Pregnant mothers join search for causes of autism
...s poor verbal and communication skills, repetitive behaviors and impaired social abilities. It is estimated that one in every 150 children in the United States currently has autism or a closely related disorder. The UC Davis Center for Childrens Environmental Health is a multi-disciplinary research center dedi...Genetic factors strongly shape how peers are chosen
...sk for future substance use or other externalizing behaviors such as conduct and antisocial personality disorde...ial groups. The road from genes to externalizing behaviors like drug use and antisocial behaviors is not entirely direct or biological, Kendler said. An import...Disabling a sensory organ prompts female mice to act like male mice
...male brain. According to the new study, the sexual behaviors of female mice, at least, are ruled by a pheromone...searched for the root causes of sexually dimorphic behaviors -- those that differ between the sexes. The new findings promise to redirect that quest. "From a d...A sensory organ, not the brain, differentiates male and female behavior in some mammals
... vomeronasal organ, lead female mice to adopt male behaviors such as mounting and pelvic thrusting while abandoning female behaviors such as nesting and nursing. "These results are flabbergasting," says Catherine Dulac, Higgins Pro...Altering a protein makes mice less fearful
...trated in brain regions that are critical for fear behaviors and responses, including the amygdala and an area called the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), which is thought to be particularly important for innate fear behaviors. The study also shows that mice without ASIC1a have altered neuronal acti...New study demonstrates important role of glia in circadian timing
...s involved in one of the commonly studied rhythmic behaviors observed in Drosophilalocomotor activity. Not only do our studies indicate that Ebony abundance is under clock control, Jackson says, but they also suggest that Ebony may exert its effects on locomotor activity indirectly via a modulation of dopamine...Faster-acting antidepressants closer to becoming a reality
...to such rapid, sustained relief of depression-like behaviors in this study and that a single dose of ketamine ...the new study, researchers induced depression-like behaviors in mice; for example, the mice gave up after being forced to engage in hopeless tasks, such as prolo...Did pterosaurs feed by skimming?
In order to envisage the behaviors and lifestyles of now extinct animals, palaeontology often relies on extrapolating from modern species. Scientists identify shared anatomical features and infer from these shared ways of life. This method is often used to predict the diet of an extin...American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- July 11, 2007
...POPs, their ecological impact, and the ecology and behaviors of seabirds. ARTICLE #4 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Evaluation of Noninvasive Approach for Monitoring PCB Pollution of Seabirds Using Preen Gland Oil DOWNLOAD PDF http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/pdf/es0701863.pdf DOWNLOAD HTML http:/...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...stress. The dams displayed increased maternal care behaviors with their nursing pups during the first 3 weeks of life. Remarkably, the male pups were protected from brain ischemia as adults. In the CORT-nursed adult rats, stress led to a blunted response of the HPA axis as measured by plasma CORT levels. After...Human-like altruism shown in chimpanzees
...t a cost to themselves. Studies investigating such behaviors in nonhuman primates, especially our close relative the chimpanzee, form an important contribution to this debate. This week in PLoS Biology, Felix Warneken and colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology present experi...Prey not hard-wired to fear predators
...r. Notes on the Study The study compared the behaviors of four species of prey animals in three different prey situations: Locations were native predators still exist. (Eastern Siberia, Boreal Canada and Alaska) Locations where the top predators no longer exist. (the polar islands of Green...Research finds that circadian rhythms dominate all life functions
...gulate timing for most physiological functions and behaviors such as sleeping, eating and activity.As a checks-and-balances procedure, Ptitsyn analyzed the sets of data with several mathematical approaches to achieve the same results. The research also shows that gene oscillation is significantly more organiz...Undergraduate research shows leaderless honeybee organizing
...rge organized groups where highly developed social behaviors coordinate the efforts of thousands of individual...ular, the importance of two communication-related behaviors known as the vibration signal and worker piping. Different from the famous waggle dance that fora...Competition, loss of selfishness mark shift to supersociety
...ganized. Thus, genes or alleles that code for such behaviors will be propagated faster, Hlldobler says. The second piece of the model takes into account that as the colonial organization of one group rises, there is a coincident rise in discrimination against members of other societies of the same species. H...New collaborative research reveals chimpanzees can sustain multiple-tradition cultures
...ty. In the wild, however, it is difficult to prove behaviors are passed on by observation and learning. In this study, members of the international collaborative research team taught forms of tool use and food extraction techniques to high-ranking individuals in four different captive chimpanzee communities...The first issue of the HFSP Journal is now available
...e contributions toward the understanding of animal behaviors and human decision making. An Article from the Wiltschko lab at J. W. Goethe-University in Frankfurt, Germany and Thorsten Ritz at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of California in, Irvine, California reporting on an in...Hyperactivity and academic achievement could be linked by genetics
...yperactive. Although the relationship between such behaviors as overactivity, impulsivity, and inattentiveness ...n, influences another; for example, it may be that behaviors associated with hyperactivity may make it harder for children to learn in the classroom. "Whatever ...New study examines 'brain's own marijuana'
...ng of how endocannabinoid moderates stress-related behaviors and how stress and stress hormones activate the endocannabinoid system. Haj-Dahmane and his co-investigator, Troy Wood, Ph.D., will examine the relationships between stress, stress-related behavior and addiction using a combination of electrophysiolo......s are neither the result of isolated, pathological behaviors nor the by-product of male aggression, but instead appear to represent part of the female behavior repertoire in chimpanzees. What drives the behavior is not yet clear, but may stem from demographic shifts that alter sex ratios and put increased pr...