Method for studying behavioural activity patterns during long-term recordings using a force-plate actometer

2006 ◽  
Vol 158 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan José Chiesa ◽  
John Fontenele Araujo ◽  
Antoni Díez-Noguera
Keyword(s):  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Force Plate ◽  
Behavioural Activity

scholarly journals Monitoring post-release behavioural activity of captive-bred urial (Ovis vignei punjabiensis) at Togh Managara Safari Park Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

2022 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. Khattak ◽  
L. Zhensheng ◽  
T. Liwei ◽  
P. Pairah ◽  
Z. Zhirong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Captive Breeding ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Threat Detection ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Behavioural Activity ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Wild Sheep ◽  
Males And Females

Abstract The Punjab urial (Ovis vignei punjabiensis) is a globally threatened wild sheep species. In Pakistan the species is legally protected and bred in captivity to release into natural habitats to reinforce wild populations. Vigilance and feeding are critical to survival, though the degree to which captive-bred animals exhibit these behaviours post-release has rarely been investigated. We monitored the daily behaviours of five adult urial after release and classifying behaviours from 0600 hrs to 1800 hrs, replicating each one-hour period twice and recording four observations of each animal per hour. At the herd level, vigilance and feeding behaviours were exhibited equally. Males and females invested equal time in feeding, males were more vigilant (p = 0.001) and more aggressive (p = 0.010), and females were more restful (p = 0.019) or engaged in grooming (p = 0.044) or locomotion (p = 0.002). Females spent more time feeding than being vigilant (p = 0.002). Males maintained high levels of vigilance throughout the day. Patterns of resting 1300 hrs to 1500 hrs and feeding in early morning and late afternoon were common for both sexes. Behaviours classified as ‘other’ were exhibited equally between sexes. Our results reveal positive indications of captive-bred urial balancing threat detection and energy acquisition post-release and exhibiting natural behaviours and activity patterns. We encourage assessment of survivorship to evaluate long-term effectiveness of captive breeding and release as a candidate restoration programme.

Force Plate Analysis of Dogs with Bilateral Hip Dysplasia Treated with a Unilateral Triple Pelvic Osteotomy: A Long-term Review of Cases

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (02) ◽  
pp. 85-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne R. Cockshutt ◽  
H. Dobson ◽  
C. W. Miller ◽  
D. L. Holmberg ◽  
Connie L. Taves ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gait Analysis ◽  
Hip Dysplasia ◽  
Weight Bearing ◽  
Force Plate ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Pelvic Osteotomy ◽  
Vertical Force ◽  
Long Term Outcome ◽  
Case Series Study

SummaryA retrospective case series study was done to determine the long-term outcome of operations upon dogs treated for canine hip dysplasia by means of a triple pelvic osteotomy (TPO). Twentyfour dogs with bilateral hip dysplasia, that received a unilateral TPO between January 1988 and June 1995, were re-examined at the Ontario Veterinary College. The assessment included physical, orthopedic and lameness examinations, standard blood work, pelvic radiographs and force plate gait analysis. They were compared to bilaterally dysplastic dogs that had not been treated, and also to normal dogs. Force plate data analysis demonstrated a significant increase in peak vertical force (PVF) and mean vertical force over stance (MVF) in the limb that underwent surgical correction by means of a TPO, when compared to the unoperated hip. It was determined that performing a unilateral TPO on a young dysplastic dog resulted in greater forces and weight bearing being projected through the TPO corrected limb when compared to the unoperated limb.Dogs with bilateral hip dysplasia treated with a unilateral triple pelvic osteotomy (TPO) were assessed by force plate gait analysis, radiographs and orthopedic examination. There was a significant increase in hip Norberg angles over time, although degenerative changes did progress. Limbs that had been operated upon had significantly greater peak and mean ground reaction forces than limbs that had not received an operation.

scholarly journals Different ways to play it cool: Transcriptomic analysis sheds light on different activity patterns of three amphipod species under long‐term cold exposure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Polina Lipaeva ◽  
Kseniya Vereshchagina ◽  
Polina Drozdova ◽  
Lena Jakob ◽  
Elizaveta Kondrateva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cold Exposure ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Transcriptomic Analysis ◽  
Amphipod Species

Novel Scenes Improve Recollection and Recall of Words

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 1250-1265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela B. Fenker ◽  
Julietta U. Frey ◽  
Hartmut Schuetze ◽  
Dorothee Heipertz ◽  
Hans-Jochen Heinze ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Specific Activity ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Contextual Memory ◽  
Memory Enhancement ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Outdoor Scenes ◽  
Indoor And Outdoor ◽  
Hippocampus Dependent Memory

Exploring a novel environment can facilitate subsequent hippocampal long-term potentiation in animals. We report a related behavioral enhancement in humans. In two separate experiments, recollection and free recall, both measures of hippocampus-dependent memory formation, were enhanced for words studied after a 5-min exposure to unrelated novel as opposed to familiar images depicting indoor and outdoor scenes. With functional magnetic resonance imaging, the enhancement was predicted by specific activity patterns observed during novelty exposure in parahippocampal and dorsal prefrontal cortices, regions which are known to be linked to attentional orienting to novel stimuli and perceptual processing of scenes. Novelty was also associated with activation of the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area of the midbrain and the hippocampus, but these activations did not correlate with contextual memory enhancement. These findings indicate remarkable parallels between contextual memory enhancement in humans and existing evidence regarding contextually enhanced hippocampal plasticity in animals. They provide specific behavioral clues to enhancing hippocampus-dependent memory in humans.

scholarly journals Long-lasting impact of starvation experience on fly activity and place preference

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepthi Mahishi ◽  
Tilman Triphan ◽  
Ricarda Hesse ◽  
Wolf Huetteroth
Keyword(s):  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Petri Dish ◽  
Sensory Stimulation ◽  
Place Preference ◽  
Substrate Layer ◽  
Hunger Motivation ◽  
Internal States ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Integration Strategies

AbstractAnimal behaviours are demonstrably governed by sensory stimulation, previous experience and internal states like hunger. With increasing hunger, priorities shift towards foraging and feeding. During foraging, flies are known to employ efficient path integration strategies. However, general long-term activity patterns for both hungry and satiated flies in conditions of foraging remain to be better understood. Similarly, little is known about how chronic contact chemosensory stimulation affects locomotion. To address these questions, we have developed a novel, simplistic fly activity tracking setup – the Panopticon. Using a 3D-printed Petri dish inset, our assay allows recording of walking behaviour, of several flies in parallel, with all arena surfaces covered by a uniform substrate layer. We tested two constellations of providing food: i) in single patches, and ii) omnipresent within the substrate layer. Fly tracking is done with FIJI, further assessment, analysis and presentation is done with a custom-built MATLAB analysis framework. We find that starvation history leads to a long-lasting reduction in locomotion, as well as a delayed place preference for food patches not driven by immediate hunger motivation.

Nonparametric parameters of 24-hour rest-activity rhythms and long-term cognitive decline and incident cognitive impairment in older men

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Xiao ◽  
Joshua N Sampson ◽  
Andrea Z LaCroix ◽  
Aladdin H Shadyab ◽  
Jamie M Zeitzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mini Mental State Examination ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Medication Use ◽  
Older Men ◽  
Activity Rhythms ◽  
Early Biomarkers ◽  
State Examination ◽  
Rest Activity

Abstract Altered 24-hour rest-activity rhythms may be associated with cognitive impairment in older adults, but evidence from prospective studies is limited. Non-parametric methods were used to assess actigraphy-based activity patterns in 2,496 older men. Incident cognitive impairment was assessed four times over 12 years using the Modified Mini Mental State Examination (3MS) and Trails B tests, self-reported medication use, and clinical diagnosis. The highest quartile (vs. the lowest) of intradaily variability and the lowest quartiles (vs. the highest) of interdaily stability and relative amplitude were associated with incident cognitive impairment ((Hazard ratio (95% confidence interval): 1.82 (1.31, 2.53)), 1.36 (0.99, 1.86), and 1.85 (1.33, 2.56), respectively). A larger increase in intradaily variability over 7.5 years was associated with a greater subsequent decline in 3MS scores but not in Trails B performance. In conclusion, less stable and more variable rest-activity rhythms may represent early biomarkers of cognitive impairment in older men.

scholarly journals Seasonal plasticity in the adult somatosensory cortex

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (50) ◽  
pp. 32136-32144
Author(s):  
Saikat Ray ◽  
Miao Li ◽  
Stefan Paul Koch ◽  
Susanne Mueller ◽  
Philipp Boehm-Sturm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Somatosensory Cortex ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Seasonal Plasticity ◽  
Layer 4 ◽  
Life On Earth

Seasonal cycles govern life on earth, from setting the time for the mating season to influencing migrations and governing physiological conditions like hibernation. The effect of such changing conditions on behavior is well-appreciated, but their impact on the brain remains virtually unknown. We investigate long-term seasonal changes in the mammalian brain, known as Dehnel’s effect, where animals exhibit plasticity in body and brain sizes to counter metabolic demands in winter. We find large seasonal variation in cellular architecture and neuronal activity in the smallest terrestrial mammal, the Etruscan shrew, Suncus etruscus. Their brain, and specifically their neocortex, shrinks in winter. Shrews are tactile hunters, and information from whiskers first reaches the somatosensory cortex layer 4, which exhibits a reduced width (−28%) in winter. Layer 4 width (+29%) and neuron number (+42%) increase the following summer. Activity patterns in the somatosensory cortex show a prominent reduction of touch-suppressed neurons in layer 4 (−55%), the most metabolically active layer. Loss of inhibitory gating occurs with a reduction in parvalbumin-positive interneurons, one of the most active neuronal subtypes and the main regulators of inhibition in layer 4. Thus, a reduction in neurons in layer 4 and particularly parvalbumin-positive interneurons may incur direct metabolic benefits. However, changes in cortical balance can also affect the threshold for detecting sensory stimuli and impact prey choice, as observed in wild shrews. Thus, seasonal neural adaptation can offer synergistic metabolic and behavioral benefits to the organism and offer insights on how neural systems show adaptive plasticity in response to ecological demands.

scholarly journals Carabus Population Response to Drought in Lowland Oak Hornbeam Forest

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3284
Author(s):  
Bernard Šiška ◽  
Mariana Eliašová ◽  
Ján Kollár
Keyword(s):  
Water Balance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Seasonal Activity ◽  
Population Abundance ◽  
Population Changes ◽  
Pitfall Trapping ◽  
Short And Long Term

Forest management practices and droughts affect the assemblages of carabid species, and these are the most important factors in terms of influencing short- and long-term population changes. During 2017 and 2018, the occurrences and seasonal dynamics of five carabid species (Carabus coriaceus, C. ulrichii, C. violaceus, C. nemoralis and C. scheidleri) in four oak hornbeam forest stands were evaluated using the method of pitfall trapping. The climate water balance values were cumulatively calculated here as cumulative water balance in monthly steps. The cumulative water balance was used to identify the onset and duration of drought. The number of Carabus species individuals was more than three times higher in 2018 than in 2017. Spring activity was influenced by temperature. The extremely warm April in 2018 accelerated spring population dynamics; however, low night temperatures in April in 2017 slowed the spring activity of nocturnal species. Drought negatively influenced population abundance, and the effect of a drought is likely to be expressed with a two-year delay. In our investigation, a drought in 2015 started in May and lasted eight months; however, the drought was not recorded in 2016, and 2016 was evaluated as a humid year. The meteorological conditions in the year influenced seasonal activity patterns and the timings of peaks of abundance for both spring breeding and autumn breeding Carabus species.

Tibiotarsal arthroscopy

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (02) ◽  
pp. 159-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Beale ◽  
J. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Septic Arthritis ◽  
Weight Bearing ◽  
Force Plate ◽  
Joint Disease ◽  
Ligament Injury ◽  
Joint Stability ◽  
Collateral Ligament ◽  
Long Term Outcome

SummaryThe objective of this retrospective article was to describe the use of, and to determine long-term outcome of, tibiotarsal arthroscopy in dogs. The medical records of 20 client-owned dogs with tibiotarsal joint disease with arthroscopic treatment were reviewed. Long-term follow-up evaluation of lameness, force plate gait analysis, and radiographs to assess progression of degenerative joint disease (DJD) were performed. Arthroscopy was utilized in the diagnosis of talar osteochondritis dissecans (OCD), collateral ligament injury, septic arthritis, immune mediated arthritis, and a distal talar fragment. Sixteen joints with OCD treated resulted in 10/14 dogs with lameness after exercise only, progression of DJD in most cases, and chronic lameness when comparing operated to unoperated limbs with force plate evaluation at a mean follow-up of 35 months. Following treatment, three dogs with collateral ligament injury had reduced weight bearing on the operated limb, radiographic progression of DJD, and minimal lameness at a mean follow-up of 27 months. Tibiotarsal arthroscopy can be successfully used to help diagnose, and often to treat: OCD, collateral ligament injury, fractures, septic and non-septic arthritis in the dog. The minimally invasive nature of arthroscopy preserved joint stability while allowing complete examination of the articular cartilage. In most cases long term tibiotarsal DJD advancement was the rule.

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