Diseases related to tobacco use are prevalent throughout the world, resulting in more than 5 million deaths per year; in the US alone, annual tobacco-related mortality is ~400,000 and annual healthcare costs are estimated at $96 billion. Nicotine is the primary psychoactive component of tobacco, triggering behavioral responses such as reward and anxiety reduction. IdentifyingContinueContinue reading “Blocking nicotine responses in the brain”
Tag Archives: behavior & mood
Feel better faster with ketamine
Several small clinical trials have shown that low doses of ketamine, an anesthetic drug, can act rapidly as an antidepressant. The quickness of its action meant that ketamine, or compounds that share its mechanism of action, could be a much-needed alternative to current antidepressant therapies, many of which require several weeks to take effect. Fast-actingContinueContinue reading “Feel better faster with ketamine”
Quantifying abnormal behavior in captive chimps
Captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) may engage in various abnormal behaviors, including rocking, self-mutilation and urophagy or coprophagy. Although these and other abnormalities have been documented in laboratories and zoological parks, few studies have attempted to quantify such behavior. Researchers Lucy P. Birkett and Nicholas E. Newton-Fisher at the University of Kent (Canterbury, UK) recently reportedContinueContinue reading “Quantifying abnormal behavior in captive chimps”
Quick, sure steps help avoid a fall
It might be difficult to imagine what birds could teach us about falling. But as Andrew J. Clark (College of Charleston, SC) and Timothy E. Higham (Clemson University, SC) can attest, helmeted guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) are informative models in studying neuromuscular control, as they use similar strategies to ours for limb control on slipperyContinueContinue reading “Quick, sure steps help avoid a fall”
Inflammatory response brings mice down
New research led by scientists at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) suggests a link between systemic inflammatory responses and depressive behavior in mice. More work is needed to define the association more thoroughly, but the study results identify a new mechanism for depressive illness and suggest that new therapies targeting inflammatory response pathways may find clinicalContinueContinue reading “Inflammatory response brings mice down”
Knocking out compulsive behavior
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by obsessive thoughts, compulsive repetitive actions and, often, anxiety and depression. Its underlying causes and pathology remain largely unknown, although a genetic component has been suggested. Now, scientists have identified a gene whose absence causes OCD-like behavior in mice. The gene encodes Slitrk5, a neuron-specific transmembrane proteinContinueContinue reading “Knocking out compulsive behavior”
Is junk food addictive?
New work from Paul Johnson and Paul Kenny (Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL) has elucidated the neurobiology underlying compulsive eating. Their results suggest that rats with easy access to high-fat diets may become addicted to the ‘junk’ food. Lab Anim. (NY) 39, 126 (2010). view full text (login required)
Parrots get in the groove
Despite an extensive collection of videos online claiming to show animals dancing, the ability to perceive and synchronize with a musical beat has largely been considered a uniquely human trait. That is, until now: two groups of researchers recently showed that parrots can boogie down with the best of us. Lab Anim. (NY) 38, 180ContinueContinue reading “Parrots get in the groove”
Serotonin triggers swarming in locusts
Desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) are normally solitary insects, but in crowded conditions, they undergo physical and behavioral changes and become ‘gregarious’, clustering in swarms that can include billions of individuals. These swarms devastate crops over large areas of land, causing economic hardship and affecting the livelihood of as many as one in ten people worldwide.ContinueContinue reading “Serotonin triggers swarming in locusts”
How Drosophila dances away from danger
We have probably all witnessed an insect evading an imminent threat, such as a flyswatter or rolled-up newspaper. But how many of us have really thought about the details of entomological escape plans? A pair of researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena) has done so, applying high-speed video technology to find out exactlyContinueContinue reading “How Drosophila dances away from danger”
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