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Full-Text Articles in Experimental Analysis of Behavior

The Effects Of Overshadowing In Drosophila Melanogaster With Experimentally Evolved Preference, Jill Lee Jul 2022

The Effects Of Overshadowing In Drosophila Melanogaster With Experimentally Evolved Preference, Jill Lee

Theses

As seen in decades of psychology research, preferences play a major role in driving the decision-making process in both humans and animals. Researchers have advocated for using the technique of experimental evolution as a way to address some of the foundational questions on preferences. These preferences can also affect what is later learned and how well new experiences are learned. Salience is usually mentioned as an important component of what could influence preferences. Animals such as Drosophila melanogaster, that lay eggs without any additional maternal or paternal care, it is important to be selective when deciding where to lay …


Simulated Owl Predation During Foraging Differentially Alters Choice And Fear Behavior Between Sex In Rats, Meghan M. Olsen Jul 2022

Simulated Owl Predation During Foraging Differentially Alters Choice And Fear Behavior Between Sex In Rats, Meghan M. Olsen

Research Psychology Theses

Existing research on the predator cue circuit has indicated there are observed differences between sexes of animals either directly or indirectly exposed to a predator stimulus. Exposure increases predator directed attention, and overrides other motivational systems (hunger, pain, reproductive behavior). Little research has explored whether exposure to predation is associated with differential responses to non-predator related decision-making across a variety of tasks. Therefore, understanding the prioritization of motivational states when a predator stressor is present can aid in understanding sex differences in these processes in both adaptative and maladaptive conditions. To determine how repeated exposure to a predator stressor differentially …


Evaluation Of Hippocampal Allostatic Load-Associated Factors In Animal Models Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Relevance To Human Ptsd, Dennis Parker Kelley Mar 2022

Evaluation Of Hippocampal Allostatic Load-Associated Factors In Animal Models Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Relevance To Human Ptsd, Dennis Parker Kelley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with elevated allostatic load, nearly double the risk for metabolic syndrome, reduced hippocampal volume, and contextual memory processing deficits. Emerging evidence suggests that these stress effects may predispose individuals to the development of PTSD, and there is a known relationship between chronic stress and metabolic dysfunction. In this work, we utilized two rat models of PTSD to explore these connections. We used an acute predator odor stressor to investigate the relationship between PTSD-like behaviors and mitochondrial dysfunction in the hippocampus of rats, and we observed that conditioned place avoidance was associated with reduced mitochondrial …


The Effects Of Venlafaxine And Voluntary Exercise On Chronic Unpredictable Stress Induced Anxiety, Marly Mcgowan Jan 2022

The Effects Of Venlafaxine And Voluntary Exercise On Chronic Unpredictable Stress Induced Anxiety, Marly Mcgowan

Senior Independent Study Theses

Anxiety disorders can impair cognition and emotional control, particularly in the face of novel situations, which is concerning due to the high prevalence of such diagnoses. Exposure to unpredictable chronic stress can provide a way to induce anxiety-like behaviors in rodents by disrupting the stress response systems, including the HPA axis and autonomic nervous system. Pharmacological treatments, including SNRIs like venlafaxine, and voluntary exercise are both anxiolytic treatments that can alleviate the impacts of chronic stress. Using unpredictable chronic stress to mimic the human condition, and exposure to venlafaxine and exercise to mitigate the stress, the open field and elevated …


A Monte Carlo Simulation Of Rat Choice Behavior With Interdependent Outcomes, Michelle A. Frankot Jan 2022

A Monte Carlo Simulation Of Rat Choice Behavior With Interdependent Outcomes, Michelle A. Frankot

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Preclinical behavioral neuroscience often uses choice paradigms to capture psychiatric symptoms. In particular, the subfield of operant research produces nested datasets with many discrete choices in a session. The standard analytic practice is to aggregate choice into a continuous variable and analyze using ANOVA or linear regression. However, choice data often have multiple interdependent outcomes of interest, violating an assumption of general linear models. The aim of the current study was to quantify the accuracy of linear mixed-effects regression (LMER) for analyzing data from a 4-choice operant task called the Rodent Gambling Task (RGT), which measures decision-making in the context …