Behavioral Flexibility Research Articles

Food quality influences behavioural flexibility and cognition in wild house mice

Environmental change is frequent. To adjust and survive, animals need behavioural flexibility. Recently, cognitive flexibility has emerged as a driving force for adjusting to environmental change. Understanding how environmental factors, such as food quality, influence behavioural and/or more costly cognitive flexibility. Here, we investigate the effects of high-quality versus standard food as well as the effects of different housing conditions on both types of flexibility. Our results show that mice that experienced a poorer diet under seminatural conditions showed greater behavioural but not cognitive flexibility. For cage-housed mice, the results were less clear. However, mice fed a poorer diet performed better in innovative problem-solving, thus showing enhanced cognitive flexibility, which was not apparent in the reversal learning paradigm. The observed differences were most likely due to differences in motivation to obtain food rewards. Additionally, animals on poorer diet had lower brain volume, usually related to lower cognitive task performance at the between-species level. Thus, our study emphasises the importance of environmental conditions on behavioural flexibility at the within-species level, highlights that different test paradigms may lead to different conclusions, and finally shows that cage housing of wild animals may lead to patterns that do not necessarily reflect natural conditions.

A constrained price-based demand response framework employing utility functions in three-state Overlapping Generation and Gift and Bequest based model in distribution system

Demand response provides an opportunity for consumers to play a significant role in the operation of the electric grid by reducing or shifting their electricity usage during peak periods in response to time-based rates or other forms of financial incentives. These programs are important as they have the potential to help electricity providers save money through reductions in peak demand and the ability to defer construction of new power plants and power delivery systems specifically, those reserved for use during peak times. For the successful application of DR in day-to-day life, DR models are necessary to be implemented. Many of the existing DR models primarily focus on the formulation of after-DR demand based on price elasticity. Though these models are devoid of basic humans’ micro-economic behavior, which is an essential part of a DR stakeholder. Considering these shortcomings of the existing DR literature, this paper envisages formulating DR models based on the foundation of basic humans’ manifestations of demand flexibility, willingness, load recovery, and altruistic behavior. Hence, this paper proposes two price-based DR models known as the three-state Overlapping Generation (OLG) model and the Gift and Bequest (G&B) based DR model. These models are based on customers’ microeconomic behaviors and are suitable for representing load recovery with minimal parameters. Both three-state OLG and G&B-based DR models are examined on IEEE 33-bus and 118-bus distribution systems and are compared with the existing price-elasticity model (PEM) and two-state OLG-based DR model.

Indicators for suitability and feasibility assessment of flexible energy resources

Recommender systems play a critical role in optimizing building energy consumption by providing personalized advice based on data analytics and user preferences. However, the literature highlights the need for systems that can justify their recommendations, as many of these systems use non-transparent machine-learning techniques. This research introduces two distinct types of indicators with three main goals: to identify patterns of flexible consumption behavior using transparent and straightforward methods suitable for remote decision support systems, thereby eliminating the need for extensive databases; to evaluate the feasibility of installing solar panels on building facades, rooftops, and structures using high-resolution 3D models; and to enhance understanding through a quantitative assessment of the feasibility and suitability of integrating renewable energy sources, particularly photovoltaic systems. Flexible prosumers are scored by assessing their energy consumption level, consistency, and variability through the Flexible Consumption Indicators. Topology Indicators perform a quantitative assessment of the feasibility of support surfaces for installing photovoltaic panels, taking into account rooftop pitch angles, orientations, and surrounding and internal structures, identifying those areas exposed to sufficient levels of irradiation. This study, which uses actual consumption profiles and similar households' buildings 3D models, demonstrates how the proposed indicators can aid identifying users with flexible consumption profiles that reside in buildings compatible with renewable energy sources, aiding in decision-making process within the energy transition.

Polypyrrole wrapped‐carbon nanotube composites with self‐assembled core‐shell structure for high‐performance flexible supercapacitors

AbstractThe polypyrrole wrapped‐carbon nanotube composites with the core‐shell design are prepared via two‐step self‐assembly originated from the multi‐interactions of dopant, zeolitic imidazolate framework, carbon nanotube and pyrrole. The core composed of carbon nanotube effectively improves the conductivity of the composite and provides stable double‐layer capacitance. The shell composed of polypyrrole and tightly wrapped on carbon nanotubes effectively prevents the volume expansion of polypyrrole while undergoing the process of doping/de‐doping as well as endows supercapacitors with high pseudocapacitance. The polypyrrole‐coated carbon nanotube displays a remarkable specific capacitance of 510 F g−1 when operating at a current density of 1 A g−1. Surprisingly, the assembled polypyrrole wrapped‐carbon nanotube//activated carbon asymmetric supercapacitor not only possesses a high capacitance preservation of 88.5% after 10,000 charge/discharge cycles at 5 A g−1, but also shows superior flexibility and stable electrochemical behaviors when subjected to various bending angles. Furthermore, the flexible polypyrrole wrapped‐carbon nanotube//activated carbon supercapacitor achieves the superb energy density of 86.3 Wh kg−1 and the power density of 800 W kg−1 when operating at 1 A g−1. These results highlight the significant potential of this new generation of flexible supercapacitor devices.Highlights Polypyrrole is wrapped on carbon nanotube to form a core‐shell structure CNTs improve the conductivity and provides double‐layer capacitance The core‐shell design prevents the volume expansion of polypyrrole The assembled asymmetric supercapacitor shows superior flexibility

Sulfonated polyaniline/MXene composite electrode with high cycling stability for anti-freezing flexible supercapacitor

Polyaniline (PANi) is widely used in supercapacitors owing to its unique structural flexibility and redox behavior. However, due to the limitations of the inherent molecular structure, the expansion and contraction of the PANi skeleton will be triggered during the charging and discharging process, leading to decreased stability and rapid degradation. For this reason, we design a novel sulfonated polyaniline structure of aniline copolymerized with 2-aminobenzenesulfonic acid, thus immobilizing the sulfonic acid group (−SO3H) side chain onto the PANi main chain. The −SO3H acts as a proton reservoir to provide protons for PANi, accelerating the occurrence of redox reactions and providing pseudocapacitance, effectively suppressing the deprotonation phenomenon. Then SPANi is grown in-situ on the interlayers of MXene, which induces the disordered polymer to be ordered on the MXene substrate, forming a 3D interconnected network composite with both high specific capacitance and excellent stability. SPANi/MXene composite has an outstanding specific capacitance of 512.45 F g−1 at 1 A/g and retains up to 92.16 % of the initial capacitance after 10,000 cycles. Assembled with PHEAA-PAA-MXene double-crosslinked organogel electrolyte to form an anti-freezing device with a specific capacitance of 158.63 F g−1, it retains a high specific capacitance of 118.26 F g−1 even under the extreme conditions of −40 °C. The capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles is 95.2 % (20 °C) and 81.82 % (−40 °C), respectively. This work provides simple and effective methods to fabricate high-performance PANi-based electrodes and anti-freezing supercapacitors.

A New Look at the Dirichlet Distribution: Robustness, Clustering, and Both Together

AbstractCompositional data have peculiar characteristics that pose significant challenges to traditional statistical methods and models. Within this framework, we use a convenient mode parametrized Dirichlet distribution across multiple fields of statistics. In particular, we propose finite mixtures of unimodal Dirichlet (UD) distributions for model-based clustering and classification. Then, we introduce the contaminated UD (CUD) distribution, a heavy-tailed generalization of the UD distribution that allows for a more flexible tail behavior in the presence of atypical observations. Thirdly, we propose finite mixtures of CUD distributions to jointly account for the presence of clusters and atypical points in the data. Parameter estimation is carried out by directly maximizing the maximum likelihood or by using an expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. Two analyses are conducted on simulated data to illustrate the effects of atypical observations on parameter estimation and data classification, and how our proposals address both aspects. Furthermore, two real datasets are investigated and the results obtained via our models are discussed.

Evolution of threat response-related polymorphisms at the SLC6A4 locus in callitrichid primates.

Variation in an upstream repetitive region at the SLC6A4 locus, which encodes the serotonin transporter, is associated with anxiety-related behaviour in a few primate species, including humans and rhesus macaques, and has been suggested to be related to ecological adaptability among macaques. In this study, we investigate evolution of SLC6A4 polymorphisms associated with anxiety-related behaviour in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Assaying variation in the SLC6A4 repeat region across 14 species in eight genera of callitrichid primates (marmosets and tamarins), we find large interspecific variation in the number of repeats present (24-43). The black tufted-ear marmoset (C. penicillata) has sequence polymorphisms similar to those found in the common marmoset, which is its sister species, and no other species has intraspecific variation at these sites. We conclude that, similar to humans and macaques, the functional polymorphism at SLC6A4 in common marmosets has a recent evolutionary origin, and that the anxiety-related allele is evolutionarily derived. Common/black tufted-ear marmosets and rhesus/bonnet macaques share high ecological adaptability and behavioural flexibility that we propose may be related to the maintenance of the polymorphism.

Flexible decision-making is related to strategy learning, vicarious trial and error, and medial prefrontal rhythms during spatial set-shifting.

Flexible decision-making requires a balance between exploring features of an environment and exploiting prior knowledge. Behavioral flexibility is typically measured by how long it takes subjects to consistently make accurate choices after reward contingencies switch or task rules change. This measure, however, only allows for tracking flexibility across multiple trials, and does not assess the degree of flexibility. Plus, although increases in decision-making accuracy are strong indicators of learning, other decision-making behaviors have also been suggested as markers of flexibility, such as the on-the-fly decision reversals known as vicarious trial and error (VTE) or switches to a different, but incorrect, strategy. We sought to relate flexibility, learning, and neural activity by comparing choice history-derived evaluation of strategy use with changes in decision-making accuracy and VTE behavior while recording from the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in rats. Using a set-shifting task that required rats to repeatedly switch between spatial decision-making strategies, we show that a previously developed strategy likelihood estimation procedure could identify putative learning points based on decision history. We confirm the efficacy of learning point estimation by showing increases in decision-making accuracy aligned to the learning point. Additionally, we show increases in the rate of VTE behavior surrounding identified learning points. By calculating changes in strategy likelihoods across trials, we tracked flexibility on a trial-by-trial basis and show that flexibility scores also increased around learning points. Further, we demonstrate that VTE behaviors could be separated into indecisive and deliberative subtypes depending on whether they occurred during periods of high or low flexibility and whether they led to correct or incorrect choice outcomes. Field potential recordings from the mPFC during decisions exhibited increased beta band activity on trials with VTE compared to non-VTE trials, as well as increased gamma during periods when learned strategies could be exploited compared to prelearning, exploratory periods. This study demonstrates that increased behavioral flexibility and VTE rates are often aligned to task learning. These relationships can break down, however, suggesting that VTE is not always an indicator of deliberative decision-making. Additionally, we further implicate the mPFC in decision-making and learning by showing increased beta-based activity on VTE trials and increased gamma after learning.

Individual flexibility in group foraging behaviour of reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi)

Flexibility in animal foraging strategies can increase overall feeding efficiency for individuals. For example, group foraging can increase the efficiency of resource exploitation; conversely solo foraging can reduce intraspecific competition, particularly at low resource densities. The cost–benefit trade-off of such flexibility is likely to differ within and among individuals. Reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi) are large filter-feeding elasmobranchs that often aggregate to feed on ephemeral upwellings of zooplankton. Over three years in the Maldives, we free-dived to film 3106 foraging events involving 343 individually identifiable M. alfredi. Individuals fed either solo or in groups with a clear leader plus between one and eight followers. M. alfredi were significantly more likely to forage in groups than solo at high just prior to high tide and when aggregations were larger. Within aggregations, individuals foraged in larger groups when more food was available, and when the overall aggregations were relatively large suggesting that foraging in large groups was more beneficial when food is abundant, and the costs of intraspecific competition were outweighed by the efficiency resulting from group foraging strategies. Females, the larger sex, were more likely to lead foraging groups than males. The high within-individual variance (over 70%), suggested individuals were unpredictable across all foraging behaviours, thus individual M. alfredi cannot be classified into foraging types or specialists. Instead, each individual was capable of considerable behavioural flexibility, as predicted for a species reliant on spatially and temporally ephemeral resources.Significance statementReef manta rays (Mobula alfredi), listed as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List, are at risk from targeted and by-catch fisheries due to their slow life history and aggregative behaviour. M. alfredi feed together in aggregations on short-lived glut of microscopic zooplankton. Over three years in the Maldives, we filmed 3106 foraging events involving 343 individually identifiable M. alfredi. Manta rays were more likely to forage in groups than solo just prior to high tide and when aggregations were larger, attracted by the influx of zooplankton. Foraging groups included more individuals when plankton was more abundant. However, individuals flipped between solo and group foraging and did not specialise. Foraging groups were most often led by females, the larger sex. Individuals were very flexible in how they foraged, which makes sense for a species that relies on a food source that varies enormously in when, where and for how long it is available. Understanding manta ray foraging behaviour will help conservation management efforts and predict their responses to climate change.

Fecal microbiota transplantation of patients with anorexia nervosa did not alter flexible behavior in rats.

Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) are often anxious, display inflexible behavior and disrupted reward processing. Emerging evidence suggests that gut dysbiosis in patients contributes to the disease phenotype and progression. In a preclinical study, we explored whether AN-derived microbiota impacts cognitive flexibility, anxiety, and dopamine signaling using fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in tyrosine hydroxylase-cre rats. We performed probabilistic reversal learning task (PRLT) at the baseline, after antibiotic treatment, and following FMT from patients with AN and controls. We assessed flexible behavior, task engagement, and ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine signaling during and in the absence of reward. Furthermore, anxiety-like behavior was evaluated with open field (OF) and elevated plus maze (EPM) tests. Neither antibiotic-induced dysbiosis nor AN FMT led to significant alterations in the number of reversals or lever press strategies after reinforced or nonreinforced lever presses (win and lose-stay) in the PRLT. However, the number of initiated trials decreased after antibiotic treatment while remaining unchanged after FMT. No significant differences were observed in VTA dopamine activity, anxiety measures in the OF and EPM tests. Microbiome analysis revealed limited overlap between the microbiota of the donors and recipients. No evidence was found that the microbiota of patients compared to controls, nor a depleted microbiome impacts cognitive flexibility. Nonetheless, antibiotic-induced dysbiosis resulted in reduced task engagement during the PRLT. The relatively low efficiency of the FMT is a limitation of our study and highlights the need for improved protocols to draw robust conclusions in future studies. While our study did not reveal direct impacts of AN-associated gut microbiota on cognitive flexibility or anxiety behaviors in our preclinical model, we observed a decrease in task engagement after antibiotic-induced dysbiosis, underscoring that the presence of a gut microbiome matters. Our findings underscore the need for further refinement in FMT protocols to better elucidate the complex interplay between gut microbiota and behaviors characteristic of anorexia nervosa.

Bayesian modal regression based on mixture distributions

Compared to mean regression and quantile regression, the literature on modal regression is very sparse. A unifying framework for Bayesian modal regression is proposed, based on a family of unimodal distributions indexed by the mode, along with other parameters that allow for flexible shapes and tail behaviors. Sufficient conditions for posterior propriety under an improper prior on the mode parameter are derived. Following prior elicitation, regression analysis of simulated data and datasets from several real-life applications are conducted. Besides drawing inference for covariate effects that are easy to interpret, prediction and model selection under the proposed Bayesian modal regression framework are also considered. Evidence from these analyses suggest that the proposed inference procedures are very robust to outliers, enabling one to discover interesting covariate effects missed by mean or median regression, and to construct much tighter prediction intervals than those from mean or median regression. Computer programs for implementing the proposed Bayesian modal regression are available at https://github.com/rh8liuqy/Bayesian_modal_regression.

Modeling the impact of end-user flexibility and bill structure on future transmission grid load

Demand-side flexibility is expected to play a key role during the transition towards renewable-dominated power systems and the electrification of transportation and heating sectors. Following this, massive investments in transmission capacities will be required, which may be reduced if end-users appropriately exploit their flexibility from the edge of the network. However, modeling the end-user flexible behavior and its impact on transmission grid load during the planning stage is not straightforward. The rationale behind this is that it results from the aggregation of atomistic loads and that it may be unlocked implicitly, i.e., via the structure of electricity bill. In this paper, assuming economically rational end-users, we develop an equilibrium model of end-users minimizing their electricity bill, while taking into account the elasticity of electricity prices. The proposed approach is used to derive updated transmission load projections, highlighting the benefits of considering end-user flexibility for transmission system planning.

РЕСУРСИ РЕЗИЛЬЄНТНОСТІ ОСІБ З ТРАВМАТИЧНИМ ДОСВІДОМ

Purpose. Theoretical study of resilience and the resources that determine the difference in its manifestation after critical situations, as well as empirical research on the mechanisms and resources that promote the development of resilience in people with traumatic experiences because of the war in Ukraine. Methods. Methods of theoretical analysis of scientific literature on the problem; methods of empirical research using a set of psychodiagnostic techniques; methods of mathematical statistics. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was calculated for statistical data processing. Results. According to the results of theoretical analysis, the concept of "resilience" is considered as both a process and an outcome of successful adaptation to difficult life situations, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adaptation to external and internal challenges. The empirical study revealed positive correlations of psychological resilience with resources (crisis coping strategies) "B – Belief & values" (r=0.591), “C – Cognition, thought” (r=0.540). A directly proportional correlations was also found between the overall impact of the event, the level of intrusion and avoidance with the crisis coping strategy "I – Imagination" (r=0.505; r=0.607; r=0.506), between the level of avoidance and the resource “S – Socialization” (r=0.632), between the level of intrusion and “C – Cognition, thought” (r=0.491). Conclusions. Individuals whose crisis coping strategies are based on faith (in God, in people, in miracles, or in themselves and their mission), belief systems, values and meanings, the activation of mental abilities, the ability to think logically and critically, assess situations, learn new ideas, plan, gather information, analyze problems, and solve them rationally, exhibit higher resilience indicators. Those who have higher level of impact of event and manifestations of specific PTSD symptoms more frequently use imagination, memories, and creativity to cope with crises. The level of avoidance positively correlates with the use of social ties, social support, and communication to cope with crises, and the level of intrusion positively correlates with the use of cognition and cognitive strategies.

Common and unique neurophysiological signatures for the stopping and revising of actions reveal the temporal dynamics of inhibitory control.

Inhibitory control is a crucial cognitive-control ability for behavioral flexibility that has been extensively investigated through action-stopping tasks. Multiple neurophysiological features have been proposed to represent 'signatures' of inhibitory control during action-stopping, though the processes signified by these signatures are still controversially discussed. The present study aimed to disentangle these processes by comparing simple stopping situations with those in which additional action revisions were needed. Three experiments in female and male humans were performed to characterize the neurophysiological dynamics involved in action-stopping and - changing, with hypotheses derived from recently developed two-stage 'pause-then-cancel' models of inhibitory control. Both stopping and revising an action triggered an early broad 'pause'-process, marked by frontal EEG β-bursts and non-selective suppression of corticospinal excitability. However, partial-EMG responses showed that motor activity was only partially inhibited by this 'pause', and that this activity can be further modulated during action-revision. In line with two-stage models of inhibitory control, subsequent frontocentral EEG activity after this initial 'pause' selectively scaled depending on the required action revisions, with more activity observed for more complex revisions. This demonstrates the presence of a selective, effector-specific 'retune' phase as the second process involved in action-stopping and -revision. Together, these findings show that inhibitory control is implemented over an extended period of time and in at least two phases. We are further able to align the most commonly proposed neurophysiological signatures to these phases and show that they are differentially modulated by the complexity of action-revision.

Development of Bioactive Hybrid Poly(lactic acid)/Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PLA/PMMA) Electrospun Fibers Functionalized with Bioglass Nanoparticles for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications.

Hybrid scaffolds that are based on PLA and PLA/PMMA with 75/25, 50/50, and 25/75 weight ratios and functionalized with 10 wt.% of bioglass nanoparticles (n-BG) were developed using an electrospinning technique with a chloroform/dimethylformamide mixture in a 9:1 ratio for bone tissue engineering applications. Neat PLA and PLA/PMMA hybrid scaffolds were developed successfully through a (CF/DMF) solvent system, obtaining a random fiber deposition that generated a porous structure with pore interconnectivity. However, with the solvent system used, it was not possible to generate fibers in the case of the neat PMMA sample. With the increase in the amount of PMMA in PLA/PMMA ratios, the fiber diameter of hybrid scaffolds decreases, and the defects (beads) in the fiber structure increase; these beads are associated with a nanoparticle agglomeration, that could be related to a low interaction between n-BG and the polymer matrix. The Young's modulus of PLA/PMMA/n-BG decreases by 34 and 80%, indicating more flexible behavior compared to neat PLA. The PLA/PMMA/n-BG scaffolds showed a bioactive property related to the presence of hydroxyapatite crystals in the fiber surface after 28 days of immersion in a Simulated Body Fluids solution (SBF). In addition, the hydrolytic degradation process of PLA/PMMA/n-BG, analyzed after 35 days of immersion in a phosphate-buffered saline solution (PBS), was less than that of the pure PLA. The in vitro analysis using an HBOF-1.19 cell line indicated that the PLA/PMMA/n-BG scaffold showed good cell viability and was able to promote cell proliferation after 7 days. On the other hand, the in vivo biocompatibility evaluated via a subdermal model in BALC male mice corroborated the good behavior of the scaffolds in avoiding the generation of a cytotoxic effect and being able to enhance the healing process, suggesting that the materials are suitable for potential applications in tissue engineering.

Corticotropin releasing factor alters the functional diversity of accumbal cholinergic interneurons.

Cholinergic interneurons (ChIs) provide the main source of acetylcholine in the striatum and have emerged as a critical modulator of behavioral flexibility, motivation, and associative learning. In the dorsal striatum (DS), ChIs display heterogeneous firing patterns. Here, we investigated the spontaneous firing patterns of ChIs in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell, a region of the ventral striatum. We identified four distinct ChI firing signatures: regular single-spiking, irregular single-spiking, rhythmic bursting, and a mixed-mode pattern composed of bursting activity and regular single spiking. ChIs from females had lower firing rates compared with males and had both a higher proportion of mixed-mode firing patterns and a lower proportion of regular single-spiking neurons compared with males. We further observed that across the estrous cycle, the diestrus phase was characterized by higher proportions of irregular ChI firing patterns compared with other phases. Using pooled data from males and females, we examined how the stress-associated neuropeptide corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) impacts these firing patterns. ChI firing patterns showed differential sensitivity to CRF. This translated into differential ChI sensitivity to CRF across the estrous cycle. Furthermore, CRF shifted the proportion of ChI firing patterns toward more regular spiking activity over bursting patterns. Finally, we found that repeated stressor exposure altered ChI firing patterns and sensitivity to CRF in the NAc core, but not the NAc shell. These findings highlight the heterogeneous nature of ChI firing patterns, which may have implications for accumbal-dependent motivated behaviors.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Cholinergic interneurons (ChIs) within the dorsal and ventral striatum can exert a major influence on network output and motivated behaviors. However, the firing patterns and neuromodulation of ChIs within the ventral striatum, specifically the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell, are understudied. Here, we report that NAc shell ChIs have heterogeneous ChI firing patterns that are labile and can be modulated by the stress-linked neuropeptide corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) and by the estrous cycle.

Adolescent alcohol exposure persistently alters orbitofrontal cortical encoding of Pavlovian conditional stimulus components in female rats

Exposure to alcohol during adolescence impacts cortical and limbic brain regions undergoing maturation. In rodent models, long-term effects on behavior and neurophysiology have been described after adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE), especially in males. We hypothesized that AIE in female rats increases conditional approach to a reward-predictive cue and corresponding neuronal activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc). We evaluated behavior and neuronal firing after AIE (5 g/kg intragastric) or water (CON) in adult female rats. Both AIE and CON groups expressed a ST phenotype, and AIE marginally increased sign-tracking (ST) and decreased goal-tracking (GT) metrics. NAc neurons exhibited phasic firing patterns to the conditional stimulus (CS), with no differences between groups. In contrast, neuronal firing in the OFC of AIE animals was greater at CS onset and offset than in CON animals. During reward omission, OFC responses to CS offset normalized to CON levels, but enhanced OFC firing to CS onset persisted in AIE. We suggest that the enhanced OFC neural activity observed in AIE rats to the CS could contribute to behavioral inflexibility. Ultimately, AIE persistently impacts the neurocircuitry of reward-motivated behavior in female rats.

The Effect of a Defusion Exercise Including a Hierarchical Procedure on Depressive Rumination

AbstractThis study examined the effect of a defusion exercise with a hierarchical procedure in the context of depression, depressive rumination, and behavioral inflexibility. A total of 38 undergraduates were randomly assigned to either a defusion or control group. All participants answered questionnaires and engaged in a behavioral flexibility task before and after intervention. For the intervention, the defusion group engaged in a hierarchical defusion procedure. They sorted their depressive private events into either thoughts, feelings, or sensations, and all of them were integrated to “depression.” Subsequently, they engaged in word‐repetition exercises for “depression.” The control group read an emotionally neutral article on Japanese culture for 5 min. Results showed that the defusion exercise decreased cognitive fusion regarding depression. However, it did not decrease depressive rumination or promote behavioral flexibility. These results suggest that adjustments in the implementation of defusion exercises and other interventions may be necessary to reduce depressive rumination and promote behavioral flexibility.

Flexible gating between subspaces in a neural network model of internally guided task switching.

Behavioral flexibility relies on the brain's ability to switch rapidly between multiple tasks, even when the task rule is not explicitly cued but must be inferred through trial and error. The underlying neural circuit mechanism remains poorly understood. We investigated recurrent neural networks (RNNs) trained to perform an analog of the classic Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The networks consist of two modules responsible for rule representation and sensorimotor mapping, respectively, where each module is comprised of a circuit with excitatory neurons and three major types of inhibitory neurons. We found that rule representation by self-sustained persistent activity across trials, error monitoring and gated sensorimotor mapping emerged from training. Systematic dissection of trained RNNs revealed a detailed circuit mechanism that is consistent across networks trained with different hyperparameters. The networks' dynamical trajectories for different rules resided in separate subspaces of population activity; the subspaces collapsed and performance was reduced to chance level when dendrite-targeting somatostatin-expressing interneurons were silenced, illustrating how a phenomenological description of representational subspaces is explained by a specific circuit mechanism.

Diversity, habitat and activity patterns of mesocarnivore assemblages in an Afrotropical protected forest savannah mosaic of Central Cameroon

AbstractLittle is known about the diversity and ecology of mesocarnivores in the Mpem and Djim National Parks in central Cameroon. Therefore, we undertook a rapid assessment using camera traps from September 2021 to December 2021. The main objective of our study was to collect data on the diversity, abundance and relative frequency of mesocarnivores per habitat type and their activity period using camera traps with a distance sampling method. In 1700 trap nights, we recorded 53 events of seven mesocarnivores, all belonging to the family of Viveridae, Herpesdidae and Felidae which yield 3.12 mesocarnivores per 100 days. The black‐legged mongoose (Bdeogale nigripes, Pucheran, 1855) exhibited the highest capture rate (CR, 0.88). The long‐nosed mongoose (Xenogale naso, Winton, 1901) was found in all habitats class and was the more active mesocarnivore. The Shannon‐Weaver diversity index (H) showed a high diversity of species in the community with high diversity in the near primary forest. We obtained a lower dominance of one species over the other, a lower richness and a more even distribution of species between habitats. Our results suggest a possible spatio‐temporal niche partitioning between the species recorded, with blotched genet (Genetta maculata, Gray, 1830), showing no clear peak of activity. However, the rarefaction curve indicates that the effort expended was insufficient, suggesting that additional sampling is required to obtain a reasonable estimate of species richness within our community. The activity patterns of the recorded mesocarnivores were generally similar to those reported elsewhere but suggest some behavioural flexibility. Although all these species are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, the low number of recorded events may indicate that mesocarnivores may be threatened in this area if effective conservation strategies are not implemented.