Further examination of the subgroups through Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering suggested 2 overlying behavioral phenotypes with unique deficit profiles each composed of subgroups that differed in severity of those deficits. Furthermore, differentiated response to treatment was found across subtypes, with a substantially higher amount of variance accounted for due to the homogenization effect of the clustering.Discussion: The high amount of variance explained by the regression models indicates that clustering provides a basis for homogenization, and thus an opportunity to tailor treatment based on cluster memberships. These findings have significant implications on prognosis and targeted treatment of ASD, and pave the way for personalized intervention based on unsupervised machine learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angelman syndrome (AS) is a genetic disorder which entails autism, intellectual disability, lack of speech, motor deficits, and seizure susceptibility. It is caused by the lack of UBE3A protein expression, which is an E3-ubiquitin ligase. Despite AS equal prevalence in males and females, not much data on how sex affects the syndrome was reported. In the herein study, we thoroughly characterized many behavioral phenotypes of AS mice. The behavioral data acquired was analyzed with respect to sex. In addition, we generated a new mRNA sequencing dataset. We analyzed the coding transcriptome expression profiles with respect to the effects of genotype and sex observed in the behavioral phenotypes. We identified several neurobehavioral aspects, especially sensory perception, where AS mice either lack the male-to-female differences observed in wild-type littermates or even show opposed differences. However, motor phenotypes did not show male-to-female variation between wild-type (WT) and AS mice. In addition, by utilizing the mRNA sequencing, we identified genes and isoforms with expression profiles that mirror the sensory perception results. These genes are differentially regulated in the two sexes with inverse expression profiles in AS mice compared to WT littermates. Some of these are known pain-related and estrogen-dependent genes. The observed differences in sex-dependent neurobehavioral phenotypes and the differential transcriptome expression profiles in AS mice strengthen the evidence for molecular cross talk between Ube3a protein and sex hormone receptors or their elicited pathways. These interactions are essential for understanding Ube3a deletion effects, beyond its E3-ligase activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presents the results of behavioral phenotyping of rats with experimental chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (eCOPD) of different severity modeled by using a combination of inductors (purified papain and bacterial LPS) in increasing concentrations. Locomotor and exploratory activity, spatial memory, and anxiety were evaluated. In mild eCOPD, locomotor and exploratory activity increased, while other parameters did not differ from the control values. Rats with moderate eCOPD demonstrated moderately restricted locomotor function and increased anxiety. Severe eCOPD was associated with pronounced changes in all analyzed parameters. Correlation analysis revealed relationships between some behavioral parameters and blood oxygen saturation, inspiratory lung volume, and respiration rate. This indicates the role of respiratory failure in the pathogenesis of cognitive disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with Down syndrome (DS) are at higher risk for both delayed expressive language and poor speech intelligibility. The current study utilized the quantitative automated language environment analysis (LENA) to depict mother and child vocalizations and conversational patterns in the home of 43 children with DS, chronologically aged 24-64 months. Children with DS displayed fewer utterances than typically developing children; however, there was wide variability. Furthermore, children with DS did not show increased vocalization counts across their chronological ages. In contrast to previous findings, this study found that the mothers of children with DS had a reduced number of vocalizations. However, the vocalizations increased with age in comparison to mothers of typically developing children. Implications for targeted interventions that facilitate learning opportunities in bidirectional contexts for children with DS and their parents are discussed, with particular attention to quantify behavioral phenotypes utilizing a novel expressive language assessment tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manner in which laboratory rodents are housed is driven by economics (minimal use of space and resources), ergonomics (ease of handling and visibility of animals), hygiene, and standardization (reduction of variation). This has resulted in housing conditions that lack sensory and motor stimulation and restrict the expression of species-typical behavior. In mice, such housing conditions have been associated with indicators of impaired welfare, including abnormal repetitive behavior (stereotypies, compulsive behavior), enhanced anxiety and stress reactivity, and thermal stress. However, due to concerns that more complex environmental conditions might increase variation in experimental results, there has been considerable resistance to the implementation of environmental enrichment beyond the provision of nesting material. Here, using 96 C57BL/6 and SWISS female mice, respectively, we systematically varied environmental enrichment across four levels spanning the range of common enrichment strategies: (1) bedding alone; (2) bedding + nesting material; (3) deeper bedding + nesting material + shelter + increased vertical space; and (4) semi-naturalistic conditions, including weekly changes of enrichment items. We studied how these different forms of environmental enrichment affected measures of animal welfare, including home-cage behavior (time–budget and stereotypic behavior), anxiety (open field behavior, elevated plus-maze behavior), growth (food and water intake, body mass), stress physiology (glucocorticoid metabolites in fecal boluses and adrenal mass), brain function (recurrent perseveration in a two-choice guessing task) and emotional valence (judgment bias). Our results highlight the difficulty in making general recommendations across common strains of mice and for selecting enrichment strategies within specific strains. Overall, the greatest benefit was observed in animals housed with the greatest degree of enrichment. Thus, in the super-enriched housing condition, stereotypic behavior, behavioral measures of anxiety, growth and stress physiology varied in a manner consistent with improved animal welfare compared to the other housing conditions with less enrichment. Similar to other studies, we found no evidence, in the measures assessed here, that environmental enrichment increased variation in experimental results.

The percentage of children in the United States with obesity has more than tripled since the 1970s. Despite considerable work in this area, there has been limited success in the long-term treatment and prevention of childhood obesity. In order for intervention approaches to be successful, it will be crucial to study individual variation and the underlying mechanisms that impact human ingestive behavior. Research in my laboratory has focused on identifying behavioral phenotypes for childhood obesity which may be used to develop targeted intervention approaches that are tailored to a child's individual predisposition. This work has included studying select appetitive traits among weight-discordant siblings and unrelated children to elucidate potential differences in children's ability to regulate short-term energy intake and susceptibility to eating in response to food cues in the environment. I am greatly honored to be the recipient of the 2017 Alan N. Epstein Research Award from the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB). I want to acknowledge and express my sincere gratitude to my mentors and colleagues who have supported me and provided guidance throughout my research career and to my research team and students for their hard work on our studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The presence of phenotypic behavioral correlations and their connection to fitness consequences of organisms have received considerable debate within the literature. Yet, little work has been carried out to connect any behavioral correlates found within a set of laboratory studies to natural behavior observed under complex environmental conditions. To help fill this gap, individual crayfish, collected from the same local population, completed five different behavioral assays in a laboratory setting in a random order. These data were used to reveal any possible correlations for behavioral scores across all of the laboratory tests. Subsequently, these same individuals were placed into the field and video recorded for 24 hr. A separate set of field behaviors, related to the laboratory assays, were quantified from the field videos. The normalized laboratory and field behaviors were used in three stepwise statistical analyses. First, normalized data were loaded into a PCA to generate a priori hypotheses on potential behavioral correlates. These hypotheses were subsequently tested using general multiple linear regression. Finally, structural equation modeling was performed to elucidate any behavioral modules from the laboratory assays that correlated with behavioral patterns present from the fieldwork. Three laboratory‐based behavioral modules were connected to three separate field assays: exploration–avoidance, bold–shy, and aggressiveness. Yet, some behaviors exhibited in the laboratory assays were uncorrelated with any behaviors found in the field and vice versa. Results from this study provide evidence that although many different behavioral correlates may exist within laboratory settings, these same modules may not translate directly into predicting behavior under natural settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Epidemiological studies suggest that hyponutrition during the fetal period increases the risk of mental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism-spectrum disorder, which has been experimentally supported using animal models. However, previous experimental hyponutrition or protein-restricted (PR) diets affected stages other than the fetal stage, such as formation of the egg before insemination, milk composition during lactation, and maternal nursing behavior. Results: We conducted in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer in mice and allowed PR diet and folic acid-supplemented PR diet to affect only fetal environments. Comprehensive phenotyping of PR and control-diet progenies showed moderate differences in fear/anxiety-like, novelty-seeking, and prosocial behaviors, irrespective of folic-acid supplementation. Changes were also detected in gene expression and genomic methylation in the brain. Conclusions: These results suggest that epigenetic factors in the embryo/fetus influence behavioral and epigenetic phenotypes of progenies. Significant epigenetic alterations in the brains of the progenies induced by the maternal-protein restriction were observed in the present study. To our knowledge, this is first study to evaluate the effect of maternal hyponutrition on behavioral phenotypes using reproductive technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expanding knowledge about the cellular composition of subcortical brain regions demonstrates large heterogeneity and differences from the cortical architecture. Previously we described three subtypes of somatostatin-expressing (Sst) neurons in the mouse ventral tegmental area (VTA) and showed their local inhibitory action on the neighboring dopaminergic neurons (Nagaeva et al., 2020). Here, we report that Sst+ neurons especially from the anterolateral part of the mouse VTA also project far outside the VTA and innervate forebrain regions that are mainly involved in the regulation of emotional behavior, including the ventral pallidum, lateral hypothalamus, the medial part of the central amygdala, anterolateral division of the bed nucleus of stria terminalis, and paraventricular thalamic nucleus. Deletion of these VTA Sst neurons in mice affected several behaviors, such as home cage activity, sensitization of locomotor activity to morphine, fear conditioning responses, and reactions to the inescapable stress of forced swimming, often in a sex-dependent manner. Together, these data demonstrate that VTA Sst neurons have selective projection targets distinct from the main targets of VTA dopamine neurons. VTA Sst neurons are involved in the regulation of behaviors primarily associated with the stress response, making them a relevant addition to the efferent VTA pathways and stress-related neuronal network., Competing Interests: Authors declare no competing conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Nagaeva et al.)