Form Of Stereotypy Research Articles

Polydipsia as a manifestation of catatonia: Case series

Psychogenic polydipsia, a diagnosis of exclusion, is prevalent among patients with psychiatric disorders. Polydipsia has been associated with catatonia without clear causation or directionality. We describe two cases where polydipsia was a sign of catatonia in the form of stereotypy, represented by abnormally frequent motor behavior. A 56-year-old male with a history of bipolar I disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder presented with paranoid delusions, agitation, poor sleep, self-inflicted injury, and hyponatremia related to polydipsia. Symptoms, including polydipsia, rapidly improved with lorazepam. Due to medication nonadherence, two other similar hospitalizations occurred over the next month, each presenting with polydipsia-related hyponatremia as well as other catatonia symptoms. In each of the three episodes of concurrent catatonia and polydipsia, lorazepam as part of the treatment regimen quickly resolved both the psychiatric and metabolic symptoms. A 76-year-old female with a history of bipolar I disorder presented with intrusive speech, impulsive behavior, and decreased sleep, alongside hyponatremia related to polydipsia. She also displayed several catatonic symptoms and was treated with lorazepam and paliperidone. Increasing paliperidone dose worsened the catatonia, polydipsia, and hyponatremia while increasing lorazepam resulted in improvement in these symptoms. Our patients presented with episodic polydipsia and hyponatremia concurrent with catatonia symptoms. Polydipsia in both cases is a repetitive motor behavior, likely representing a catatonic stereotypy. Our cases illustrate psychogenic polydipsia can sometimes be framed as a catatonic stereotypy, and therefore lorazepam emerges as an option for treatment.

Атипова поведінка ведмедя бурого (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) в умовах центру реабілітації диких тварин Галицького національного природного парку

– Stereotype behavior is repetitive, unchanging behavior devoid of purposeful function. This type of behavioral deviation can have adverse effects on the physical and mental health of the animals. In the present study, was observed the behavior of 4 individuals of brown bear in the center of rehabilitation of wild animals of Halych National Nature Park. The behavior of the bears was monitored by using of modified ethograms of different authors. We detected more than 30 behavioral reactions, which are classified in 10 categories, including an abnormal behavior in the form of stereotypy. Data analysis was performed by one-way ANOVA test using Statistica 12 software. The results of the research indicate that gradual adaptation to new living conditions and effective enrichment of the environment are an effective way of therapy for abnormal behavior of captive brown bears. The obtained data indicate a successful adaptation of Halych National Nature Park captive brown bears to new conditions. For a more detailed analysis of the behavior of captive bears, it is necessary to use an individual approach, to have detailed information about the past animals, captive conditions, food and medical treatment. The lack of background data on animals often complicates their rehabilitation and adaptation to new conditions of maintenance and analysis of the condition as a whole. In general, a diverse and long-term environment enrichment program is a way to permanently release bears from stereotypical behavior.

Influence of enclosure size on the distances covered and paced by captive tigers (Panthera tigris)

In the wild, tigers live in large individual territories ranging from 7 to 1000km2 depending on the region and prey abundance. However, in captivity, the animal's environment is strongly reduced, and the size of the enclosure provided varies between zoos. It has been shown that animals occupying large territories in the wild, like tigers, are more vulnerable to problems of stress in captivity. Movement in captive cats has not been the subject of extensive studies, and the aim of this one was to determine the impact of the size of the enclosure on the movement of 38 captive tigers. This study shows a positive correlation between the size of the enclosure and the total distance covered by the animals and also that males covered greater distances than females. Moreover, the analysis also revealed that pacing, a form of stereotypy, has the potential to develop from the time the animals are old enough to disperse, and that this abnormal behaviour was negatively correlated with the size of the enclosure. Finally, an index, calculated with distances covered and paced, was created and can become a good tool for zoos that want to quantify and reduce abnormal pacing performed by their animals.

Sleep Alteration in an Environmental Neurotoxin Induced Model of Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is defined as a motor disorder resulting from decreased dopamine in the basal ganglia circuit. However, research now focuses on early, non‐motor symptoms of PD, such as sleep disturbances, in an attempt to diagnose the disease before the loss of motor function. A sleep alteration commonly found in PD patients is Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS), whose etiology and connection to PD is relatively unknown. Few animal models are able to replicate both motor and non‐motor symptoms of PD. Here, we present a progressive rat model of PD that displays the degeneration in motor function and disturbances in sleep. Our study examined the effects of prolonged consumption of flour made from washed seeds of the Cycas micronesia (cycad) in male rats. A novel behavior observed was the increase in purposeless chewing, a form of stereotypy. It was demonstrated that cycad‐fed rats exhibited a sleep disturbance, shown by an increase in length and number of bouts of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep during the active period. This increase in REM parallels the symptom of EDS. We are now examining the etiology of EDS in the cycad‐fed rats. Preliminary results suggest a key role for the lateral hypothalamus in the development of this early, non‐motor symptom. This also reveals a potential mechanism of action for the toxic effects of cycad in brain areas other than those of the basal ganglia motor circuit.

Scientific approaches to enrichment and stereotypies in zoo animals: what's been done and where should we go next?

The zoo scientific community was among the first to focus attention on captivity-induced stereotypic behaviors, their causes, and methods of eradication. Environmental enrichment has emerged recently as the main husbandry tool for tackling this problem. An increasing number of research publications have attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of enrichment in reducing stereotypic behavior and to develop further concepts to explain how effective enrichment works. A review and meta-analysis of this literature indicates that enrichment is a successful technique for reducing stereotypic behavior in zoo animals. Enrichment was associated with significant reduction in stereotypy performance about 53% of the time. Published enrichment and stereotypy research is lacking for most zoo species, with most studies on large, charismatic, and often endangered species, but it is unclear whether stereotypies are more prevalent in these species. In addition, problems with scientific methods and data presentation, quantitatively detailed in this work, severely limit the conclusions drawn from zoo research. Further understanding of what kinds of enrichment works and what doesn't will require greater attention to experimental design, sample size, statistical analysis, and better descriptions of enrichment properties and the form of stereotypy. We recommend that future studies focus on increasing sample size (e.g., through multi-institutional studies), appropriate repeated measures design (e.g., with multiple baseline and experimental phases), providing full statistical information about the behavioral changes observed (including standard error), and ultimately the development of a predictive science for enrichment, stereotypies, and wellbeing. Zoo Biol 0:1–20, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Physical condition at weaning affects exploratory behaviour and stereotypy development in laboratory mice

Laboratory mice of the ICR strain develop two morphologically distinct forms of stereotypy in the post-weaning period when kept under standard housing conditions. Wire-gnawing develops from single bites at the cage-lid during exploratory climbing whereas jumping originates from exploratory rearing at the cage wall. In a recent study nude mutants of ICR that were physically retarded around the age of stereotypy development performed more rearing but less climbing just after weaning and subsequently developed more jumping but less wire-gnawing than ICR mice (Würbel, H., Stauffacher, M. and von Holst, D. 1996. Ethology 102: 371–385). The two source behaviour patterns, climbing and rearing, could represent alternative strategies serving the same goal (e.g. exploration of external stimuli, escape). Since the ability to climb may depend on physical strength, preference for either of these two patterns may be determined by physical condition to some extent. As a consequence, the prefered pattern may determine the later form of stereotypy. To test these two hypotheses, 48 male ICR mice were assigned to three groups of 16 each. One group was prematurely weaned at day 17 to mimic physical retardation, the others were weaned at the standard weaning age of 20 days and divided into two groups of high and low weaning weight. Premature weaning was associated with a shift in the relative proportions of climbing and rearing towards rearing. Although heavy males showed most climbing and least rearing, weaning weight did not significantly affect performance of these two patterns. Subsequently, all mice developed stereotypic wire-gnawing but none of them showed stereotypic jumping. Although weaning age affected the performance of the two source behaviour patterns in the predicted way, the differences may not have been large enough to cause different forms of stereotypy. However, both, premature weaning and low weaning weight resulted in higher stereotypy performance when adult.

Reward summation and the effects of dopamine D 1 and D 2 agonists and antagonists on fixed-interval responding for brain stimulation

The effects of dopamine D 1 and D 2 agonists and antagonists on fixed-interval (FI) self-stimulation were investigated using a reward-summation model, trading off frequency with train duration. The D 1 antagonist SCH 23390 (0.005–0.02 mg/kg) decreased FI self-stimulation and the inhibition was reversed by increasing stimulation frequency. Moreover, amphetamine (0.5 mg/kg) reversed the inhibition by a low dose of SCH 23390 (0.005 mg/kg) but not after a higher dose inhibition could not be dissociated from a performance deficit. There was no significant interaction between low doses of spiperone and SCH 23390 when coadministered that could not be predicted from their effects when given individually. Self-stimulation was inhibited by the D 1 agonist SKF 38393 (5 mg/kg). When coadministered with amphetamine, SKF 38393 partially blocked amphetamine's facilitation. The D 2 agonist bromocriptine (10 mg/kg) produced an extraordinary enhancement of performance that was also evident after a lower dose (5 mg/kg) when it was combined with amphetmaine. This enhancement of performance showed little extinction when stimulation was no longer available, suggesting it was a novel form of stereotypy. These results support the concept that D 1 dopamine receptors play a critical role in modulating the reinforcing consequences of lateral hypothalamic stimulation. The involvement of D 2 receptors on reinforcement processes remains contentious due to their effects on performance and insensitivity of responding to coincide with changes in reinforcement magnitude.