Adrianna C. Shembel , Aaron M. Johnson , Michelle R. Ciucci , Charlie Lenell Lunaris , Robert A. Morrison , Denis Michael Rudisch
{"title":"The role of ultrasonic vocalizations in rat laryngological investigations","authors":"Adrianna C. Shembel , Aaron M. Johnson , Michelle R. Ciucci , Charlie Lenell Lunaris , Robert A. Morrison , Denis Michael Rudisch","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114887","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114887","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rat ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) have traditionally been used in psychosocial and psychobiological studies to understand emotion, social behavior, cognition, and associative learning. However, recent studies have expanded the goal of USVs to include the study of the laryngeal system and the effects of disease processes on vocal sensorimotor control. Without the foundational understanding of the goals of this area of laryngological research, fundamental differences in study objectives between psychobehavioral and laryngological studies can easily be missed, leading to misconceptions and misinterpretations of the role USVs play in laryngology-focused studies. Standardization of terminology and methods are also needed to improve communication, enhance study replicability, and prevent ambiguity that can lead to misinterpretations of study objectives and findings in this line of research.</div><div>The primary objective is to describe the role of USVs in studies of laryngeal anatomy and physiology, with a focus on their connections to the neuromuscular and neurological aspects of the laryngeal system, particularly in relation to vocal sensorimotor control and voice disorders. It is intended for novice investigators interested in laryngology-specific USV research. Researchers experienced in USV studies within the context of the larynx and vocal sensorimotor control first outline the development and refinement of various USV elicitation methods. They provide insights into how these approaches have been tested across different studies and laboratories. Finally, they advocate for standardizing terminology and methodologies to enhance study replicability, reduce ambiguity, and foster collaboration across research groups.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"294 ","pages":"Article 114887"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143674359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anne Berthold , Angela Bearth , Jeanine Ammann , Michael Siegrist
{"title":"Not so different anymore? Women's and men's disgust sensitivity becomes similar with increasing age","authors":"Anne Berthold , Angela Bearth , Jeanine Ammann , Michael Siegrist","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114884","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114884","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Previous research provides ample evidence that women experience more disgust than men. The most prominent explanation for these effects is that women are more careful and sensitive about their health due to the possibility of harming potential offspring. Given that the probability for women to give birth is decreasing after a certain age (i.e., menopause), we assume that differences between men and women might be smaller or even faded away over time. To test this hypothesis, we revisited several data sets (in total N = 28′059) containing information about sex, age, and variables related to disgust. The predicted pattern was found for food disgust sensitivity, food neophobia, health-wise worries about food, and contamination fear. In all presented studies, the scores of younger women were higher compared to those of younger males, but after a certain age, sex differences were less pronounced or even non-existent. We discuss how considering the factor <em>age</em> together with individuals sex helps us to gain more insight in the dynamics of disgust and vulnerability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"294 ","pages":"Article 114884"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143664255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sha Sha , Moruo Zhang , Ting Ge , Lingzhen Song , Zhou Wu , Hongxing Zhang
{"title":"Behavioral outcomes in the bystander and demonstrator male mice following a socially-transferred allodynia paradigm","authors":"Sha Sha , Moruo Zhang , Ting Ge , Lingzhen Song , Zhou Wu , Hongxing Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114880","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114880","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The state of mechanical allodynia can be socially transferred from one individual to another during a brief empathetic contact. Our recent research has identified inter-individual differences in behavioral adaptations among bystander (BY) mice after a brief social contact with a demonstrator mouse experiencing complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA)-induced inflammatory pain. However, the impact of the duration of social contact on the development of socially transferred allodynia is not yet clear. Additionally, it remains unknown whether social contact with different subgroups of BY mice differentially affects the pain behavior of CFA demonstrator mice. In the current study, we established a socially transferred allodynia paradigm with varying durations of social contact in male C57BL/6 J mice. We found that a 30-min or a longer social exposure to a CFA demonstrator mouse led to stable mechanical allodynia in naive BY mouse. As the duration of social contact increased, the persistence of the socially transferred allodynia also extended. Interestingly, the CFA demonstrator mice exhibited a partial reversal of mechanical allodynia when exposed to the BY mice for 24 h, but not for shorter durations. Surprisingly, this analgesic-like behavioral adaptation occurred only when the BY mice were susceptible to socially transferred allodynia. These findings demonstrate that behavioral adaptations in both BY and CFA demonstrator mice develop in a time-dependent manner. Additionally, the social contact-induced analgesic-like effect in CFA mice requires a specific cage mate that is susceptible to socially transferred allodynia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"294 ","pages":"Article 114880"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143658334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Non-aversive handling in laboratory animals and its effects on depressive-like and anxiety-related behaviors: A scoping review","authors":"Louise Castro de Jesus, Ana Lúcia S․ Rodrigues","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114883","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114883","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Stress is an adaptive response to environmental demands, but increased intensity and frequency can lead to impaired adaptive functions. Stress is considered a risk factor for Major Depressive Disorder, a multifactorial disorder that often coexists with anxiety. Picking up laboratory mice by the tail is the most common method for animal capture and may create background stress. Non-aversive handling (NAH) includes capturing the animal with the help of a tunnel or by capturing the animal with cupped hands. Given the importance of stress-induced models in the investigation of depressive-like and anxiety-related behaviors, we conducted a literature review to investigate the current knowledge on the behavioral effects of NAH in laboratory animals. While the ability of NAH to counteract depressive-like behavior has yielded mixed results, its ability to induce anxiolytic-like effects in mice has been confirmed by several studies. Some of the studies also investigated the impact of NAH on stress-related molecules (e.g. corticosterone) and physiological parameters (i.e. adrenal gland mass and body weight). The anxiolytic-like effect elicited by NAH seems to be well established in the literature, but little is known about the biochemical pathways underlying it and its antidepressant potential.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"294 ","pages":"Article 114883"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143649799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The effects of risperidone and voluntary exercise intervention on synaptic plasticity gene expressions in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of juvenile female rats","authors":"Weijie Yi, Emma Sylvester, Jiamei Lian, Chao Deng","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114879","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114879","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Psychiatric disorders and antipsychotics are associated with impaired neuroplasticity, while physical exercise has been reported to enhance neuroplasticity and improve cognitive and affective processes. Therefore, this study hypothesizes that voluntary exercise can enhance synaptic plasticity in juvenile rats disrupted by risperidone, a commonly prescribed antipsychotic for pediatric patients.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Thirty-two juvenile female rats were randomly assigned to Vehicle+Sedentary, Risperidone (0.9mg/kg; b.i.d)+Sedentary, Vehicle+Exercise (three hours daily access to running wheels), and Risperidone+Exercise groups for four week treatment. Brains were collected for further analysis.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>In the hippocampus, the mRNA expressions of <em>Bdnf, Ntrk2</em>, and <em>Grin2b</em> were increased by risperidone and exercise intervention. Exercise upregulated expression of <em>Grin1</em> and <em>Grin2a. Syn1</em> and <em>Syp</em> mRNA expression were enhanced by exercise in the risperidone-treated group. The expression of both <em>Mfn1</em> and <em>Drp1</em> mRNA were decreased by risperidone-only treatment. In the prefrontal cortex, <em>Bdnf</em> and <em>Dlg4</em> expression was upregulated by exercise, while the <em>Ntrk2</em> expression was reduced by risperidone and reversed by exercise. The <em>Mfn1</em> mRNA expression was decreased by risperidone with or without voluntary exercise. The risperidone-decreased <em>Ppargc1α</em> gene expression was enhanced by exercise.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Risperidone affects synaptic plasticity through a complex mechanism in female juvenile rats: enhancing certain key genes in the hippocampus while inhibiting genes essential for mitochondrial function. In line with our hypothesis, voluntary exercise promotes genes beneficial for synaptic plasticity and enhances specific genes reduced by risperidone, in female juvenile rats.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"294 ","pages":"Article 114879"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143644294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Angela C. Incollingo Rodriguez, Mira S. Kirschner, Lorena S. Nunes
{"title":"To stream or not to stream? Watching TV while eating promotes increased calorie consumption, but using a smartphone does not","authors":"Angela C. Incollingo Rodriguez, Mira S. Kirschner, Lorena S. Nunes","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114878","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114878","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>The integration of technology throughout daily life has become a pervasive environmental influence with wide-ranging implications, including for how we eat. Previous research demonstrates that simultaneously eating and watching television (TV) leads to increased food consumption. However, the effects of smartphone use are still uncertain as the limited existing research has yielded conflicting findings.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>Under the guise of being a study about multitasking, this research experimentally tested the influence of using technology (either TV or a smartphone) while eating compared to while eating undistracted among college students (N = 114).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Participants ate significantly more while watching TV versus while not. This difference was not observed among those using a smartphone.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>These findings suggest that TV viewing likely continues to promote overeating, but smartphone use may not be associated with concurrent increased consumption. Nonetheless, future research is needed to understand effects on subsequent eating as well as interactive effects between smartphone use and TV viewing in modulating eating behavior.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"294 ","pages":"Article 114878"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143639787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Haohao Wang , Jinxiang Wu , Pan Wang , Wei Wang , Leilei Gao , Dong Liu , Xiaoyuan Ding , Ting Su
{"title":"The relationship between “microbiota-gut-brain” axis and depression: Chronic stress-induced inflammation","authors":"Haohao Wang , Jinxiang Wu , Pan Wang , Wei Wang , Leilei Gao , Dong Liu , Xiaoyuan Ding , Ting Su","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114881","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114881","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aims to investigate the pathogenesis of depression in mice using the chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model, with a particular focus on the changes in inflammatory gene networks and inflammatory factor levels under the condition of gut microbiota dysbiosis. The results indicate that CUMS-induced mice exhibited significant depressive-like behaviors. Specifically, they displayed reduced sucrose intake in the sucrose preference test, decreased central area distance and time in the open field test, and reduced percentage of entries and time spent in the open arm in the elevated plus maze test. Molecular biological analysis indicated that CUMS treatment significantly upregulated the levels of inflammatory factors TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IFN-γ in the serum and hippocampus of mice. Through high-throughput sequencing and Pearson correlation analysis, it was found that the levels of inflammatory factors were significantly positively correlated with the expression of multiple inflammatory pathway genes, as well as the abundance of beneficial and harmful bacteria. Furthermore, the persistent changes in inflammatory factors ultimately led to neuronal cell death. This study provides strong evidence for the role of disrupted “microbiota-gut-brain” axis homeostasis in the pathogenesis of CUMS-induced depression in mice. This finding offers a new perspective for understanding the pathological mechanisms of depression and provides strategies for future depression treatment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"294 ","pages":"Article 114881"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143639786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Association between individual differences in interoception and cardiac coherence during heart rate variability biofeedback","authors":"Ryuji Saito , Kazuki Yoshida , Daisuke Sawamura","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114877","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114877","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVBF) is the training to increase vagally-mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV), accompanied by slow-paced breathing and feedback of heart rhythm. It has been reported to be effective for emotion and cognition. In recent years, increased attention has turned toward participant characteristics as factors affecting HRVBF training effects. Focusing on neural basis commonalities between the mechanisms of HRVBF training effects and processing interoception, this study comprehensively measured interoception and examined the relationship between interoception and cardiac coherence reflecting HRVBF effects. Fifty-four healthy young participants were recruited, and subjective interoception was measured using the Japanese version of Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA-J) and the Japanese version of the Body Perception Questionnaire-Body Awareness Very Short Form (BPQ-BAVSF-J), objective interoception using heartbeat counting task (HCT), heart rate variability (HRV), visual exteroception, and the coherence score achieved by HRVBF. We conducted a multiple regression analysis with interoception, HRV, and visual exteroception parameters as explanatory variables and the coherence score as the objective variable. Some subjective interoception and HRV parameters were found to be associated with the coherence score. Our results were consistent with previous studies, showing that higher vmHRV was related to high cardiac coherence. Interoception effects on cardiac coherence may be limited because of the low adjusted coefficient of determination and less selected explanatory variables in the multiple regression analysis. Our results may contribute toward predicting HRVBF training effects and the screening of those who are likely to benefit from the training from the perspective of interoception and vmHRV.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"294 ","pages":"Article 114877"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143597623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}