Lecture 15 Flashcards
What are the components of an emotional response?
behavioural component
autonomic component
hormone component
What are the three major regions of the amyglada?
lateral nucleus: Receives information from the
neocortex, thalamus, and hippocampal formation.
Basal Nucleus: Receives information from the
lateral nucleus, ventral striatum, and thalamus.
Central Nucleus: Receives information from the
lateral and basal nuclei and projects to the
hypothalamus, midbrain, pons, and medulla.
Activation of the central nucleus leads to
behavioural, autonomic, and hormonal responses.
What occurs when the amyglada is activated?
- Sympathetic Nervous System Activation: Increased heart rate;
Increased blood pressure; Paleness - Parasympathetic Nervous System Activation: Urination;
Defecation; - Increased respiration
- Behavioural arousal (increased alertness, readiness to act,
attentive) - Increased vigilance
- Cortical activation
- Startle response (exaggerated reaction to unexpected stimulus
(loud noise/sudden movement) - Behavioural arrest (freezing)
- Facial expression of fear
- ACTH and glucocorticoid secretion
- Cortical activation (crucial for attention, memory, emotional
responses)
What is the tonic immobility test?
The test uses a V-shaped crate or a table (e.g., for birds).
The animal is turned on its back, and a lightweight
(such as a hand or bag) is placed on its chest.
*Outcomes:
- Number of inductions
- Latency to enter tonic immobility (TI)
- Duration of TI
- attempt to right itself
What is a novel object test?
a cognitive test that assesses an animal’s memory and ability to recognize new objects in a familiar environment
- performed after open field test
- creates motivational conflict in the animal, making it both fearful/curious about the object
What are the outcomes of the novel object test?
Outcomes: latency to the first contact; number of object contacts; handling intensity (e.g. tasting, biting, eating, etc); fear-related behaviour in the arena
What is a startle test?
exposure to sudden and intense sound/visual stimulus
When is a startle response enhanced?
when a conditioned fear stimulus is presented before the actual stimulus
What is a conditioned fear test?
exposure to a signal that was previously associated with nociceptive pain or disturbing event
What is a forced approach test?
the animal is approached by a human, more likely to elicit an active response
What is a voluntary approach test?
the animal is free to approach the experimenter, more likely to elicit passive response
What is the resident intruder model?
to determine the violent nature, different types of intruders or novel environment is used, e.g. resident male rats will attack unfamiliar males that intrude in its home cage
What is aggressive behaviour?
- Aggressive behaviour: threatening gestures and/or attacks
Species-specific movements such as posturing, biting, hissing, etc. - Threatened animals can show:
A. defensive behaviours
B. submissive behaviours
What do threatened behaviours help reinforce?
social hierarchies, warning intruders away from animal territory, not involving fighting, avoid harm, increased survival
What is the difference between attacking member of same species vs attacking a member of different species?
Attacking a member of the same species: activity of sympathetic NS is
high
Attacking a member of a different species = PREDATION
The activity of the sympathetic NS is low; predator is not angry with
prey
How is tonic immobility affected by various traits?
genetics
age/sex - consistent and not influenced
What are some general behavioural test considerations?
- Manual testing and handling: prior handling, the experience of
the handler, etc. - Testing environment: isolation of animal; separate room, arena,
etc., lighting, sound, odour etc.; time of the day, etc. - Protocol variability: equipment used; definition of behavioural
outcomes, habituation, etc.; multiple tests in a row; etc. - Animal: strain (genetic); sex, age, physiological states, disease/health, home environment, prior experience of the
animal, etc.
