Greater learning transfer effect for avoidance of loss than for achievement of gain in Finnish and Russian schoolchildren

Classification of behavior into principal categories of approach and avoidance is grounded in evolutionary considerations and multiple results of behavioral, self-report, and brain-activity analyses. Contrasted via measures of cognitive processes, avoidance is accompanied by greater cognitive engagement than approach. Considering outcome as a key constituent of behavioral underpinnings, we interpret approach/avoidance distinction in terms of structure of experience: avoidance domain provides more detailed interaction with the environment, than approach domain. Learning outwardly similar behaviors aimed at gain or loss outcomes manifests formation of different structures that underlie further learning. Therefore, we predicted difference of learning transfer between gain and loss contexts that was revealed here by introducing two tasks for different groups of schoolchildren in Finland and Russia. The cultural specificity of gain/loss differences was also evident with employed measures, including error rate and post-error slowing. The results support that avoidance-motivated behavior is organized as a more complex organism-environment interaction, than the approach-motivated behavior.

Fos expression and task-related neuronal activity in rat cerebral cortex after instrumental learning

Learning has been shown to induce changes in neuronal gene expression and to produce development of task-specific neuronal activity. The connection between these two features of neuronal plasticity remains of a great interest. To address this issue we compared distribution of c-Fos expressing and task-related neurons in the rat cerebral cortex following instrumental learning of appetitive lever-press task. The number of Fos-positive neurons was determined immunohistochemically in the retrosplenial and the motor cortex of naive ("control" group), newly trained ("acquisition" group) and overtrained ("performance" group) animals. A significant activation of c-Fos expression was observed in the neurons of the retrosplenial but not motor cortex in the "acquisition" group rats, as compared with the "control" and "performance" groups. In accordance with this c-Fos expression difference, the retrosplenial cortex of the trained animals contained significantly more neurons with lever-press-related activity than the motor cortex. Therefore, the two examined cortical areas showed a parallel between experience-dependent induction of c-Fos and development of task-related neuronal activity. These data support a notion that learning-induced activation of c-Fos is associated with long-term neurophysiological changes produced by training.

A subset of cingulate cortical neurones is specifically activated during alcohol-acquisition behaviour

A new need is associated with the formation of behaviour directed at its satisfaction. In chronically ethanol-treated rabbits a bodily need develops to acquire and consume alcohol. The present study examined the firing properties of single neurones in the cingulate (limbic) cortex of chronically ethanol-treated rabbits. The main questions of this study were: are there neurones in the cingulate cortex which specifically increase their firing during alcohol-acquisition behaviour (AAB)? What is the relationship between the neuronal mechanisms of pre-existing and newly formed behaviour? Adult rabbits were taught to acquire food by pressing pedals. After 9 months of ethanol treatment, the same rabbits were taught to acquire ethanol (15% solution in a 0.5-mL capsule) by means of the same instrumental

METHOD

Activity of the 118 neurones was recorded from the cingulate cortex. The comparison of activity of each neurone in AAB and food-acquisition behaviour (FAB) enabled us to reveal that their subservings overleap substantially but not completely: 41% of 'common neurones' involved in the subserving of both FAB and AAB as well as 5% of 'alcohol-neurones' (alcohol-acquisition specific cells) were found. We think of the latter neurones as units that were specialized during the forming of alcohol-seeking behaviour. Thus, present experiments help us not only to answer the above questions but also to provide an additional insight into the nature of similarity between neuronal mechanisms of long-term memory and long-lived modifications resulting from repeated drug exposure.

Uncertainty of measurement. Twenty years afterwards

The application of the concept "uncertainty" causes considerable difficulties. In this paper an analysis of the intrinsic contradictions of the concept itself and its relationship with the statements of metrology is given with the aim of establishing possible reasons for these difficulties. As a result of this analysis several examples are presented to demonstrate the conflicts of the concept and its several statements in the general fundamental notions of metrology.

Neuronal subserving of behavior before and after chronic ethanol treatment

We have previously shown that an acute ethanol dose (1 g/kg), sufficient to impair the performance of a healthy rabbit, also reversibly depresses the activity of those limbic-cortex neurons that are specifically activated during recently learned behavioral acts. Our new morphological and neurophysiological data suggest a death of such neurons after 9-month chronic ethanol treatment. The effect of acute ethanol administration on neurons and performance speed in alcoholic rabbits was opposite to that found in healthy animals. Our results help to understand why neurocognition of alcoholics changes and why acute low-level alcohol ingestion influences them differently than healthy individuals.

Changes of auditory-evoked potentials in response to behaviorally meaningful tones induced by acute ethanol intake in altricial nestlings at the stage of formation of natural behavior

Acute ethanol's influence on field L auditory-evoked potentials (AEP) was studied in 4-7-days-old altricial nestlings of the pied flycatcher. Nestlings were presented with behaviorally meaningful tone pips (2.0 and 5.0 kHz) and control tone pips (3.0 kHz). Ethanol ingestion was found to reduce the N1 amplitude and maturity index (MI) of the AEP in response to "behavioral" but not to control frequencies. This effect was first observed on day 5, when the nestlings' behavior became more complex (their eyes opened and defence behavior appeared), and when previously formed feeding behavior was undergoing modifications. The MI increase during the early postembryonic ontogeny was probably due to the selective involvement of neurons with newly formed behavioral specializations into the subserving of new behavioral patterns, while the decrease of the MI under alcohol was due to the depression of activity in these neurons.

Acute effects of alcohol on unit activity in the motor cortex of freely moving rabbits: comparison with the limbic cortex

Unit activity was recorded from the motor cortex of eight freely moving rabbits in order to examine the acute effect of ethanol (1 g kg-1) on organization of unit activity and to compare it with our earlier results from the limbic cortex. The rabbits performed a food-acquisition task in the experimental cage. Unit activity was recorded during behaviour in the control experiment followed by the alcohol experiment on the next day. After ethanol, behavioural mistakes and the duration of the behavioural cycle significantly increased. In the control experiments activation of 58% of the units had no constant relation to the phases of the behavioural cycle (non-involved units), whereas 42% of the units were constantly activated during certain phases (involved units). Two per cent of the latter units were activated in relation to newly learned behavioural acts (e.g. pedal pressing; L units), 28% in relation to food seizure and/or grinding (S units) and 12% in relation to certain movements during different behavioural acts (M units). Ethanol had no effect on the number of active units and the same relation between the number of non-involved and involved units or between the number of different types of involved units was found. However, the number of involved units decreased in the upper and increased in the lower cortical layers. Also the number of units with low background frequency increased, although the frequency within activations did not change. In our earlier study the number of active units in the limbic cortex decreased after ethanol by one third and the relation between the number of L and M units was reversed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)