Preference Behavior Research Articles

Food preference-based screening method for identification of effectors of substance use disorders using Caenorhabditis elegans

Substance use disorder (SUD) affects over 48 million Americans aged 12 and over. Thus, identifying novel chemicals contributing to SUD will be critical for developing efficient prevention and mitigation strategies. Considering the complexity of the actions and effects of these substances on human behavior, a high-throughput platform using a living organism is ideal. We developed a quick and easy screening assay using Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans prefers high-quality food (Escherichia coli HB101) over low-quality food (Bacillus megaterium), with a food preference index of approximately 0.2, defined as the difference in the number of worms at E. coli HB101 and B. megaterium over the total worm number. The food preference index was significantly increased by loperamide, a μ-opioid receptor (MOPR) agonist, and decreased by naloxone, a MOPR antagonist. These changes depended on npr-17, a C. elegans homolog of opioid receptors. In addition, the food preference index was significantly increased by arachidonyl-2′-chloroethylamide, a cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R) agonist, and decreased by rimonabant, a CB1R inverse agonist. These changes depended on npr-19, a homolog of CB1R. These results suggest that the conserved opioid and endocannabinoid systems modulate the food preference behaviors of C. elegans. Finally, the humanoid C. elegans strains where npr-17 was replaced with human MOPR and where npr-19 was replaced with human CB1R phenocopied the changes in food preference by the drug treatment. Together, the current results show that this method can be used to rapidly screen the potential effectors of MOPR and CB1R to yield results highly translatable to humans.

Point defects, doping and the path to n-type SnTe

Point defects in SnTe were studied using first-principles modeling. Sn vacancies were found to be spontaneously formed in SnTe and make it intrinsically a p-type semiconductor, in excellent accord with experiments. The calculated electronic structure for Sn vacancy reveals that the Fermi level is shifted down into the valence band and presents p-type behavior. In contrast, the Fermi level shifts near the conduction band minimum (CBM) for Te vacancy and presents an n-type behavior. All the interstitial sites were considered for a comprehensive intrinsic point defect study. The body-centered (tetrahedral) site was found to be a stable interstitial configuration for Sn, whereas the split<111> interstitial was preferred for Te. We found that the electronic structures due to the interstitial configurations were distinct. Sn interstitials defects, Fermi level was shifted inside the conduction band for body interstitial, near to CBM for split 111 interstitial, whereas inside the bandgap for the base and split 110 interstitial defects. Contrary results were obtained for Te interstitial defects; the Fermi level was found inside the valence band for body interstitial, close to VBM for split 111, while the Fermi level was obtained inside the bandgap for base and split 110 interstitial defects. In addition, extrinsic oxygen impurities and other possible dopants that can transform SnTe to n-type were investigated. Interstitial oxygen was found to be stable at the body-interstitial site and is incorporated easily into the material in both Sn- and Te-rich environments, leading the material to p-type. The Fermi level was obtained inside the bandgap for oxygen substituted in Te vacancy and showed no preferred conductivity behavior. Finally, we find that Sb, Bi, and halogens (in Sn-rich conditions) can significantly improve electron concentrations and be promising dopants to transform the material's intrinsic conductivity from p-type to n-type. Notably, the sample should be prevented from incorporating oxygen impurities while doping sample n-type.

Study of two glycosyltransferases related to polysaccharide biosynthesis in Rhodococcus jostii RHA1.

The bacterial genus Rhodococcus comprises organisms performing oleaginous behaviors under certain growth conditions and ratios of carbon and nitrogen availability. Rhodococci are outstanding producers of biofuel precursors, where lipid and glycogen metabolisms are closely related. Thus, a better understanding of rhodococcal carbon partitioning requires identifying catalytic steps redirecting sugar moieties to storage molecules. Here, we analyzed two GT4 glycosyl-transferases from Rhodococcus jostii (RjoGlgAb and RjoGlgAc) annotated as α-glucan-α-1,4-glucosyl transferases, putatively involved in glycogen synthesis. Both enzymes were produced in Escherichia coli cells, purified to homogeneity, and kinetically characterized. RjoGlgAb and RjoGlgAc presented the "canonical" glycogen synthase activity and were actives as maltose-1P synthases, although to a different extent. Then, RjoGlgAc is a homologous enzyme to the mycobacterial GlgM, with similar kinetic behavior and glucosyl-donor preference. RjoGlgAc was two orders of magnitude more efficient to glucosylate glucose-1P than glycogen, also using glucosamine-1P as a catalytically efficient aglycon. Instead, RjoGlgAb exhibited both activities with similar kinetic efficiency and preference for short-branched α-1,4-glucans. Curiously, RjoGlgAb presented a super-oligomeric conformation (higher than 15 subunits), representing a novel enzyme with a unique structure-to-function relationship. Kinetic results presented herein constitute a hint to infer on polysaccharides biosynthesis in rhodococci from an enzymological point of view.

Trichopria anastrephae: A Promising Neotropical-Native Parasitoid for Drosophila suzukii Control

Trichopria anastrephae: A Promising Neotropical-Native Parasitoid for Drosophila suzukii Control

Analyses of relational coherence and rule following: Consistent liars are preferred over occasional truth tellers.

The current study explored the influence of different levels of speaker coherence on rule following and speaker preference. In Experiment 1, rules provided by three different speakers were either 100% accurate, 0% accurate, or 50% accurate/inaccurate. Experiment 2 was similar to Experiment 1 except that the speaker's coherence was adjusted to 80% accurate, 20% accurate, and 50% accurate/inaccurate, respectively. Overall, participants tended to follow coherent speaker rules and avoid following incoherent speaker rules during training and testing phases. The results also indicated that following and not following rules provided by speakers may be generalizable to novel stimuli and maintained in the absence of differential reinforcement (i.e., in experimental test phases). Additionally, in a preference test, participants tended to prefer coherent over incoherent and partially coherent speakers. Furthermore, participants tended to prefer the relatively more incoherent speaker (i.e., 0% or 20% accurate) over the 50% accurate coherent speaker in both experiments. Finally, a comparison of the results of both experiments indicated that different levels of relational coherence affected the variability of rule-following and speaker preference behaviors. These findings are discussed in the context of the complexities that appear to be involved in rule-following behaviors and speaker preference.

Defending behavior in school bullying: The role of empathic self-efficacy, social preference, and student-teacher relationship

Being able to defend victims of school bullying is central in any intervention; thus, it seems paramount to investigate which factors may contribute to defending behavior. The present report aims to investigate whether empathic self-efficacy is associated with helping behavior and whether interpersonal factors (i.e., social preference and student-teacher relationship) may interact with it. The sample comprised 249 middle-school students (47.80% boys) aged 11–14 years, who received peer nominations on defending behavior and social preference. Self-reports were used to assess empathic self-efficacy and the relationship with the teachers. Results highlight a positive association between empathic self-efficacy and defending behavior when social preference and a positive relationship with teachers were average or high but not when they were low. Results are discussed in light of the importance of considering individual and interpersonal factors to understand defending in bullying situations and to develop intervention programs.

Patient-reported preferences in eHealth-based cardiac rehabilitation: A qualitative investigation of behavior change techniques, barriers and facilitators

BackgroundCardiac rehabilitation (CR) reduces recurrent cardiac events and mortality in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Innovative eHealth methods can facilitate CR uptake and effectiveness by addressing barriers associated with clinic-based rehabilitation. Tailoring eHealth-based CR to patient preferences is needed to further enhance CR. PurposeTo identify preferred behavior change techniques (BCTs) as well as barriers and facilitators for the different health behaviors targeted in eHealth-based CR among patients who have been referred to CR. MethodsThirty-nine patients were interviewed in nine focus groups in The Netherlands, Germany, and Spain. A thematic analysis, using a combined deductive and inductive approach to coding, was conducted to identify BCTs and barriers and facilitators to behavior change. Behaviors under investigation included physical activity, medication adherence, eating a cardiac healthy-diet, stress reduction and smoking cessation. ResultsThe perceived helpfulness of BCTs depended on the specific behavior targeted. Common barriers were negative emotional state and physical limitations. A desire to feel physically or mentally well and having experienced a cardiac life event were the most common facilitators across health behaviors. Specific BCTs, barriers and facilitators were found for each of the health behavior. ConclusionsBehavior change techniques that patients preferred for each health behavior targeted in eHealth-based CR were identified. A negative emotional state, experiencing a life event, and improving physical functioning are important barriers and facilitators in multiple behaviors targeted in eHealth-based CR programs. Additional tailoring of interventions to patient preferences for BCTs and patient-specific barriers and facilitators per health behavior could lead to further improvement of eHealth-based CR.

The development of self- and group orientations among Chinese young adolescents: Implications for social and behavioral adjustment.

Self- and group orientations represent distinct ways of perceiving the relations between the world and the self and are relevant to adolescents' development. Most of the existing studies in this area are cross-sectional, providing little information about how self- and group orientations develop. This 3-year longitudinal study examined the developmental patterns of self- and group orientations and their relations with adjustment among Chinese adolescents. The participants included 1,257 students (648 boys, initial Mage = 13.37 years, SD = 0.63 years). Data on self- and group orientations and social and behavioral adjustment were obtained from multiple sources, including self-reports, peer nominations, and teacher ratings. The results showed that self-orientation increased, and group orientation decreased during early adolescence. Moreover, an increase (slope) in self-orientation was positively associated with subsequent assertive behavior, whereas a slower decrease in group orientation was positively associated with subsequent prosocial behavior and peer preference. The initial level (intercept) of self-orientation was positively associated with later externalizing problems, and the initial level of group orientation was negatively associated with later internalizing problems. The intercepts of self- and group orientations were higher for boys than girls. No significant gender differences were found in the slopes of self- and group orientations or in the associations of intercepts and slopes with adjustment outcomes. The results indicated different developmental patterns of self- and group orientations and their different implications for adjustment in Chinese adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Research on the village layout optimization in China's developed areas based on daily life circles.

Public service facilities are the basic material carrier of social services. It is of great significance for the operation of social justice and the improvement of residents' wellbeing. In the process of rapid urbanization, the demand for traffic convenience and diversity of public service facilities in rural areas has been further improved. Since the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, it is more necessary to meet the public service needs of human daily life within a certain space. The huge gap between urban and rural infrastructures, human living conditions, and supporting public services such as education, health, and culture has become a key bottleneck constraining the integration of urban and rural areas. It is appropriate to focus on the requirements for the construction of daily life circles and prioritize the satisfaction of villagers' increasing demand for public services in regions characterized by high levels of urban-rural integration. The behavior preference of public service facilities significantly affects the choice of residential areas. The existing research on village layout optimization focused on the spatial pattern, landscape morphology, influencing factors, and other contents. To some extent, the preference for equalization of public services in the context of urban-rural integration has been ignored. Uneven distribution and low utilization of public service facilities in villages resulted in an inability to adapt spatially and functionally in response to the renewal of urban-rural relations. Taking a highly developed urban and rural integration area named Wuxi City of Jiangsu Province in China as an example, this paper combines the current situation of public service facility allocation and the transport situation of residents in rural areas to build a life-circle system of different levels. On this basis, combined with the optimization goal of public service facilities and the constraints of agglomeration coverage, we try to determine the village layout optimization scheme under the construction of both the daily life circle and location-allocation model. The study can effectively adjust the allocation of public resources in rural areas and solve the problems of irrational village layout leading to long travel distances. It can also serve as a reference for improving the situation of lagging rural public service functions and promoting urban-rural equalization.

Preferred lifestyle intervention characteristics and behaviour change needs of postpartum women following cardiometabolic pregnancy complications.

Women with cardiometabolic pregnancy complications are at increased risk of future diabetes and heart disease which can be reduced through lifestyle management postpartum. This study aimed to explore preferred intervention characteristics and behaviour change needs of women with or without prior cardiometabolic pregnancy complications for engaging in postpartum lifestyle interventions. Quantitative cross-sectional study. Online survey. Overall, 473 women were included, 207 (gestational diabetes (n = 105), gestational hypertension (n = 39), preeclampsia (n = 35), preterm birth (n = 65) and small for gestational age (n = 23)) with and 266 without prior cardiometabolic pregnancy complications. Women with and without complications had similar intervention preferences, with delivery ideally by a healthcare professional with expertise in women's health, occurring during maternal child health nurse visits or online, commencing 7 weeks to 3 months post birth, with 15- to 30-min monthly sessions, lasting 1 year and including monitoring of progress and social support. Women with prior complications preferred intervention content on women's health, mental health, exercise, mother's diet and their children's health and needed to know more about how to change behaviour, have more time to do it and feel they want to do it enough to participate. There were significant differences between groups, with more women with prior cardiometabolic pregnancy complications wanting content on women's health (87.9% vs 80.8%, p = 0.037), mother's diet (72.5% vs 60.5%, p = 0.007), preventing diabetes or heart disease (43.5% vs 27.4%, p < 0.001) and exercise after birth (78.3% vs 68.0%, p = 0.014), having someone to monitor their progress (69.6% vs 58.6%, p = 0.014), needing the necessary materials (47.3% vs 37.6%, p = 0.033), triggers to prompt them (44.0% vs 31.6%, p = 0.006) and feeling they want to do it enough (73.4%, 63.2%, p = 0.018). These unique preferences should be considered in future postpartum lifestyle interventions to enhance engagement, improve health and reduce risk of future cardiometabolic disease in these high-risk women.

Exploring Consumer Psychology in Marketing Management: A Strategic Perspective through Descriptive Inquiry and Literature Review

This study delves into the intricate dynamics of consumer psychology within the realm of marketing management, aiming to provide valuable insights for marketers and researchers alike. Employing a descriptive inquiry methodology, the research explores various factors influencing consumer behavior, including internal determinants, cognitive processes, and external influences. Through a systematic literature review and thematic analysis, the study elucidates the critical role of brand equity in driving consumer choice and purchase behavior. Additionally, the research highlights the significance of pricing strategies, cognitive biases, and impulse buying behavior in shaping consumer preferences and decisions. The findings underscore the importance of understanding the interplay between situational cues, mood states, and individual traits in driving impulse purchases, offering actionable insights for marketers seeking to capitalize on spontaneous buying opportunities. Moreover, the study identifies emerging trends such as the influence of social media, cultural values, and experiential marketing on consumer behavior, paving the way for further research in this dynamic field. Overall, this research contributes to the ongoing discourse on consumer psychology and offers practical implications for marketers aiming to enhance brand engagement, foster customer loyalty, and drive sustainable business growth.

A growing soft robot with climbing plant-inspired adaptive behaviors for navigation in unstructured environments.

Self-growing robots are an emerging solution in soft robotics for navigating, exploring, and colonizing unstructured environments. However, their ability to grow and move in heterogeneous three-dimensional (3D) spaces, comparable with real-world conditions, is still developing. We present an autonomous growing robot that draws inspiration from the behavioral adaptive strategies of climbing plants to navigate unstructured environments. The robot mimics climbing plants' apical shoot to sense and coordinate additive adaptive growth via an embedded additive manufacturing mechanism and a sensorized tip. Growth orientation, comparable with tropisms in real plants, is dictated by external stimuli, including gravity, light, and shade. These are incorporated within a vector field method to implement the preferred adaptive behavior for a given environment and task, such as growth toward light and/or against gravity. We demonstrate the robot's ability to navigate through growth in relation to voids, potential supports, and thoroughfares in otherwise complex habitats. Adaptive twining around vertical supports can provide an escape from mechanical stress due to self-support, reduce energy expenditure for construction costs, and develop an anchorage point to support further growth and crossing gaps. The robot adapts its material printing parameters to develop a light body and fast growth to twine on supports or a tougher body to enable self-support and cross gaps. These features, typical of climbing plants, highlight a potential for adaptive robots and their on-demand manufacturing. They are especially promising for applications in exploring, monitoring, and interacting with unstructured environments or in the autonomous construction of complex infrastructures.

Hierarchical Constrained Variational Autoencoder for interaction-sparse recommendations

Predicting potential user behaviors is of great importance in recommendation systems. Existing behavior prediction works mainly aim to construct the user behavior preference based on a large amount of user interaction data, but the prediction performance deteriorates when facing the users with a few interactions. A common and effective approach to alleviate the interaction-sparse problem is to incorporate the auxiliary information as much as possible, in which the hybrid (Variational Autoencoder) VAE method reports the optimal performance with the advantages of non-linear modeling and comprehensive integration. However, the hybrid VAE only focuses on the attribute data, which limits the richness and robustness of the user preference representation in interaction-sparse scenario. In this paper, we propose a novel hybrid VAE model, named Hierarchical Constrained Variational AutoEncoder Jointly Attributes and Neighbors (HiCVAE), to tackle the above limitations. Specifically, HiCVAE additionally introduces fine-grained neighbors’ behaviors as auxiliary information to enhance the richness and robustness of the user preference representation on the basis of the attribute data, by learning a hierarchical prior instead of a standard Gaussian prior. The prior on the attribute data is responsible for the community preference relevant to a group with the same attributes. Further, the conditional prior over the neighborhood data can capture the personalized information and provide further constraints for the new user preference representation. In addition, a Preference Consistency Loss is proposed to restrict the reconstructed interest to be consistent with the user’s real interest and eliminate the irrelevant information on the neighborhood data. Thorough and extensive experiments conducted on two real-world datasets demonstrate that the HiCVAE significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in various interaction-sparse scenarios (sparse, highly sparse and extremely sparse).

Assessment of the risk of depression with correlation selected aspects of sex in men

Introduction: Male depression continues to beunderrated in terms of commonness and gravity. Thismay be substantially linked to the fact that men havetrouble admitting that they suffer from depression.Aim of the study: The study aimed to assess the riskof depression in males in relation to health behaviours,loneliness, satisfaction with life, potential sleep disorders, the ability to cope with stress, and the relationships between risky activities, unprotected sex, engaging in casual sexual contacts and problems with erection/impotenceMaterials and methods: The study was based on anoriginal questionnaire, the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, the Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale, theBeck's Depression Inventory, the Gotland MaleDepression Scale, the Health Behaviour Inventory, theSatisfaction With Life Scale, the Rosenberg SelfEsteem Scale, General Anxiety Disorder GAD-7 andthe Athens Insomnia Scale. The respondents were 616randomly selected men aged 20 to 64, currently healthyand not addicted to alcohol.Results: The average score of the respondents in theBeck's Depression Inventory was 30.8, and 97.4% ofthem suggested mild or moderate depression. Theaverage score according to the Gotland MaleDepression Scale was 23.0, and for 95.5% of therespondents, it suggested possible or highly probabledepression. On the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale,the average values were 33.4 points (quite severeloneliness). On the Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale bySchwarzer et al, the average score of the respondents was 33.4 points (a quite high average self-efficacy).The average score of the men according to the HealthBehaviour Inventory was 66.9 points (low level ofhealth behaviours), according to the Satisfaction WithLife Scale, 18.6 points (average satisfaction with life),according to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale 30.4points (relatively good self-esteem), of the GeneralAnxiety Disorder - 15.7 points (possibility of exacerbation of the symptoms of generalized anxietydisorder) and according to the Athens Insomnia Scale7.0 points (borderline normal).Conclusions: Most respondents were at risk ofdepression. Significant factors contributing to the riskof depression include age, marital status, place ofliving, flatmates, education, financial standing, level ofloneliness, generalised anxiety, satisfaction with life,preferred health behaviours, sleeping problems, level ofself-esteem and anxiety, and self-efficacy. Significantcorrelations were found between early diagnosis ofdepression/anxiety disorders and identification of therisk of depression. There was no effect of previouslydiagnosed depression and anxiety disorders ondeclaring taking risky activities, including practicingunprotected sex, making casual sexual contacts, andhaving problems with erection/impotence. The currentstudy confirmed the influence of depressive disorderson declaring taking risky actions, including unprotectedsex, and problems with erection/impotence, documented in the literature

Інструментальне забезпечення та контролювання адаптивності формування стратегії інноваційного розвитку бізнес-структур в умовах глобалізації

The article is devoted to a review of the instrumental support for the formation of innovation development strategies at different stages of its implementation, taking into account the needs of adaptability to a changing environment. The aim of the article is to clarify the critical role of instrumental support in improving the strategic planning processes of business structures, which allows them to effectively navigate and adapt to the rapid transformations caused by globalization. The study shows a toolkit for developing and implementing innovations that ensure the adaptability and sustainability of enterprises in a dynamic environment. The use of specialized tools at each stage of the strategic innovation process allows organizations not only to survive but also to thrive, turning challenges into opportunities. At the stage of identifying the need for innovation, analysis tools such as SWOT and PESTEL help organizations gain a deeper understanding of the internal and external factors that affect their operations. Analyzing the external environment using competitive analysis and market research provides critical insights into industry trends, competitor behavior, and changes in consumer preferences. This allows businesses to adapt to changes in a timely manner, optimize their strategic initiatives, and find niches for innovation. When it comes to calculating the cost of an innovation strategy, financial modeling and cost-benefit analysis become indispensable tools that provide a clear understanding of the potential ROI and help management make informed investment decisions. At the stage of implementing an innovation strategy, project management and co-working tools become critical for coordinating teams, managing resources, and tracking progress in implementing innovative projects. Prototyping and modeling allow to test new ideas and conceptions, minimizing risks and costs in the early stages of development. The practical significance of the study is to obtain systematized and grouped data, making use of various tools at different levels of strategic innovation planning.

Disparities in Healthcare-Seeking Behavior and Decision Preference Among Hispanics: A Comparative Study Across Races/Ethnicities, SES, and Provider Types.

Hispanics, the largest minority in America, have increased risk of several medical issues and face noteworthy health disparities. This study compares care-seeking behaviors and choice experience among Hispanics, Asians, Blacks, and Whites, considering SES (income, education, and insurance status) and across five healthcare provider (HCP) types. Concurrent analysis provides a comprehensive view of how and where inequity manifests in healthcare. A cross-sectional online survey assessed 1485 adults (Hispanic=314, Asian=313, Black=316, White=542, recruited through a panel agency) of the frequency of visiting primary care providers, dentists, optometrists, gynecologists, and specialists for chronic conditions. Participants also rated the importance of self-selecting a HCP and difficulty in finding one. Whites visited each HCP most regularly. Compared to Asians, more Hispanics saw specialists regularly (45.1% vs 56.5%, p=0.042), and Blacks saw dentists less (47.0% vs 38.3%, p=0.028) and gynecologists more often (21.2% vs 33.1%, p=0.024). No other frequency differences were observed among minorities. Low-income participants across four races saw dentists and gynecologists with comparable infrequency. Hispanics and Asians assigned similarly significantly lower self-choice importance and experienced more difficulty relative to Whites or Blacks. Participants with lower income or education visited HCPs less regularly yet perceived the same choice importance as higher-SES peers (p>0.05). Notably, discrepancies in visit frequency between Whites and minorities were more pronounced in higher-SES than lower-SES group. Differences in experiencing care-seeking difficulty were associated with income (p=0.029) and insurance type (p=0.009) but not education (p>0.05). Higher income and education increase healthcare utilization; however, racial disparities persist, particularly among higher-SES groups. Despite similarities among minorities, the extent of disparities varied by SES and provider type. The findings help explain evident inequity in healthcare access and health outcomes. Tailored patient education, culturally-specific navigation support, and more inclusive services are needed to address barriers faced by minorities and disadvantaged populations.

Assessing the acclimatisation to the wild of stocked European graylings Thymallus thymallus by monitoring lipid dynamics and food consumption

This study investigated how 2+-year-old stocked pond-reared European graylings (Thymallus thymallus) acclimatised to a wild environment during six months (May–October 2019) after released. We examined the quantity and composition of lipids in the liver, muscles and visceral adipose tissues (VAT), as well as size parameters, condition factors and stomach contents. Our results showed a low post-stocking recapture rate (5.17%) of stocked fish after 6 months suggesting a poor acclimation to the wild environment. During the six months of monitoring, stocked fishes exhibited a sharp decrease in lipid content in all examined tissues, and, in the final month, lipid content was well below those of wild conspecifics. Stocked graylings preferred risky foraging behaviour and consumed numerous small drift preys with occasional hyperphagic events, thus experiencing strong bioenergetic challenges. Our study reveals that fish cultivated for extended periods struggle to acclimatise to the wild environment and that this commonly used stocking practice seems unsuccessful when aimed at strengthening wild grayling populations.

The role of the mediodorsal thalamus in chemosensory preference and consummatory behavior in rats.

Experience plays a pivotal role in determining our food preferences. Consuming food generates odor-taste associations that shape our perceptual judgements of chemosensory stimuli, such as their intensity, familiarity, and pleasantness. The process of making consummatory choices relies on a network of brain regions to integrate and process chemosensory information. The mediodorsal thalamus is a higher-order thalamic nucleus involved in many experience-dependent chemosensory behaviors, including olfactory attention, odor discrimination, and the hedonic perception of flavors. Recent research has shown that neurons in the mediodorsal thalamus represent the sensory and affective properties of experienced odors, tastes, and odor-taste mixtures. However, its role in guiding consummatory choices remains unclear. To investigate the influence of the mediodorsal thalamus in the consummatory choice for experienced odors, tastes, and odor-taste mixtures, we pharmacologically inactivated the mediodorsal thalamus during 2-bottle brief-access tasks. We found that inactivation altered the preference for specific odor-taste mixtures, significantly reduced consumption of the preferred taste and increased within-trial sampling of both chemosensory stimulus options. Our results show that the mediodorsal thalamus plays a crucial role in consummatory decisions related to chemosensory preference and attention.

A personalized recommendation method of online and offline mixed teaching resources based on user preference behavior

A personalized recommendation method of online and offline mixed teaching resources based on user preference behavior

Hyperactive mTORC1 in striatum dysregulates dopamine receptor expression and odor preference behavior.

Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) plays an important role in brain development and synaptic plasticity. Dysregulation of the mTOR pathway is observed in various human central nervous system diseases, including tuberous sclerosis complex, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. Numerous studies focused on the effects of hyperactivation of mTOR on cortical excitatory neurons, while only a few studies focused on inhibitory neurons. Here we generated transgenic mice in which mTORC1 signaling is hyperactivated in inhibitory neurons in the striatum, while cortical neurons left unaffected. The hyperactivation of mTORC1 signaling increased GABAergic inhibitory neurons in the striatum. The transgenic mice exhibited the upregulation of dopamine receptor D1 and the downregulation of dopamine receptor D2 in medium spiny neurons in the ventral striatum. Finally, the transgenic mice demonstrated impaired motor learning and dysregulated olfactory preference behavior, though the basic function of olfaction was preserved. These findings reveal that the mTORC1 signaling pathway plays an essential role in the development and function of the striatal inhibitory neurons and suggest the critical involvement of the mTORC1 pathway in the locomotor abnormalities in neurodegenerative diseases and the sensory defects in ASD.