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Cherepov AB, Tiunova AA, Anokhin KV. The power of innate: Behavioural attachment and neural activity in responses to natural and artificial objects in filial imprinting in chicks. Front Physiol 2022; 13:1006463. [PMID: 36479353 PMCID: PMC9720186 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1006463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Newly hatched domestic chicks are known to orient preferentially toward naturalistic stimuli, resembling a conspecific. Here, we examined to what extent this behavioral preference can be transcended by an artificial imprinting stimulus in both short-term and long-term tests. We also compared the expression maps of the plasticity-associated c-fos gene in the brains of chicks imprinted to naturalistic (rotating stuffed jungle fowl) and artificial (rotating illuminated red box) stimuli. During training, the approach activity of chicks to a naturalistic object was always higher than that to an artificial object. However, the induction of c-fos mRNA was significantly higher in chicks imprinted to a box than to a fowl, especially in the intermediate medial mesopallium, hyperpallium apicale, arcopallium, and hippocampus. Initially, in the short-term test (10 min after the end of training), chicks had a higher preference for a red box than for a stuffed fowl. However, in the long-term test (24 h after imprinting), the response to an artificial object decreased to the level of preference for a naturalistic object. Our results thus show that despite the artificial object causing a stronger c-fos novelty response and higher behavioral attachment in the short term, this preference was less stable and fades away, being overtaken by a more stable innate predisposition to the naturalistic social object.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. B. Cherepov
- Institute of General Pathology and Pathophysiology, Moscow, Russia
| | - A. A. Tiunova
- P. K. Anokhin Institute of Normal Physiology, Moscow, Russia
| | - K. V. Anokhin
- P. K. Anokhin Institute of Normal Physiology, Moscow, Russia
- Institute for Advanced Brain Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
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Alexandrov YI, Pletnikov MV. Neuronal metabolism in learning and memory: The anticipatory activity perspective. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 137:104664. [PMID: 35439520 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Revised: 03/30/2022] [Accepted: 04/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Current research on the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory is based on the "stimulus-response" paradigm, in which the neural circuits connecting environmental events with behavioral responses are strengthened. By contrast, cognitive and systems neuroscience emphasize the intrinsic activity of the brain that integrates information, establishes anticipatory actions, executes adaptive actions, and assesses the outcome via regulatory feedback mechanisms. We believe that the difference in the perspectives of systems and molecular studies is a major roadblock to further progress toward understanding the mechanisms of learning and memory. Here, we briefly overview the current studies in molecular mechanisms of learning and memory and propose that studying the predictive properties of neuronal metabolism will significantly advance our knowledge of how intrinsic, predictive activity of neurons shapes a new learning event. We further suggest that predictive metabolic changes in the brain may also take place in non-neuronal cells, including those of peripheral tissues. Finally, we present a path forward toward more in-depth studies of the role of cell metabolism in learning and memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuri I Alexandrov
- V. B. Shvyrkov Laboratory for the Neural Bases of the Mind, Institute of Psychology, the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; Department of Psychology, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, Russia.
| | - Mikhail V Pletnikov
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA; Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
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Versace E, Ragusa M, Pallante V, Wang S. Attraction for familiar conspecifics in young chicks (Gallus gallus): An interbreed study. Behav Processes 2021; 193:104498. [PMID: 34499985 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Revised: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
From the beginning of life, discriminating between familiar and unfamiliar individuals and staying in contact with conspecifics are important to establish social relationships. To better understand these early social behaviours, we studied the different responses to familiar/unfamiliar individuals in 4-day-old domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) in three genetically isolated breeds: Padovana, Polverara and Robusta maculata. Chicks discriminated between familiar and unfamiliar individuals, staying closer to familiar individuals. Social reinstatement and fear responses were measured as the average distance between subjects, the latency of the first step and exploration of the arena differed between breeds. More socially motivated chicks, that stayed in closer proximity, were less afraid of starting to move and explored the environment more extensively. Interbreed differences in social reinstatement indicate that social attraction shows genetic variability from the early stages of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabetta Versace
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, 327 Mile End Road, E1 4NS, London, UK; Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy.
| | - Morgana Ragusa
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy
| | - Virginia Pallante
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy; Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Shuge Wang
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, 327 Mile End Road, E1 4NS, London, UK
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Rosa-Salva O, Mayer U, Versace E, Hébert M, Lemaire BS, Vallortigara G. Sensitive periods for social development: Interactions between predisposed and learned mechanisms. Cognition 2021; 213:104552. [PMID: 33402251 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Revised: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 12/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
We analysed research that makes use of precocial species as animal models to describe the interaction of predisposed mechanisms and environmental factors in early learning, in particular for the development of social cognition. We also highlight the role of sensitive periods in this interaction, focusing on domestic chicks as one of the main animal models for this field. In the first section of the review, we focus on the emergence of early predispositions to attend to social partners. These attentional biases appear before any learning experience about social stimuli. However, non-specific experiences occurring during sensitive periods of the early post-natal life determine the emergence of these predisposed mechanisms for the detection of social partners. Social predispositions have an important role for the development learning-based social cognitive functions, showing the interdependence of predisposed and learned mechanisms in shaping social development. In the second part of the review we concentrate on the reciprocal interactions between filial imprinting and spontaneous (not learned) social predispositions. Reciprocal influences between these two sets of mechanisms ensure that, in the natural environment, filial imprinting will target appropriate social objects. Neural and physiological mechanisms regulating the sensitive periods for the emergence of social predispositions and for filial imprinting learning are also described.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orsola Rosa-Salva
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza Manifattura 1, 38068 Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Uwe Mayer
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza Manifattura 1, 38068 Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Versace
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza Manifattura 1, 38068 Rovereto, TN, Italy; Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, 327 Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom
| | - Marie Hébert
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza Manifattura 1, 38068 Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Bastien S Lemaire
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza Manifattura 1, 38068 Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Giorgio Vallortigara
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza Manifattura 1, 38068 Rovereto, TN, Italy.
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Rosa-Salva O, Mayer U, Vallortigara G. Unlearned visual preferences for the head region in domestic chicks. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0222079. [PMID: 31479480 PMCID: PMC6719852 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2019] [Accepted: 08/21/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Unlearned tendencies to approach animate creatures are of great adaptive value, especially for nidifugous social birds that need to react to the presence of potential social companions shortly after hatching. Domestic chicks’ preferences for taxidermized hens provided the first evidence of social predispositions. However, the nature of the stimuli eliciting this predisposition is not completely understood. Here we explore the unlearned preferences of visually naïve domestic chicks for taxidermized animals. Visually naive chicks were tested for their approach preferences between a target stimulus (an intact stuffed animal whose head region was clearly visible) and a control stimulus. After confirming the predisposition for the intact stuffed fowl hen (Exp. 1), we found an analogous preference for a taxidermized, young domestic chick over a severely scrambled version of the same stimulus, whose body structure was completely disrupted, extending to same-age individuals the results that had been obtained with taxidermized hens (Exp. 2). We also directly tested preferences for specimens whose head region is visible compared to ones whose head region was occluded. To clarify whether chicks are sensitive to species-specific information, we employed specimens of female mallard ducks and of a mammalian predator, the polecat. Chicks showed a preference for the duck stimulus whose wings have been covered over a similar stimulus whose head region has been covered, providing direct evidence that the visibility of the head region of taxidermized models drive chicks’ behaviour in this test, and that the attraction for the head region indeed extends to females of other bird species (Exp. 3). However, no similar preference was obtained with the polecat stimuli (Exp. 4). We thus confirmed the presence of unlearned visual preferences for the head region in newly-hatched chicks, though other factors can limit the species-generality of the phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orsola Rosa-Salva
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto (TN), Italy
| | - Uwe Mayer
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto (TN), Italy
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Loveland JL, Stewart MG, Vallortigara G. Effects of oxytocin‐family peptides and substance P on locomotor activity and filial preferences in visually naïve chicks. Eur J Neurosci 2019; 50:3674-3687. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2018] [Revised: 07/07/2019] [Accepted: 07/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jasmine L. Loveland
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC) University of Trento Rovereto Italy
- Behavioural Genetics and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Seewiesen Germany
| | - Michael G. Stewart
- Department of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences The Open University Milton Keynes UK
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Sgadò P, Rosa-Salva O, Versace E, Vallortigara G. Embryonic Exposure to Valproic Acid Impairs Social Predispositions of Newly-Hatched Chicks. Sci Rep 2018; 8:5919. [PMID: 29650996 PMCID: PMC5897402 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-24202-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2017] [Accepted: 03/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Biological predispositions to attend to visual cues, such as those associated with face-like stimuli or with biological motion, guide social behavior from the first moments of life and have been documented in human neonates, infant monkeys and domestic chicks. Impairments of social predispositions have been recently reported in neonates at high familial risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Using embryonic exposure to valproic acid (VPA), an anticonvulsant associated to increased risk of developing ASD, we modeled ASD behavioral deficits in domestic chicks. We then assessed their spontaneous social predispositions by comparing approach responses to a stimulus containing a face configuration, a stuffed hen, vs. a scrambled version of it. We found that this social predisposition was abolished in VPA-treated chicks, whereas experience-dependent mechanisms associated with filial imprinting were not affected. Our results suggest a specific effect of VPA on the development of biologically-predisposed social orienting mechanisms, opening new perspectives to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms involved in early ASD symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Sgadò
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza della Manifattura 1, Rovereto, Italy.
| | - Orsola Rosa-Salva
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza della Manifattura 1, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Versace
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza della Manifattura 1, Rovereto, Italy.,Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK
| | - Giorgio Vallortigara
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Piazza della Manifattura 1, Rovereto, Italy
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Di Giorgio E, Loveland JL, Mayer U, Rosa-Salva O, Versace E, Vallortigara G. Filial responses as predisposed and learned preferences: Early attachment in chicks and babies. Behav Brain Res 2017; 325:90-104. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.09.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2016] [Revised: 09/06/2016] [Accepted: 09/08/2016] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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Newborn chicks show inherited variability in early social predispositions for hen-like stimuli. Sci Rep 2017; 7:40296. [PMID: 28117411 PMCID: PMC5259780 DOI: 10.1038/srep40296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2016] [Accepted: 12/05/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Predispositions of newborn vertebrates to preferentially attend to living beings and learn about them are pervasive. Their disturbance (e.g. in neonates at risk for autism), may compromise the proper development of a social brain. The genetic bases of such predispositions are unknown. We use the well-known visual preferences of newly-hatched chicks (Gallus gallus) for the head/neck region of the hen to investigate the presence of segregating variation in the predispositions to approach a stuffed hen vs. a scrambled version of it. We compared the spontaneous preferences of three breeds maintained genetically isolated for at least eighteen years while identically raised. Visually-naïve chicks of all breeds (Padovana, Polverara and Robusta maculata) showed the same initial preference for the predisposed stimulus, suggesting that the direction of the initial preference might be genetically fixed. A few minutes later though, striking differences emerged between breeds, which could indicate different strategies of dealing with affiliative objects: while the Polverara breed maintained a constant preference across the entire test, the Padovana and Robusta breeds progressively explored the alternative stimulus more. We hence documented the presence of inherited genetic variability in the expression of early social predispositions in interaction with environmental stimuli.
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Versace E, Schill J, Nencini AM, Vallortigara G. Naïve Chicks Prefer Hollow Objects. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0166425. [PMID: 27851773 PMCID: PMC5112871 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2016] [Accepted: 10/30/2016] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Biological predispositions influence approach and avoid responses from the time of birth or hatching. Neonates of species that require parental care (e.g. human babies and chicks of the domestic fowl) are attracted by stimuli associated with animate social partners, such as face-like configurations, biological motion and self-propulsion. The property of being filled is used as a cue of animacy by 8-month-old human infants but it is not known whether this reflects the effect of previous experience. We used chicks of the domestic fowl (Gallus gallus) to investigate whether the property of being filled vs. hollow elicits spontaneous or learned preferences. To this aim we tested preferences of naïve and imprinted chicks for hollow and closed cylinders. Contrary to our expectations, we documented an unlearned attraction for hollow stimuli. The preference for hollow stimuli decreased when chicks were imprinted on filled stimuli but did not increase when chicks were imprinted on hollow stimuli, suggesting that hollowness is not crucial to determine affiliative responses for imprinting objects. When chicks were imprinted on occluded stimuli that could be either filled or hollow, the preference for hollow stimuli emerged again, showing that imprinting does not disrupt the spontaneous preference for hollow objects. Further experiments revealed that hollow objects were mainly attractive by means of depth cues such as darker innards, more than as places to hide or as objects with high contrast. Our findings point to predisposed preferences for hollow objects, and suggest that early predispositions might be driven by factors different from animacy cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabetta Versace
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Jana Schill
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
- Universität Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany
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Mayer U, Rosa-Salva O, Lorenzi E, Vallortigara G. Social predisposition dependent neuronal activity in the intermediate medial mesopallium of domestic chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus). Behav Brain Res 2016; 310:93-102. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.05.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2016] [Revised: 05/02/2016] [Accepted: 05/06/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Rosa Salva O, Mayer U, Vallortigara G. Roots of a social brain: Developmental models of emerging animacy-detection mechanisms. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 50:150-68. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2014] [Revised: 12/16/2014] [Accepted: 12/18/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Brazhe (Ulyanova) NA, Erokhova LA, Churin AA, Maksimov GV. The relation of different-scale membrane processes under nitric oxide influence. J Biol Phys 2005; 31:533-46. [PMID: 23345917 PMCID: PMC3456327 DOI: 10.1007/s10867-005-2043-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Rhythmic activity, synaptic transmission and propagation of excitation depend on the processes that occur at different cellular levels. Modulation of neuron activity results from the changes of plasma membrane and organelles properties. We aimed to study the relationship between changes of the ion channels activity, membrane microviscosity and amount of bound Ca(2+) under the influence of nitric oxide (NO). We also investigated the effect of NO on the refractive index of neurons. We have shown that NO activates voltage-dependent K(K(V))-channels and leads to the decrease in the amount of membrane-bound and stored Ca(2+). NO causes a decrease in the microviscosity of the membrane of cytosomes and altered refractive index of neurones. The latter can result from the modification of plasma membrane physico-chemical properties and structural changes in the cytoplasm (vesicles movement, reorganisation of cytoskeleton, etc.). It is suggested that long-term modifications of the physico-chemical properties of membranes and reorganisation in the cytoplasm affect neuron activity and signal transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadiya A. Brazhe (Ulyanova)
- Department of Biophysics, Biological Faculty, Moscow State University, Leninskie gory, 1/12, Moscow, Russia 119992
| | - Liudmila A. Erokhova
- Department of Biophysics, Biological Faculty, Moscow State University, Leninskie gory, 1/12, Moscow, Russia 119992
| | - Anatolii A. Churin
- Department of Biophysics, Biological Faculty, Moscow State University, Leninskie gory, 1/12, Moscow, Russia 119992
| | - Georgy V. Maksimov
- Department of Biophysics, Biological Faculty, Moscow State University, Leninskie gory, 1/12, Moscow, Russia 119992
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