Non-food Objects Research Articles

Remote islands as natural laboratories: human-food association increases attraction to humans and novelty exploration in a seabird.

Increased attraction to humans and their objects often arises after repeated and positive human-wildlife encounters (e.g. food provided in tourist settings). The causes of this 'over-attraction', which may result from a learned association between humans and food, are still poorly studied in wild animals. Understanding the influence of humans on animals' responses is yet crucial to prevent negative effects (e.g. aggression). We presented three novel objects to two groups of free-ranging brown skuas (Catharacta antarctica ssp. lonnbergi) in the remote sub-Antarctic, where their habitats show no or minimal human disturbance. Skuas in one group (Verte) had previously participated in repeated food-rewarded behavioural and cognitive tasks with a human experimenter; skuas in the other group (Ratmanoff) had never done so. Objects consisted of (i) one natural-food-resembling object (plastic fish), (ii) one anthropogenic food object (real cake slice), and (iii) one anthropogenic non-food object (yellow glove). Verte group skuas approached the human experimenter and pecked significantly more and sooner at novel objects. Human-food association may have thus resulted in increased attraction to humans and novelty exploration in previously naive brown skuas, making this species a useful model for investigating the consequences of experience with humans on wildlife behaviour.

Persistent avoidance of virtual food in anorexia nervosa-restrictive type: Results from motion tracking in a virtual stopping task.

Food avoidance is central to patients with anorexia nervosa-restrictive type (AN-R). Competing accounts in experimental psychopathology research suggest that food avoidance may result from automatic, habitual responses or from elevated inhibitory control abilities. This study investigated behavioral trajectories of food avoidance in a novel virtual reality stopping task. Sixty patients with AN-R and 29 healthy controls with normal weight were investigated using a novel, kinematic task in virtual reality. We recorded spatial displacement in stop- and go-trials to virtual food and control objects. Inhibitory control abilities were operationalized by the VR task in stopping performance (i.e., interrupted movement in stop-trials), whereas we also measured habitual avoidance of virtual food across both go- and stop-trials (i.e., delayed movement relative to nonfood objects). In patients with AN-R, hand displacements were shorter to food versus nonfood across stop- and go-trials, reflected in a Stimulus × Group interaction. Healthy controls showed no differences. Importantly, the food-specific effect in AN-R was identical across stop- and go-trials, indicating habitual food avoidance. Moreover, stop error rates (i.e., stop-trials with response) were lower in patients with AN-R. The findings suggest food-specific habitual avoidance and heightened generalized inhibitory control in AN-R. The continuously delayed displacements during active hand movements across stop- and go-trials indicated the persistence of patients' avoidance of food. Experimental research investigates the mechanisms underlying mental disorders such as anorexia nervosa. In this study, we measured interrupted hand movements in response to food pictures or neutral pictures (shoes) in patients with anorexia nervosa and healthy controls. A virtual reality scenario was used. Findings indicated that patients were slower at approaching food, interrupted or not. Key mechanisms of food avoidance can be translated into habit-based treatment options in future research.

Seasonal features of the diet of predatory mammals in the western regions of Ukraine

The article analyses feeding specifics depending on the season of five species of predatory mammals belonging to two families: Mustelidae and Canidae. It was established that the largest number of food objects in the red fox’s diet is characteristic for the winter period (44 objects). In winter, this species enriches its diet with invertebrates, fish, domestic mammals, and ungulates in small quantities. The main objects of food during this period are rodents (19%) and birds (16.6%). Rodents are also the basis of the weasel’s winter diet (50%). Both species of marten also consume rodents and birds in the winter, however, the pine marten hunts birds more often (17.4%) compared to rodents (13%), whereas the stone marten rarely hunts birds in the winter and the basis of its diet is made up by rodents (23.1%). The spring period is characterised by a sharp decrease in objects of plant origin in the diet of all carnivorous mammals considered. In spring, the stone marten consumes the largest share of animal feed (80%). The share of animals in the pine marten’s diet also increases, but this species actively hunts invertebrates (37.1%). Birds were not detected in the diet of the pine marten in spring, but they are present in the diet of the weasel in this period (5.9%). Almost half of the summer diet of all species considered consists of plant objects. All predators are characterised by the consumption of a large number of invertebrates during this period, with the lowest share of them in the diet of the stone marten (5.6%), whose main food in the summer is plants (55.6%), rodents (22.2%) and birds (16.7%). In autumn, the share of plant components in the diet of predators is more than 50%, and this period is characterised by having the highest share of juicy fruits in the diet throughout the year, except for the weasel, in the diet of which plants are rarely found during this period (21.4%). The basis of the diet of this species during this period is mammals (64.3%). The share of rodents (15.5%) and birds (8.3%) in the red fox’s diet increases in the autumn period. Inedible objects were recorded in food samples of two species: red fox and pine marten. For the marten, the largest number of these objects was registered in the summer period, and for the fox, non-food objects were absent only in the summer diet.

Individual differences in late positive potential amplitude and theta power predict cue-induced eating

Cue-induced reward-seeking behaviors are regulated by both the affective and cognitive control systems of the brain. This study aimed at investigating how individual differences in affective and cognitive responses to cues predicting food rewards contribute to the regulation of cue-induced eating. We recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) from 59 adults while they viewed emotional and food-related images that preceded the delivery of food rewards (candies) or non-food objects (beads). We measured the amplitude of the late positive potential (LPP) in response to a variety of motivationally relevant images and power in the theta (4-8 Hz) frequency band after candies or beads were dispensed to the participants. We found that individuals with larger LPP responses to food images than to pleasant images (C>P group) ate significantly more during the experiment than those with the opposite response pattern (P>C group, p < 0.001). Furthermore, we found that individuals with higher theta power after dispensation of the candy than of the bead (θCA>θBE) ate significantly more than those with the opposite response pattern (θBE>θCA, p < 0.001). Finally, we found that the crossed P>C and θBE>θCA group ate less (p < 0.001) than did the other three groups formed by crossing the LPP and theta group assignments, who exhibited similar eating behavior on average (p = 0.662). These findings demonstrate that individual differences in both affective and cognitive responses to reward-related cues underlie vulnerability to cue-induced behaviors, underscoring the need for individualized treatments to mitigate maladaptive behaviors.

Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus, its antimicrobial resistance and relation to food hygiene practices of food handlers: analysis of food and non-food items from market food shops in Yangon, Myanmar

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is the common cause of food poisoning and its rising antibiotic resistance poses a severe threat to public health. In Myanmar, S aureus isolation and AMR pattern in food and non-food objects studied at the markets are still limited. This research filled the information gaps regarding the prevalence of S aureus in food and non-food items from market food shops relation to hygienic practices of the food handlers and assessed its antimicrobial resistance. Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted at sixteen markets in Yangon during 2022. The study included 75 food handlers to assess their hygiene practices. From each shop, one food and one non-food samples were taken to reach the total 150 samples. Chi-square test was used for analysis. Results: S aureus was found in 4% of food samples and 5.3% of non-food samples. Bacterial contamination in food was satisfactory, 17.3% to unsatifactory, 60% while non-food samples were 4%, clean to 73.3%, very contaminted. Drug resistance to Benzyl penicillin, azithromycin, erythromycin, clindamycin, lincomycin in food samples and tetracycline in both samples were found. Hygiene practices was good among 57.3% of food handlers and there was no association between practices and S aureus prevalence although positivity was higher among the samples taken from the shops of handlers with poor hygiene practices. Conclusions: The prevalence of S aureus was not different between food and non-food samples and not associated with the hygiene practices of food handlers.

Representation of naturalistic food categories in the human brain

Studies of the neural response to food pictures have identified responses in food-associated regions, such as the insula, amygdala, and orbitofrontal cortex. However, beyond this domain-specific response, little is known about how finer-grained food categories are represented in the brain. Specifically, are brain responses to food pictures driven more by objective measures of food qualities or by subjective estimates of those qualities? To address this question, we asked 487 participants on Amazon Mechanical Turk to perform an “odd-one-out” triplet task to generate a quantitative measure of the similarity of 36 food images with varying known levels of fat and sugar. We used the data from this task to generate a similarity matrix of these foods, which we then analyzed using Principal Components Analysis and K-means clustering, to identify subjective categories of these foods. Using these emergent categories and a Representational Similarity Analysis approach, we analyzed the neuroimaging data of 61 healthy subjects who viewed pictures of these foods and non-food objects during fMRI. PCA of the online data indicated most of the variance was related to participants’ estimates of how processed the foods were and their sugar content, rather than objective measures of fat, sugar, or caloric content. K-means clustering of this data revealed five emergent food groupings: sweets, fats, starches, fruits, and vegetables. Multivariate hemodynamic responses to food pictures reflected this category structure – and not objective nutritional content – in food-responsive ROIs in the brain, as pattern similarity was significantly greater within vs. between categories in the mid-insula, OFC, amygdala, and ventral striatum. A searchlight analysis also reflected this food-category structure in the responses of bilateral regions of the ventral occipito-temporal cortex. These results reveal a fine-grained representation of food categories in the brain that corresponds more to subjective assessments of food qualities, than to objective food properties.

Food appearance affects reward-related brain activity in healthy adults: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

A good appearance of food increases appetite. A new food product called iEat® resembles the appearance and softness of familiar foods. Previous studies have reported that iEat® foods increase appetite. However, the neuronal substrates underlying the increase in appetite following the observation of iEat® foods remain unknown. In the present study, the brain activity of 20 healthy adults during the visual presentation of iEat® and pureed foods and non-food objects was examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Compared with pureed foods and non-food objects, iEat® foods showed significantly greater activation in regions of the brain reward system, such as the amygdala, ventral striatum and orbital frontal cortex. In addition, individual differences in the activity of the left amygdala were positively correlated with subjective appetite ratings. These results suggest that the good appearance of foods, such as iEat® foods, may be useful for stimulating the appetite of patients with poor appetite.

Wild skuas can follow human-given behavioural cues when objects resemble natural food.

The capacity to follow human cues provides animals with information about the environment and can hence offer obvious adaptive benefits. Most studies carried out so far, however, have been on captive animals with previous experience with humans. Further comparative investigation is needed to properly assess the factors driving the emergence of this capacity under natural conditions, especially in species that do not have longstanding interactions with humans. Wild brown skuas (Catharacta antarctica ssp. lonnbergi) are non-neophobic seabirds that live in human-free habitats. In test 1, we assessed this species' capacity to use human behavioural cues (i.e., pecking at the same object previously picked up and lifted by a human experimenter) when the items presented were food objects: anthropogenic objects (wrapped muffins) and natural-food-resembling objects (plaster eggs). In test 2, we examined the response of another skua population towards non-food objects (sponges). Although all skuas in test 1 pecked at the objects, they pecked significantly more at the same previously handled items when they resembled natural food (plaster eggs). Most skuas in test 2, however, did not approach or peck at the non-food objects presented. Our results lead us to suggest that the use of human behavioural cues may be influenced by skuas' foraging ecology, which paves the way to further field studies assessing whether this capacity is directed specifically towards food objects and/or develops after previous interaction with humans.

Restaurant-visit intention: do anthropomorphic cues, brand awareness and subjective social class interact?

PurposeGiven the increasing need after the outbreak of COVID-19 to encourage restaurant customers to dine in, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effects that anthropomorphic cues jointly with brand awareness and subjective social class have on restaurant-visit intention.Design/methodology/approachTo better comprehend the use of anthropomorphic cues, this paper involved two studies that used two types of anthropomorphic cues: (1) non-food (a spoon) and (2) food ingredients. For each study, a 2 × 2 mixed factorial design was used.FindingsUsing three-way mixed ANOVAs, the results from Study 1 confirmed that adding anthropomorphic cues to a non-food object (a spoon) could induce positive effects for restaurants with lower brand awareness, especially among individuals with low subjective social class. In contrast, Study 2 showed that adding anthropomorphic cues to a food ingredient (e.g. tomato, lettuce and olive) had a weaker effect on restaurants with high brand awareness, especially among individuals with a high subjective social class.Practical implicationsMarketers should use anthropomorphism strategies based on their target customers, especially if their brand is less popular.Originality/valueUsing the theoretical framework from the elaboration likelihood model, this paper contributes to the anthropomorphism literature by showing how an anthropomorphized image that fits an individual’s interests could trigger a careful thinking process that leads to differential behaviors based on brand awareness.

The perception of food size and food shape in anorexia nervosa

Visual perception of food size and shape in anorexia nervosa (AN) is an understudied topic, notwithstanding its relevance in approaching food, key-element in weight restoration. In addition, it is unclear how visual perception in AN is related to the age and the duration of illness. Here, we compared patients with AN to healthy controls (HCs) on their spatial resolution, biases in perceived food size, and holistic processing of food shape. A total of 122 participants were enrolled: 48 adolescents (27 AN and 21 HCs) and 74 adults (33 AN and 41 HCs). Participants at two academic sites (Israel and Italy) completed measures of psychopathology and experiments measuring visual resolution (Just Noticeable Difference), biases in food-size perception (Points of Subjective Equality), and holistic processing of food shape (indicated by the height-width illusion). Adolescents and adults with AN differed in the duration of illness and body mass index but showed comparable eating psychopathology and body measures. Patients with AN showed preserved visual resolution but distorted perception of food size, perceiving food as bigger than non-food objects, in both age groups. Patients with AN, both adolescents and adults, also processed food stimuli in a more analytic fashion, and were immune to the height-width illusion. The preserved perception of non-food stimuli in AN coupled with biases in food-size perception and in analytic processing of food shape highlight patients’ real-world difficulties in approaching food. Future treatments on AN may consider taking these differences into account.

Eating disorder symptoms and foraging for food related items

BackgroundForaging tasks have recently been increasingly used to investigate visual attention. Visual attention can be biased when certain stimuli capture our attention, especially threatening or anxiety-provoking stimuli, but such effects have not been addressed in foraging studies.MethodsWe measured potential attentional bias associated with eating disorder symptoms to food related stimuli with our previously developed iPad foraging task. Forty-four participants performed a foraging task where they were instructed to tap predesignated food related targets (healthy and unhealthy) and other non-food objects and completed four self-report questionnaires measuring symptoms of eating disorders. Participants were split into two groups based on their questionnaire scores, a symptom group and no symptom group.ResultsThe foraging results suggest that there are differences between the groups on switch costs and target selection times (intertarget times) but they were only statistically significant when extreme-group analyses (EGA) were used. There were also notable food versus non-food category effects in the foraging patterns.ConclusionsThe results suggest that foraging tasks of this sort can be used to assess attentional biases and we also speculate that they may eventually be used to treat them through attention bias modification. Additionally, the category effects that we see between food items and other items are highly interesting and encouraging. At the same time, task sensitivity will need to be improved. Finally, future tests of clinical samples could provide a clearer picture of the effects of eating disorder symptoms on foraging for food.

Red imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) cover inaccessible surfaces with particles to facilitate food search and transportation.

Eusocial insects have evolved diverse particle-use behaviors. A previous study reported that red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren, deposited soil particles on substances treated with essential balm, a fire ant repellent. We hypothesized that S. invicta modifies inaccessible surfaces by covering them with soil particles to facilitate food search and transportation. Here, laboratory experiments were conducted to study the particle-covering behavior of S. invicta in response to viscose surfaces or surfaces treated with essential balm or liquid paraffin in the presence of real food (sausage) or non-food objects (acrylic plates). S. invicta workers deposited significantly more soil particles on these three types of treated surfaces than on untreated surfaces. In addition, significantly more particles were relocated on viscose and paraffin-smeared surfaces in the presence of food than in the presence of non-food objects. The particle-covering behavior on viscose surfaces was also observed in the field. Interestingly, when no soil particles were available, ants searched and transported food on viscose surfaces only if the surfaces were artificially covered with sufficient quantities of soil particles but could not do so on viscose surfaces without soil particles or with insufficient quantities of soil particles. In addition, ants actively relocated particles to cover viscose surfaces if the transportation distance was within 200 mm, whereas significantly fewer particles were relocated at longer transportation distances (400 mm). Our study provides a novel example of particle use by fire ants during foraging.

Modulation of neural fMRI responses to visual food cues by overeating and fasting interventions: A preliminary study.

Neural processing of visual food stimuli is perturbated at extremes of weight. Human fMRI studies investigating diet effects on neural processing of food cues could aid in understanding altered brain activation in conditions of under‐ and overnutrition. In this preliminary study, we examined brain activity changes in response to 10 days of high‐calorie‐diet (HCD), followed by 10 days of fasting, hypothesizing that HCD would decrease activation in homeostatic and reward regions, while fasting would increase activation in homeostatic/reward regions and decrease activation of self‐control regions. Seven adults completed fMRI scanning during a food‐cue paradigm (high‐ and low‐calorie food images and nonfood objects), pre‐ and post‐10‐day HCD. Six adults completed fMRI scanning pre‐ and post‐10‐day fasting. BOLD response changes for contrasts of interest pre‐ versus post‐intervention in regions of interest were examined (peak‐level significance set at p(FWE)<0.05). BMI increased by 6.8% and decreased by 8.1% following HCD and fasting, respectively. Following HCD, BOLD response in the hypothalamus (homeostatic control), was attenuated at trend level in response to high‐ versus low‐calorie foods. Following fasting, BOLD response to food versus objects in inhibitory‐control areas (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) was reduced, whereas the activation of homeostatic (hypothalamus), gustatory, and reward brain areas (anterior insula and orbitofrontal cortex) increased. Overfeeding and fasting for 10 days modulate brain activity in response to food stimuli, suggesting that in healthy adults, changes in energy balance affect saliency and reward value of food cues. Future studies are required to understand this interaction in states of unhealthy weight.

Airway foreign bodies in pediatric patients: An analysis of composition and age via HCUP KID

ObjectiveTo compare outcomes for children food and non-food airway foreign body (AFB) diagnoses and to compare outcomes for patients age <2 versus ≥2 years with an AFB diagnosis. MethodsData from 2016 HCUP KID was used to compare outcomes for food and non-food AFB diagnoses based on location in the larynx, trachea, bronchus, and whole group (including these three specified locations and location unspecified). Outcomes were also compared for children aged <2 versus ≥2 years. Demographic data included age, race, gender, primary payer, location and teaching status of the hospital. Available co-morbidity data included APR-DRG mortality and APR-DRG severity. Outcomes were length of stay (LOS), total charge, mortality, and performance of a tracheotomy. Results2973 patients were included. 49.1% were less than 2 years old, the remainder (50.9%) were between 2 and 20 years old. Food AFBs made up 26.0% and 74.0% were other specified non-food AFBs. Overall mortality was 3.7%, and 3.8% underwent tracheotomy. Children with non-food AFBs were significantly older, had significantly longer median LOS, and higher median total charges, when compared to food AFBs. Non-food AFBs had a significantly higher likelihood of tracheotomy. Patients aged 2 or more years with bronchial AFBs had significantly higher total charges, LOS, and APR-DRG risk mortality and severity than <2 year old patients with bronchial AFBs. ConclusionAFBs remain a serious health concern, especially non-food objects in older children which have elevated risks.

SAT-487 Untreated Primary Hypothyroidism Presenting as Pica with Concurrent Hyponatremia and Rhabdomyolysis

Background:Psychosis is a rare but known presentation of hypothyroidism, whereas other mental health disorders are less commonly associated. Pica, the consumption of non-nutritive, non-food substances, has not been reported to be associated with hypothyroidism. We describe a case of untreated severe hypothyroidism in which the patient presented with pica that reversed with treatment with levothyroxine.Clinical case:A 65-year-old female with a history of cigarette smoking and chronic marijuana use was brought to the emergency department by family after she was found attempting to eat non-food objects such as pens and a toothbrush. She reported new onset unsteady gait and having frequent falls over the past several months in addition to being increasingly forgetful. She complained of fatigue and reported recent unintentional weight loss, but denied cold intolerance, skin or hair changes, or constipation. On admission, she was noted to be hypothermic with body temperature between 94-95 degrees Fahrenheit. Physical examination was essentially unremarkable with normal thyroid size and reflexes. No pretibial edema was noted. Admission labs showed hemoglobin of 14.0 g/dL with a white cell count of 8000 cells/uL, without evidence of anemia or infection. Sodium was low at 123 mmol/l and creatinine kinase was elevated at 989 U/L which peaked at 1356 U/L during her admission. CT of the head was negative for any acute intracranial process. Further workup was significant for TSH 85.6 mIU/L (0.27-4.20 mIU/L), free T4 <0.1 ng/dL (0.80-1.90 ng/dL), total T4 0.7 mcg/dL (5.1-11.9 mcg/dL), total T3 < 25 ng/dL (76-181 ng/dL), and TPO antibody 416 IU/ml (<9 IU/ml). AM cortisol was 27.0 ug/dL (6.2-19.4 ug/dL) at 8 AM, ruling out hypocortisolemia. The patient had not seen a medical provider in 10 years, had no recent health maintenance, and had no prior known history of thyroid disease. She was given IV fluids and started on oral levothyroxine 100 mcg daily due to the severity of hypothyroidism. Her sodium improved to 130 mmol/l over the next 4-5 days. Mental status returned to baseline with improvement in memory function and in gait and balance. Creatinine kinase trended down to 688 U/L over the next 2 days. She did not exhibit any additional behavior of eating non-food objects during the hospital stay. Patient was diagnosed to have severe hypothyroidism presenting as pica along with hyponatremia and rhabdomyolysis. Patient was discharged on levothyroxine 75 mcg daily.Clinical lessons/conclusions:Hyponatremia, rhabdomyolysis, and psychosis are relatively uncommon but known reported complications of untreated primary hypothyroidism. Acute psychosis has been reported as a presenting feature of undiagnosed hypothyroidism, but hypothyroidism presenting as pica as seen in our patient is extremely rare. This case highlights the importance of screening for hypothyroidism in patients presenting with unexplained pica.

Multiple Local Synaptic Modifications at Specific Sensorimotor Connections after Learning Are Associated with Behavioral Adaptations That Are Components of a Global Response Change.

Learning causes local changes in synaptic connectivity and coordinated, global changes affecting many aspects of behavior. How do local synaptic changes produce global behavioral changes? In the hermaphroditic mollusc Aplysia, after learning that food is inedible, memory is expressed as bias to reject a food and to reduce responses to that food. We now show that memory is also expressed as an increased bias to reject even a nonfood object. The increased bias to rejection is partially explained by changes in synaptic connections from primary mechanoafferents to five follower neurons with well defined roles in producing different feeding behaviors. Previously, these mechanoafferents had been shown to play a role in memory consolidation. Connectivity changes differed for each follower neuron: the probability that cells were connected changed; excitation changed to inhibition and vice versa; and connection amplitude changed. Thus, multiple neural changes at different sites underlie specific aspects of a coordinated behavioral change. Changes in the connectivity between mechanoafferents and their followers cannot account for all of the behavioral changes expressed after learning, indicating that additional synaptic sites are also changed. Access to the circuit controlling feeding can help determine the logic and cellular mechanisms by which multiple local synaptic changes produce an integrated, global change in behavior.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT How do local changes in synapses affect global behavior? Studies on invertebrate preparations usually examine synaptic changes at specific neural sites, producing a specific behavioral change. However, memory may be expressed by multiple behavioral changes. We report that a change in behavior after learning in Aplysia is accomplished, in part, by regulating connections between mechanoafferents and their synaptic followers. For some followers, the connection probabilities change; for others, the connection signs are reversed; in others, the connection strength is modified. Thus, learning produces changes in connectivity at multiple sites, via multiple synaptic mechanisms that are consistent with the observed behavioral change.

Spontaneous color preferences in rhesus monkeys: What is the advantage of primate trichromacy?

Color perception and color signaling play an important role in various aspects of animal behavior. However, in mammals, trichromatic vision characterized by three retinal photopigments tuned to peak short, middle and long wavelengths is limited only to some primate species. In Old and New World primates a second photopigment has appeared repeatedly during phylogeny, allowing red colors to be distinguished from yellows and greens.Several hypotheses aspire to explain the adaptive benefits of trichromatic vision for primates. The predominant one is foraging adaptation for facilitation visual detection of fruits or young leaves. Alternative explanations are based on the function of red color in aposematic signaling or its role in socio-sexual communication.We tested spontaneous color preference in macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta) for both food and non-food objects in a laboratory environment. We hypothesized that preference for or avoidance of red color together with the context of such behavior may help us to understand what the adaptive advantage leading to a rapid expansion of a gene for a second pigment in the long-wavelength region was.We found neither preference nor avoidance toward red color in non-food objects, but we found a significant preference for red color in food; therefore, we suggest that the results support the foraging hypothesis in macaque monkeys.

Urban herring gulls use human behavioural cues to locate food.

While many animals are negatively affected by urbanization, some species appear to thrive in urban environments. Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) are commonly found in urban areas and often scavenge food discarded by humans. Despite increasing interactions between humans and gulls, little is known about the cognitive underpinnings of urban gull behaviour and to what extent they use human behavioural cues when making foraging decisions. We investigated whether gulls are more attracted to anthropogenic items when they have been handled by a human. We first presented free-living gulls with two identical food objects, one of which was handled, and found that gulls preferentially pecked at the handled food object. We then tested whether gulls' attraction to human-handled objects generalizes to non-food items by presenting a new sample of gulls with two non-food objects, where, again, only one was handled. While similar numbers of gulls approached food and non-food objects in both experiments, they did not peck at handled non-food objects above chance levels. These results suggest that urban gulls generally show low levels of neophobia, but that they use human handling as a cue specifically in the context of food. These behaviours may contribute to gulls’ successful exploitation of urban environments.

Improvement of Structural and Technological Parameters of the Innovative Type Climate Chamber

While studying the influence of the parameters, characterizing heat removal from the working medium of the chamber, on operational characteristics of the experimental installation, the values of the amperage supplied to the thermoelectric module were being varied from 1.4 to 4.2 A, as well as the degree of chamber adiabaticity was being altered by changing the number of extruded polystyrene foam plates 20 mm thick in the build-up chamber cover from one to 3. The dynamics of the working medium temperature change depending on the amperage supplied to the thermoelectric module is illustrated by graph dependencies. As a result of data processing by constructing the second order orthogonal central composition plan the adequate regression equation was received for the cooling process and the thermo stating of the climate chamber working medium and the conclusion on a rational number of the chamber cover plates (which equals 3) was made. It was found out that upon increasing the amperage supplied to the thermoelectric module and using a three-plate cover the experimental chamber working medium temperature is varied from –2ºC to 11ºC, this can be applied for cooling and thermo stating various objects including biological raw materials of both animal and plant origin as well as non-food objects.

Oxytocin reduces the functional connectivity between brain regions involved in eating behavior in men with overweight and obesity.

Background:Oxytocin (OXT), shown to decrease food intake in animal models and men, is a promising novel treatment for obesity. We have shown that in men with overweight and obesity, intranasal (IN) OXT reduced the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) blood oxygenation level-dependent signal in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), the origin of the mesolimbic dopaminergic reward system, in response to high-calorie food vs. non-food images. Here, we employed functional connectivity fMRI analysis, which measures the synchrony in activation between neural systems in a context-dependent manner. We hypothesized that OXT would attenuate the functional connectivity of the VTA with key food motivation brain areas only when participants viewed high-calorie food stimuli.Methods:This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study of 24 IU IN OXT included 10 men with overweight or obesity (mean±SEM BMI: 28.9±0.8 kg/m2). Following drug administration, subjects completed an fMRI food motivation paradigm including images of high and low-calorie foods, non-food objects, and fixation stimuli. A psychophysiological interaction analysis was performed with the VTA as seed region.Results:Following OXT administration, compared with placebo, participants exhibited significantly attenuated functional connectivity between the VTA and the insula, oral somatosensory cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, operculum, and middle temporal gyrus in response to viewing high-calorie foods (Z≥3.1, cluster-corrected, p<0.05). There was no difference in functional connectivity between VTA and these brain areas when comparing OXT and placebo for low-calorie food, non-food, and fixation images.Conclusion:In men with overweight and obesity, OXT attenuates the functional connectivity between the VTA and food motivation brain regions in response to high-calorie visual food images. These findings could partially explain the observed anorexigenic effect of OXT, providing insight into the mechanism through which OXT ameliorates food cue-induced reward anticipation in patients with obesity. Additional studies are ongoing to further delineate the anorexigenic effect of OXT in obesity.