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Full-Text Articles in Zoology
Neurotranscriptomic Changes Associated With Chick-Directed Parental Care In Adult Non-Reproductive Japanese Quail, Patricia C. Lopes, Robert De Brujin
Neurotranscriptomic Changes Associated With Chick-Directed Parental Care In Adult Non-Reproductive Japanese Quail, Patricia C. Lopes, Robert De Brujin
Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research
For many species, parental care critically affects offspring survival. But what drives animals to display parental behaviours towards young? In mammals, pregnancy-induced physiological transformations seem key in preparing the neural circuits that lead towards attraction (and reduced-aggression) to young. Beyond mammalian maternal behaviour, knowledge of the neural mechanisms that underlie young-directed parental care is severely lacking. We took advantage of a domesticated bird species, the Japanese quail, for which parental behaviour towards chicks can be induced in virgin non-reproductive adults through a sensitization procedure, a process that is not effective in all animals. We used the variation in parental responses …
Associative Memory In Three Aplysiids: Correlation With Heterosynaptic Modulation, Brian A. Hoover, Hoang Nguyen, Laura Thompson, William G. Wright
Associative Memory In Three Aplysiids: Correlation With Heterosynaptic Modulation, Brian A. Hoover, Hoang Nguyen, Laura Thompson, William G. Wright
Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research
Much recent research on mechanisms of learning and memory focuses on the role of heterosynaptic neuromodulatory signaling. Such neuromodulation appears to stabilize Hebbian synaptic changes underlying associative learning, thereby extending memory. Previous comparisons of three related sea-hares ( Mollusca, Opisthobranchia) uncovered interspecific variation in neuromodulatory signaling: strong in Aplysia californica, immeasureable in Dolabrifera dolabrifera, and intermediate in Phyllaplysia taylori. The present study addressed whether this interspecific variation in neuromodulation is correlated with memory of associative ( classical conditioning) learning. We differentially conditioned the tail-mantle withdrawal reflex of each of the three species: Mild touch to one side of the tail …