Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience最新文献

Human risk-taking is well known to be influenced by context-dependent factors. In a previous study, we demonstrated that non-human primates similarly exhibit contextual risk-preference: two species of great apes showed risk-prone or risk-neutral choices depending on the manner in which risk was presented. Here, we applied the same experimental paradigm to human participants across different age groups using a computerized online interface. Consistent with the findings in great apes, we observed shifts in risk preference contingent on the experimental context, with these effects particularly pronounced in children. In a subsequent experiment, we explored potential cognitive mechanisms underlying this preference shift, identifying a general propensity for exploration and framing effects as promising explanatory factors common to both humans and animals.

Introduction: Latent inhibition is diminished associative memory because of pre-exposure to the conditioned stimulus without any consequences. Latent inhibition likely plays a significant role in the ontogeny of anxiety disorders, contributing to why anxiety disorders are particularly prevalent in adolescence. Therefore, the present study examined latent inhibition of conditioned fear in adolescent and adult rats of each sex. Given that adolescence is associated with deficits in fear extinction, we hypothesized that latent inhibition will be impaired in adolescents compared to adults and expected females to show age-specific estrous cycle effects.

Methods: On day 1, male (Experiment 1) and female (Experiment 2) rats were placed in fear conditioning chambers. Half of the rats received pre-exposure to the tone cue while the other half received nothing. On day 2, all rats were placed back in the same chambers and exposed to three cue-footshock pairings. Latent inhibition was tested on day 3 with 20 presentations of the cue by itself in the same chamber.

Results: We unexpectedly observed enhanced latent inhibition in adolescents compared to adults in both male and female rats, indicated by lower levels of freezing due to pre-exposure to the cue. Estrous cycle did not affect latent inhibition at any age.

Discussion: These results suggest that benign experience to a cue reduces subsequent conditioning to the cue more potently in adolescence compared to adulthood, which suggests a potential resilience mechanism naturally occurring in adolescence.

Introduction: Rising numbers of binge eating disorder (BED) cases and excessive associated economic costs, together with the absence of efficient treatment strategies, highlight the importance of research in this area. To date, numerous studies have investigated the role of aberrant motivation in compulsive, maladaptive feeding behaviors. However, other aspects of maladaptive preference toward foods, possibly involving risk-based decision-making processes, are not yet fully elucidated.

Methods: In this research, two types of environmental stressors-food-related and non-food-related-are explored in their ability to model compulsive behavior toward palatable food in mice.

Results and discussion: Results from the behavioral experiments suggest that both types of stressors, when paired with the availability of highly palatable food, can produce aberrant motivation toward such food. These findings were subsequently supported by data obtained from cortisol concentration analysis in subjects.

Introduction: Music has become an established complementary element of modern medicine, demonstrating beneficial effects towards various diseases such as dementia, hypertension, or chronic pain. Given its low cost and non-invasive nature, music-based interventions have been studied in both healthy mice and disease models over recent decades to examine potential effects in rodents. However, the selection of music in these interventions is based on prior reports and human preferences, without critically evaluating its relevance or perception in mice. Novel experimental approaches are needed to evaluate which type of music is preferred by mice.

Methods: In this pilot study, we introduce a new experimental setup that can be used to analyze the music preferences regarding different genres and frequencies. Here, we present the first-ever evaluation of mouse music preferences by examining the behavioral responses of healthy C57BL/6J.

Results: When given a choice between different musical conditions, mice spent comparatively less time in a chamber playing Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K.448 by Mozart, a piece regularly used in music-intervention studies of rodents. Further testing revealed that this behavioral response is independent of tone pitch.

Discussion: These findings underscore the importance of species-specific tailoring of music selection towards therapeutic approaches. Our assay can be used to further broaden our understanding of murine music preferences and to analyze how mice respond to and perceive different auditory stimuli. Further studies are needed to systematically investigate murine music perception and preference across genres and exposure durations.

It is now well-accepted that differing frequencies of neuro-oscillations support the selection, quantising, and pacing of information around different circuits in the brain. Another related function of neuro-oscillations, for which the frequency of oscillation is again critical, is to allow for integration of neural activity across differing spatial scales. In this short review, we discuss the degree to which human scalp-recorded EEG occurring in the theta-range (4-8 Hz) can be used to infer activation of mnemonic circuits involving the hippocamps and diencephalon (Papez loops), as well as in the neocortical areas the activity is directly recorded from. We also discuss the potential role of theta-range frequency modulation in the selection of specific mnemonic circuits. In light of the foregoing, we suggest that the frequency at which theta is occurring within and between cognitive tasks should be reported more thoroughly than it generally is. Finally, we suggest that assessing disruptions in frequency modulation of theta-range oscillations is a potentially valuable biomarker for disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

Approximately 20% of adolescents report experiencing anhedonia, conferring high risk for the onset of adolescent depression. Early life adversity (ELA) is associated with anhedonia, and individual differences in reward motivation may inform this association. The current study examined whether reward-seeking behaviors moderated the prospective association between ELA and anhedonia 12-months later among adolescents. During a baseline visit, 74 participants, aged 11-17, completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) to measure reward-seeking behaviors via adjusted average balloon pumps. Indeed, participation in the BART has been shown to activate the fronto-striatal neural circuits known to subserve reward-seeking. ELA was assessed continuously via parent-report using a 9-item Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire, with scores reflecting cumulative exposures to adversity prior to enrollment; interaction effects were subsequently probed at low, average, and high values for interpretation. At baseline and 12-months later, participants completed the anhedonia subscale within the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale 2nd Edition. Adolescents with greater ELA reported more anhedonia 12-months later (b = 0.97, SE = 0.46, p = 0.04), suggesting that ELA confers risk for developing anhedonia. Reward-seeking behavior moderated this association, such that adolescents with more experiences of ELA and low (b = 2.35, SE = 0.61, p < 0.01) and average reward seeking-behavior (b = 0.95, SE = 0.43, p = 0.03), but not high reward-seeking behavior (b = -0.45, SE = 0.60, p = 0.45), were at the greatest risk for increasing severity of anhedonia across the subsequent 12-months. Reward-seeking behaviors may aid in distinguishing which youth with ELA are at risk for depression. Additionally, results from this study may help to inform more specific interventions by increasing reward-seeking behaviors to mitigate the risks of developing anhedonia.

Standardized immobilization of zebrafish larvae is crucial for consistent behavioral assays such as optokinetic response, feeding, and tail-movement analyses, but traditional agarose embedding methods remain labor-intensive and variable. We developed the Agarose Stamped Device (ASD), a low-cost platform that imprints larva-sized wells into agarose, enabling rapid and reproducible alignment of multiple larvae while preserving viability. Customizable designs permit immobilization while maintaining eye, mouth, or tail freedom-achieved far more easily than with traditional embedding and post-processing. We demonstrate that the ASD sufficiently stabilizes larvae for high-resolution eye tracking, feeding assays, and tail-movement analyses. By combining standardized positioning with behavioral flexibility, the ASD broadens the range of feasible zebrafish experiments and lowers barriers to high-throughput behavioral neuroscience.

Introduction: Sleep plays a crucial role in memory consolidation, not only stabilizing newly encoded information but also potentially supporting forgetting. Yet it remains unclear how sleep prioritizes what is retained or discarded when multiple salience cues, such as emotional valence and top-down instructional goals, compete for consolidation.

Methods: In two studies, we examined how emotional content and intentional memory instruction interact to shape memory performance across a 12 h interval that included either nocturnal sleep or wakefulness. Participants completed a directed forgetting paradigm with neutral and negatively valenced words, followed by immediate recognition and delayed free recall.

Results: In both Study 1 (online) and Study 2 (in-lab), behavioral results showed that instruction to remember significantly enhanced recognition and recall, whereas emotion alone did not produce consistent benefits; however, sleep condition did not impact memory performance. In Study 2 (in-lab), which included overnight EEG monitoring, physiological markers of sleep revealed meaningful correlates of memory performance. Specifically, sleep spindle activity predicted recall for negative remember-cued words, while Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) and delta power were negatively correlated with total recall, suggesting a trade-off between deep sleep and memory accessibility. REM theta power was associated with increased false recall of emotionally negative foils, consistent with emotional memory generalization.

Discussion: Importantly, these findings extend prior nap-based research by demonstrating that full-night sleep physiology reflects selective consolidation mechanisms even in the absence of overt behavioral effects. Overall, results underscore the primacy of top-down instruction over emotional salience in shaping memory, and highlight the utility of sleep physiology for understanding selective memory consolidation.

Nitrogen detoxification pathways in the central nervous system supply a range of neurotransmitters, ranging from long-appreciated examples like nitric oxide and agmatine, to emergent neurotransmitters including spermidine, spermine, and polyamine-derived GABA. This review summarizes specialized nitrogen detoxification pathways in the brain, and evidence supporting several of these pathways' metabolites as co-transmitters in neurons and glia. Known functional roles of these nitrergic co-transmitters in learning, sleep, addiction, and other neurological disorders will be discussed to elucidate the adaptive value of nitrergic co-transmission, with a particular focus on nitrergic modulation of coincidence detection at NMDA receptors. Finally, this review sums up with a discussion of how nitrogen homeostasis in the brain serves as a coordinating locus for the control of these nitrergic neurotransmitters, and approaches for identifying bona fide co-transmitter effects of these metabolites in future work.