Topic: habituation

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disorder caused by reduction or absence of neurofibromin due to mutations in the NF1 gene that result in multiple behavioral defects among other aberrant phenotypes. To directly assess the consequences of Nf1 deficiency on evoked neuronal activity, potentially underlying neuroplasticity defects, we utilized null mutations, point mutations, and RNA interference to manipulate Nf1 levels in Drosophila melanogaster. Our study focused on assessing the functional alterations in the giant fiber system, a well-established electrophysiological model to study

Resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fMRI) provides a task-free methodology that allows for the non-invasive measurement of global brain network architecture. The use of rs-fMRI has promising potential for animal models, especially rodents, whose functional network architecture is highly translatable to humans. To minimise both head motion and stress, brain imaging of rodents typically involves using anaesthetic drugs to keep the animals still. However, these anaesthetic protocols negatively affect brain function, limiting the scope of studies. There is increasing interest in the use

Use of animal models is pervasive across neuroscience research. Good quality research data is underpinned by good animal welfare, which can be achieved through methods of refinement. We have developed a framework that considers the lifetime experience of the laboratory animal and seeks to improve their welfare by targeting the 3Hs: Housing, Handling and Habituation.To promote natural behaviours both rats and mice are housed in highly enriched caging with sexually mature male mice housed individually to reduce social stress. Recognising the space restrictions of standard rodent caging, we also

Neuronal circuits universally recognize novel stimuli, but unpredicted features in a stimulus amplify its importance, shaping attentive reactions. Habituation, the gradual reduction of responses to repetitive stimuli, and its counterpart, dishabituation, the reversal of habituated responses upon exposure to novel stimuli, are fundamental processes that organisms employ to navigate their environment efficiently. Although mechanisms driving Habituation/Dishabituation remain partly understood, the communication within neuronal circuits, which ostensibly underlies these choices, is an emerging fie

Subliminal phobic stimuli have been used since decades to investigate the role of consciousness in emotions' surge and regulation. The present study used an augmented reality setting to show neutral (deers, birds), generically-fearful (bears) or phobic (spiders) stimuli to 50 more-or-less spiderfearful participants while registering their electroencephalographic, electrocardiographic and electrodermal correlates. Importantly, each stimulus was followed by a trial-by-trial check of its detection, allowing to distinguish perceptually-subliminal stimuli (i.e., what is usually intended as "sublimi

Chronic exposure to stressors is associated with the emergence of psychiatric disorders, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. We previously showed that developmental chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) diminishes the habituation of dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) serotonergic (5-HT) neurons to acute stressors and enhances anxiety-like responses. Here, we investigated whether the change in 5-HT DRN habitution underlies CUS-induced behavioural alterations. We exposed larval zebrafish to the CUS, subsequently ablated DRN 5-HT neurons using chemogenetics and assessed different types of anxiety-lik

Animals must react to threatening stimuli in a way that increases their chance of survival. The visual loom is a known threatening stimulus that emulates an approaching predator and mainly elicits the C-startle escape response in larval zebrafish. However, the behavioral space of the response to the visual looms may also involve freezing and other types of swim bouts. In this work, we carried out free swimming behavioral experiments and immunofluorescence imaging protocols to explore the differences between types of visual looms and how they affect behavioral output through habituation and cha