Effect of septal lesions on the behaviour of the young domestic chick

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Effect of septal lesions on the behaviour of the young domestic chick Gergely Zachar1*, Zsolt Turoczy1, Catherine Montagnese1 and Andras Csillag1 1 Semmelweis University, Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Hungary The septum plays a role in social and spatial behaviours in avian species. Lesion of the septal nuclei causes impairment in spatial memory and reduces anxiety and corticosterone response to stressful stimuli in rats. No lesion studies have been carried out in birds so far to confirm such functions. Bilateral septal lesions and sham operations were performed on newly hatched chicks using a radiofrequency lesion generator. After recovery chicks were tested using various behavioural tasks to detect any effects of the ablation on filial imprinting, passive avoidance learning, positive reinforcement, open field behaviour and social affection to conspecifics. Septal lesions affected neither filial imprinting, nor memory acquisition during passive avoidance or operant learning behaviours. The animals with their septum ablated were more active in exploration and emitted more distress calls during the open field test. Sham operated and lesioned chicks both preferred the proximity of conspecific individuals. The higher anxiety level observed in the sham operated chicks caused differences in moving latency and exploratory behaviour in almost every type of behavioural tests often masking the effects of the specific stimuli (e.g. the familiar object or the conspecifics). Similar to mammals, the ablation of septum did not cause learning impairment in non spatial tasks but it led to more exploratory behaviour in open field test. However, ablated chicks emitted more distress calls, which suggested that the lesion increased stress caused by social isolation. The apparent contradiction between the diminished predatory stress (reduced exploration) and increased isolation stress implies differences in the neural mechanisms underlying predatory stress and social anxiety. Further experiments are needed to establish whether the septum plays any role in social binding to siblings or to parents following filial imprinting. Conference: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting, Rhodes Island, Greece, 13 Sep - 18 Sep, 2009. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster presentations Citation: Zachar G, Turoczy Z, Montagnese C and Csillag A (2009). Effect of septal lesions on the behaviour of the young domestic chick. Conference Abstract: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.08.2009.09.354 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 15 Jun 2009; Published Online: 15 Jun 2009. * Correspondence: Gergely Zachar, Semmelweis University, Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Budapest, Hungary, gzachar@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Gergely Zachar Zsolt Turoczy Catherine Montagnese Andras Csillag Google Gergely Zachar Zsolt Turoczy Catherine Montagnese Andras Csillag Google Scholar Gergely Zachar Zsolt Turoczy Catherine Montagnese Andras Csillag PubMed Gergely Zachar Zsolt Turoczy Catherine Montagnese Andras Csillag Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.