Sensory Behavior Research Articles

Sensory cues, behavior and fur-based drying in the rat wetness response.

It never rains in standard lab-confinements; thus we have limited understanding of animal reactions to water and wetness. To address this issue, we sprayed water on different body parts of rats and measured drying and fur temperature by thermal imaging while manipulating behavior, sensory cues and fur. Spraying water on rats resulted in fur changes (hair clumping, apex formation), grooming, shaking, and scratching. Anesthesia abolished behavioral responses, interfered with fur changes, and slowed drying. Spraying water on different body parts resulted in differential behavioral drying responses. Spraying the head resulted in grooming and shaking responses; water evaporated from the head twice as fast as water sprayed on the animal's back or belly. We observed no effect of whisker removal on post-water-spraying behavior. In contrast, local anesthesia of dorsal facial skin reduced post-water-spraying behavioral responses. Shaving of head fur drastically enhanced post-water-spraying behaviors, but reduced water loss during drying; indicating that fur promotes evaporation, acting in tandem with behavior to mediate drying. Excised wet fur patches dried and cooled faster than shaved excised wet skin. Water was sucked into distal hair tips, where it evaporated. We propose the wet-fur-heat-pump-hypothesis; fur might extract heat required for drying by cooling ambient air.

Sensory processing, executive function, and behavior in children with ADHD

ABSTRACT The relationship between sensory processing, executive function, and behavior in children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is far from clear. The aim of this study was to examine the mediating role of executive function in the relationship between sensory processing and behavior in ADHD. Sixty-three children (51 boys), aged between 7 and 14 years participated in this study. Caregivers completed the Sensory Profile 2 (SP-2), the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function 2 (BRIEF-2), and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to assess sensory processing, executive function, and behavior, respectively. Positive and significant associations were found between sensory processing, executive function, and behavioral problems. In addition, positive indirect effects between sensory processing and behavior were mediated by executive function. These findings add to other evidence on neurodevelopmental disorders, suggesting that sensory processing may be a foundational aspect related to executive function, which in turn affects behavior in ADHD.

Development of Web-Based Learning Media on Behavior Management to Enhance Activities of Daily Living for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The aim of this project was to create an evidence-based learning media designed to address the behavior issues of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with activities of daily living. Composed of two phases, the first phase used eight school based occupational therapists identify the challenge with daily tasks and behavior management strategies for intervention. After the data was analyzed, the learning media was developed and reviewed by the therapists, content experts and 90 parents of autistic children. The web-based education consists of: 1) problems affecting the ADL performance of children with ASD: eating, tooth brushing, dressing, and sleeping divided between behavioral and sensory challenge and 2) behavior management strategies were identified to enhance the ADL performance of children with ASD and included sensory integration, environmental, and behavior modification. Parent perspectives revealed that the learning media were easily understandable and simple to use, with suitable font, size, and color of the text, as well as appropriate user interaction.

Imaging the large-scale and cellular response to focal traumatic brain injury in mouse neocortex.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects neural function at the local injury site and also at distant, connected brain areas. However, the real-time neural dynamics in response to injury and subsequent effects on sensory processing and behavior are not fully resolved, especially across a range of spatial scales. We used in vivo calcium imaging in awake, head-restrained male and female mice to measure large-scale and cellular resolution neuronal activation, respectively, in response to a mild/moderate TBI induced by focal controlled cortical impact (CCI) injury of the motor cortex (M1). Widefield imaging revealed an immediate CCI-induced activation at the injury site, followed by a massive slow wave of calcium signal activation that traveled across the majority of the dorsal cortex within approximately 30 s. Correspondingly, two-photon calcium imaging in primary somatosensory cortex (S1) found strong activation of neuropil and neuronal populations during the CCI-induced traveling wave. A depression of calcium signals followed the wave, during which we observed atypical activity of a sparse population of S1 neurons. Longitudinal imaging in the hours and days after CCI revealed increases in the area of whisker-evoked sensory maps at early time points, in parallel to decreases in cortical functional connectivity and behavioral measures. Neural and behavioral changes mostly recovered over hours to days in our M1-TBI model, with a more lasting decrease in the number of active S1 neurons. Our results in unanesthetized mice describe novel spatial and temporal neural adaptations that occur at cortical sites remote to a focal brain injury.

Concerted transcriptional regulation of the morphogenesis of hypothalamic neurons by ONECUT3

Acquisition of specialized cellular features is controlled by the ordered expression of transcription factors (TFs) along differentiation trajectories. Here, we find a member of the Onecut TF family, ONECUT3, expressed in postmitotic neurons that leave their Ascl1+/Onecut1/2+ proliferative domain in the vertebrate hypothalamus to instruct neuronal differentiation. We combined single-cell RNA-seq and gain-of-function experiments for gene network reconstruction to show that ONECUT3 affects the polarization and morphogenesis of both hypothalamic GABA-derived dopamine and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)+ glutamate neurons through neuron navigator-2 (NAV2). In vivo, siRNA-mediated knockdown of ONECUT3 in neonatal mice reduced NAV2 mRNA, as well as neurite complexity in Onecut3-containing neurons, while genetic deletion of Onecut3/ceh-48 in C. elegans impaired neurocircuit wiring, and sensory discrimination-based behaviors. Thus, ONECUT3, conserved across neuronal subtypes and many species, underpins the polarization and morphological plasticity of phenotypically distinct neurons that descend from a common pool of Ascl1+ progenitors in the hypothalamus.

Effects of Ball-Vests for Children Exhibiting Sensory Seeking Behaviour: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial

ABSTRACT Children with challenges processing sensory information can have difficulties affecting their ability to participate in school activities, which may affect their potential for learning. The aim of this study was to examine the possible effects of an intervention with three weeks use of ball-vests that provide proprioceptive-tactile stimulation for children exhibiting sensory seeking behaviour. Methods: The study was a pragmatic randomized controlled trial that included 142 children (105 boys and 37 girls, mean age 8.9 years) with dysfunction in sensory processing and sensory seeking behaviour. The children´s ability for attention was measured with the “Test of Everyday Attention-Children” (TEA-Ch), their occupational competence in school activities with the “Child Occupational Self-Assessment” (COSA) and the extent of off-task behaviour with the “Observational off-task Behavior among School-children” (OBS-Children). Data was analysed using linear mixed model regression. Results: Children in the intervention group had a significantly larger increase in self-assessed occupational competence than children in the control group (B = 5.78, p = 0.004). No differences regarding attention or extent of off-task behaviour between intervention and control group were found. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04173871..

Treatment with quercetin mitigates polystyrene nanoparticle-induced reduction in neuron capacity by inhibiting dopaminergic neurodegeneration and facilitating dopamine metabolism in Caenorhabditis elegans

In organisms, long-term nanopolystyrenes (PS-NPs) exposure can cause toxicity, including neurotoxicity. Quercetin, the flavonol with extensive distribution within plants, possesses diverse biological activities. Nevertheless, the possible effect of quercetin to suppress PS-NPs-induced neurotoxicity and its associated mechanism remains unknown. Thus, in the present work, Caenorhabditis elegans was utilized as the model animal to investigate quercetin's pharmacological effect on suppressing PS-NPs-induced neurotoxicity and the underlying mechanism. PS-NPs exposure at 1–100 μg/L remarkably reduced locomotion behavior, while only PS-NPs exposure at 100 μg/L significantly decrease sensory perception behavior. Meanwhile, the increase in the number of worms with dopaminergic neurodegeneration was detected in nematodes exposed to 100 μg/L PS-NPs and the decreased dopamine content was observed within nematodes exposed to 10–100 μg/L PS-NPs, demonstrating the function of dopaminergic neurodegeneration and disruption of dopamine metabolism in inducing PS-NPs toxicity on neuron capacity. After 100 μg/L PS-NPs exposure, the 25–100 μM quercetin treatment effectively increased the locomotion behavior and the sensory perception behavior. Developmentally, quercetin treatment (100 μM) remarkably enhanced fluorescence intensity while decreasing worm number with neurodegeneration within BZ555 transgenic strains exposed to 100 μg/L PS-NPs. Physiologically, quercetin treatment (100 μM) significantly enhanced dopamine content within nematodes exposed to 100 μg/L PS-NPs. Molecularly, quercetin treatment (100 μM) notably decreased the expressions of genes governing neurodegeneration (mec-4, deg-3, unc-68, itr-1, clp-1, and asp-3) while significantly increasing the expression of genes governing dopamine metabolism (cat-2, cat-1, dop-1, dop-2, dop-3). As revealed by molecular docking results, quercetin might bind to excitotoxic-like ion channels receptors (MEC-4 and DEG-3) and dopamine secreted protein (CAT-2). Consequently, findings in this work demonstrated that long-term PS-NPs exposure within the μg/L range (1–100 μg/L) was toxic to neuron capacity, which was associated with the enhancement in dopaminergic neurodegeneration and disruption of dopamine metabolism. Notably, PS-NPs-mediated neurotoxicity to nematodes is probably suppressed through subsequent quercetin treatment.

Chemogenetic inhibition of pain-related neurons in the posterior insula cortex reduces mechanical hyperalgesia and anxiety-like behavior during acute pain

Pain is a complex phenomenon that involves sensory, emotional, and cognitive components. The posterior insula cortex (pIC) has been shown to integrate multisensory experience with emotional and cognitive states. However, the involvement of the pIC in the regulation of affective behavior in pain remains unclear. Here, we investigate the role of pain-related pIC neurons in the regulation of anxiety-like behavior during acute pain. We combined a chemogenetic approach with targeted recombination in active populations (TRAP) in mice. Global chemogenetic inhibition of pIC neurons attenuates chemically-induced mechanical hypersensitivity without affecting pain-related anxiety-like behavior. In contrast, inhibition of pain-related pIC neurons reduces both mechanical hypersensitivity and pain-related anxiety-like behavior. The present study provides important insights into the role of pIC neurons in the regulation of sensory and affective pain-related behavior.

Hyper-focus, sticky attention, and springy attention in young autistic children: Associations with sensory behaviors and cognitive ability.

The autistic-developed monotropism account suggests that atypical, domain-general attentional hyper-focus on interests is a central aspect of autism, but domain-general attention differences in autism can manifest differently. Prior research suggests autistic children are often slow to disengage attention from stimuli-a pattern often called "sticky attention"-and that they can show reduced novelty preference. These attentional patterns could influence sensory experiences and learning. We used eye-tracking to investigate novelty preference and "sticky attention" in young autistic children; we also examined whether attentional patterns were related to cognitive abilities and caregiver-reported sensory responsiveness. A total of 46 autistic and 28 nonautistic participants, aged between 2 and 4 years, provided usable data. We found no evidence that autistic children exhibited greater "sticky attention" than nonautistics, but "sticky attention" in autism was associated with more caregiver-reported sensory hyper-responsiveness, seeking/interests, and enhanced perception. Autistic children also nonsignificantly trended toward exhibiting reduced novelty preference. Unexpectedly, the time-course of this trending novelty preference difference implied it was not driven by reduced orienting to novelty, but increased returning to already-familiarized stimuli: what we call "springy attention." Exploratory analyses of data from the attentional disengagement task suggest autistic participants may have exhibited greater "springy attention," though further research with paradigms optimized for measuring this construct should confirm this. Importantly, "springy attention" was robustly related to reduced cognitive abilities and greater caregiver-reported hypo-responsiveness. Thus, this study illuminates two distinct domain-general attentional patterns, each with distinct correlates in young autistic children, which could have important implications for understanding autistic children's learning, development, and experiences.

Exploring Patterns of Sensory Processing Behavior in Adults With & Without COVID-19 Experience in Taiwan

Abstract Date Presented 03/23/24 This research poster will discuss (1) the occurrence of COVID-19–related sensory changes in adults with prior COVID-19 experience and (2) compare the sensory processing patterns between adults with and without prior COVID-19 experience in Taiwan. Primary Author and Speaker: Ying-Chia Kao Additional Authors and Speakers: Yun-An Tsai, Chia-Ying Liao, Chiao Yin Lin, Yong-Xin Liang, Megan C. C. Chang

Sensory Processing & Behavioral Implications for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma

Abstract Date Presented 03/23/24 Childhood maltreatment has a harmful impact on the developing brain. This work will contribute to an understanding of how maltreatment affects sensory processing and of the relationships between sensory processing challenges and behavior. Primary Author and Speaker: Michelle A. Suarez Additional Authors and Speakers: Kelsey M. Lehman

Centering cognitive neuroscience on task demands and generalization.

Cognitive neuroscience seeks generalizable theories explaining the relationship between behavioral, physiological and mental states. In pursuit of such theories, we propose a theoretical and empirical framework that centers on understanding task demands and the mutual constraints they impose on behavior and neural activity. Task demands emerge from the interaction between an agent's sensory impressions, goals and behavior, which jointly shape the activity and structure of the nervous system on multiple spatiotemporal scales. Understanding this interaction requires multitask studies that vary more than one experimental component (for example, stimuli and instructions) combined with dense behavioral and neural sampling and explicit testing for generalization across tasks and data modalities. By centering task demands rather than mental processes that tasks are assumed to engage, this framework paves the way for the discovery of new generalizable concepts unconstrained by existing taxonomies, and moves cognitive neuroscience toward an action-oriented, dynamic and integrated view of the brain.

Exploring the Usefulness of a Multi-Sensory Environment on Sensory Behaviors in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurological development with social and communication deficits and sensory abnormalities. Sensory problems have a significant impact on daily life. Multisensory environments (MSEs), such as Snoezelen® rooms, offer controlled sensory stimulation. This study aims to evaluate the effect of MSE intervention with self-controlled sensory interactions on adaptive developmental skills and sensory responses in preschool ASD children. Methods: This pilot study was single-blind, randomized, controlled, and adhered to the CONSORT guidelines. Twenty participants were recruited and randomized into two groups: the control group (CG) underwent treatment as usual (TAU) with individual rehabilitation sessions of psychomotor therapy. The experimental group (EG) underwent TAU integrated with the use of an MSE. Developmental abilities and severity levels were assessed, pre-post, with the Psychoeducational Profile, Third Edition (PEP-3) and the Second Edition Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS-2). Results: A significant difference in taste, smell, and tactile behaviors according to the CARS-2, as well as in gross motor skills according to the PEP-3, was observed in the EG. Conclusions: This pilot study suggests that MSE-integrated intervention may be a valid strategy to improve self-management of the sensory profile in autistic individuals. Further studies are needed to better identify the intervention methodology and effectiveness.

Acute rapamycin treatment reveals novel mechanisms of behavioral, physiological, and functional dysfunction in a maternal inflammation mouse model of autism and sensory over-responsivity.

Maternal inflammatory response (MIR) during early gestation in mice induces a cascade of physiological and behavioral changes that have been associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In a prior study and the current one, we find that mild MIR results in chronic systemic and neuro-inflammation, mTOR pathway activation, mild brain overgrowth followed by regionally specific volumetric changes, sensory processing dysregulation, and social and repetitive behavior abnormalities. Prior studies of rapamycin treatment in autism models have focused on chronic treatments that might be expected to alter or prevent physical brain changes. Here, we have focused on the acute effects of rapamycin to uncover novel mechanisms of dysfunction and related to mTOR pathway signaling. We find that within 2 hours, rapamycin treatment could rapidly rescue neuronal hyper-excitability, seizure susceptibility, functional network connectivity and brain community structure, and repetitive behaviors and sensory over-responsivity in adult offspring with persistent brain overgrowth. These CNS-mediated effects are also associated with alteration of the expression of several ASD-,ion channel-, and epilepsy-associated genes, in the same time frame. Our findings suggest that mTOR dysregulation in MIR offspring is a key contributor to various levels of brain dysfunction, including neuronal excitability, altered gene expression in multiple cell types, sensory functional network connectivity, and modulation of information flow. However, we demonstrate that the adult MIR brain is also amenable to rapid normalization of these functional changes which results in the rescue of both core and comorbid ASD behaviors in adult animals without requiring long-term physical alterations to the brain. Thus, restoring excitatory/inhibitory imbalance and sensory functional network modularity may be important targets for therapeutically addressing both primary sensory and social behavior phenotypes, and compensatory repetitive behavior phenotypes.

Predicting behavior in extinct reptiles from quantitative analysis of trigeminal osteological correlates

IntroductionVertebrate sensory systems are in close contact with surrounding tissues, often leaving bony signatures behind. These bony features are the keys to assessing variation in sensory systems in fossil taxa. The trigeminal sensory system (e.g., trigeminal ganglion, ophthalmic, maxillary, and mandibular divisions) has osteological correlates throughout the skull, including the braincase (e.g., trigeminal fossa, prootic notch, ophthalmic and maxillomandibular foramina) and rostrum (e.g., mandibular canal, neurovascular foramina).MethodsHere we measured and compared these features among a morphologically, phylogenetically, and ecologically diverse sample of sauropsids to determine strength of osteological correlates and to explore ecomorphological trends. We determined several suitable osteological correlates for trigeminal soft tissue features and discounted foramen count alone as a suitable osteological correlate. However, when size was accounted for, foramen count becomes a useful indicator of sensory ecology.Results and discussionAmong extant taxa, those engaging in tactile sensory behaviors with the face exhibit relatively larger trigeminal tissues and osteological correlates than those not engaging in tactile sensory behaviors. Though patterns are unclear among several clades, both relative feature sizes and models used to predict sensory capacity reveal a trend of increasing tactile sensitivity along the pseudosuchian lineage. Overall, a quantitative assessment of ecomorphological trends of trigeminal osteological correlates proves informative for the hypotheses of sensory behavior in extinct taxa and supports the use of similar assessment methods for other osteological correlates.

A Visual Interface for Exploring Hypotheses About Neural Circuits.

One of the fundamental problems in neurobiological research is to understand how neural circuits generate behaviors in response to sensory stimuli. Elucidating such neural circuits requires anatomical and functional information about the neurons that are active during the processing of the sensory information and generation of the respective response, as well as an identification of the connections between these neurons. With modern imaging techniques, both morphological properties of individual neurons as well as functional information related to sensory processing, information integration and behavior can be obtained. Given the resulting information, neurobiologists are faced with the task of identifying the anatomical structures down to individual neurons that are linked to the studied behavior and the processing of the respective sensory stimuli. Here, we present a novel interactive tool that assists neurobiologists in the aforementioned tasks by allowing them to extract hypothetical neural circuits constrained by anatomical and functional data. Our approach is based on two types of structural data: brain regions that are anatomically or functionally defined, and morphologies of individual neurons. Both types of structural data are interlinked and augmented with additional information. The presented tool allows the expert user to identify neurons using Boolean queries. The interactive formulation of these queries is supported by linked views, using, among other things, two novel 2D abstractions of neural circuits. The approach was validated in two case studies investigating the neural basis of vision-based behavioral responses in zebrafish larvae. Despite this particular application, we believe that the presented tool will be of general interest for exploring hypotheses about neural circuits in other species, genera and taxa.

Decoding the task specificity of post-error adjustments: Features and determinants

Errors typically trigger post-error adjustments aimed at improving subsequent reactions within a single task, but little work has focused on whether these adjustments are task-general or task-specific across different tasks. We collected behavioral and electrophysiological (EEG) data when participants performed a psychological refractory period paradigm. This paradigm required them to complete Task 1 and Task 2 separated by a variable stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA). Behaviorally, post-error slowing and post-error accuracy exhibited task-general features at short SOAs but some task-specific features at long SOAs. EEG results manifest that task-general adjustments had a short-lived effect, whereas task-specific adjustments were long-lasting. Moreover, error awareness specifically conduced to the improvement of subsequent sensory processing and behavior performance in Task 1 (the task where errors occurred). These findings demonstrate that post-error adjustments rely on both transient, task-general interference and longer-lasting, task-specific control mechanisms simultaneously, with error awareness playing a crucial role in determining these mechanisms. We further discuss the contribution of central resources to the task specificity of post-error adjustments.

Maternal immune activation affects female offspring whisker movements during object exploration in a rat model of neurodevelopmental disorders

Poly I:C rat offspring are used to investigate the effects of in utero exposure to maternal immune activation (MIA) and have been suggested as a model of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). The behavioural symptoms of this model are diverse and can vary with external factors, including the choice of background strain and husbandry practices. Measuring whisker movements provides quantitative, robust measurements of sensory, motor and cognitive behaviours in rodents. In this study, whisker movements were investigated in 50-day-old male and female offspring of MIA-exposed rat dams and compared to age-matched offspring of control (vehicle) dams. Rat offspring were filmed using high-speed videography in a sequential object exploration task with smooth and textured objects. Poly I:C treatment effects were found in female offspring that did not increase whisker mean angular position during object exploration, especially for the smooth object, indicating an attentional deficit. Whisker tracking during object exploration is demonstrated here, for the first time, as a useful, quick and non-invasive tool to identify both treatment effects and sex differences in a model of MIA-induced NDDs.

Sensory-Behavioral Deficits in Parkinson's Disease: Insights from a 6-OHDA Mouse Model.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the striatum, predominantly associated with motor symptoms. However, non-motor deficits, particularly sensory symptoms, often precede motor manifestations, offering a potential early diagnostic window. The impact of non-motor deficits on sensation behavior and the underlying mechanisms remains poorly understood. In this study, we examined changes in tactile sensation within a Parkinsonian state by employing a mouse model of PD induced by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) to deplete striatal dopamine (DA). Leveraging the conserved mouse whisker system as a model for tactile-sensory stimulation, we conducted psychophysical experiments to assess sensory-driven behavioral performance during a tactile detection task in both the healthy and Parkinson-like states. Our findings reveal that DA depletion induces pronounced alterations in tactile sensation behavior, extending beyond expected motor impairments. We observed diverse behavioral deficits, spanning detection performance, task engagement, and reward accumulation, among lesioned individuals. While subjects with extreme DA depletion consistently showed severe sensory behavioral deficits, others with substantial DA depletion displayed minimal changes in sensory behavior performance. Moreover, some exhibited moderate degradation of behavioral performance, likely stemming from sensory signaling loss rather than motor impairment. The implementation of a sensory detection task is a promising approach to quantify the extent of impairments associated with DA depletion in the animal model. This facilitates the exploration of early non-motor deficits in PD, emphasizing the importance of incorporating sensory assessments in understanding the diverse spectrum of PD symptoms.

Rule-based modulation of a sensorimotor transformation across cortical areas.

Flexible responses to sensory stimuli based on changing rules are critical for adapting to a dynamic environment. However, it remains unclear how the brain encodes and uses rule information to guide behavior. Here, we made single-unit recordings while head-fixed mice performed a cross-modal sensory selection task where they switched between two rules: licking in response to tactile stimuli while rejecting visual stimuli, or vice versa. Along a cortical sensorimotor processing stream including the primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory areas, and the medial (MM) and anterolateral (ALM) motor areas, single-neuron activity distinguished between the two rules both prior to and in response to the tactile stimulus. We hypothesized that neural populations in these areas would show rule-dependent preparatory states, which would shape the subsequent sensory processing and behavior. This hypothesis was supported for the motor cortical areas (MM and ALM) by findings that (1) the current task rule could be decoded from pre-stimulus population activity; (2) neural subspaces containing the population activity differed between the two rules; and (3) optogenetic disruption of pre-stimulus states impaired task performance. Our findings indicate that flexible action selection in response to sensory input can occur via configuration of preparatory states in the motor cortex.