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Behavioural Brain Research Apr 2024Dopamine (DA) is mainly involved in locomotor activity, reward processes and maternal behaviors. Rats with KO gene for dopamine transporter (DAT), coding for a truncated...
Dopamine (DA) is mainly involved in locomotor activity, reward processes and maternal behaviors. Rats with KO gene for dopamine transporter (DAT), coding for a truncated DAT protein, are in hyperdopaminergic conditions and thus develop stereotyped behaviors and hyperactivity. Our aim was to test the prior transgenerational modulation of wild and truncated alleles as expressed in heterozygous DAT rats: specifically, we addressed the possible sequelae due to genotype and gender of the ancestors, with regard to behavioral differences in F, F, F rats. We studied non-classical DAT heterozygotes (HETs) based on two specular lines, with putative grand-maternal vs. grand-paternal imprinting. MAT females (F; offspring of KO male and WT female) mated with a KO male to generate MIX offspring (F). Specularly, PAT females (F; offspring of KO female and WT male) mated with a KO male to generate PIX offspring (F). Similarly to PAT, we obtained MUX (F; HET offspring of MAT sire and KO dam); we also observed the F (MYX: HET offspring of KO male and MUX female, thus with DAT-KO maternal grandmother like also for PIX). We studied their circadian cycle of locomotor activity and their behavior in the elevated-plus-maze (EPM). Locomotor hyper-activity occurs in F, the opposite occurs in F, with MYX rats appearing undistinguishable from WT ones. Open-arm preference emerged in PIX and MIX rats. Only MAT and MYX rats showed a significant vulnerability for ADHD-like inattentive symptoms (duration of rearing in the EPM; Viggiano et al., 2002). A risk-taking profile is evident in the F phenotype, while inattentiveness from F progeny tends to be transferred to F. We hypothesize that DAT-related phenotypes result from effective inheritance through pedigree of imprints that are dependent on grandparents, suggesting a protective role for gestation within a hyperdopaminergic uterus. For major features, similar odd (F, F) generations appear opposed to even (F) ones; for minor specific features, the phenotype transfer may affect the progenies with a male but not a female DAT-KO ancestor.
Topics: Rats; Male; Female; Animals; Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; Heterozygote; Reproduction; Phenotype; Cognition
PubMed: 38408522
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114921 -
BMC Medical Education Feb 2024Attitudes determine behavior, and alterations in attitude may result in behavioral changes. Medical students would benefit from learning communication skills. This study...
BACKGROUND
Attitudes determine behavior, and alterations in attitude may result in behavioral changes. Medical students would benefit from learning communication skills. This study aimed to determine the attitude of medical students toward the importance of learning communication skills and the training courses and their role in contributing.
METHODS
In this cross-sectional study, 442 medical students from three different levels of medical training were enrolled. Students in the first 4 years of the medical program were classified as basic sciences and physiopathology students, those in the fifth and sixth years were classified as clerkship students, and those in the last three terms of medical training were classified as interns. The attitude among these three groups was assessed by the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) questionnaire, and the contributing factors were determined.
RESULTS
The mean total points for attitude in positive and negative aspects were 50.7 and 30.9, respectively showing a positive attitude toward communication skills among medical students. The median scores of the scales Important in Medical Content, Excuse, Learning, and Overconfidence varied significantly from highest to lowest, respectively. Gender, educational level, ethnic origin, language, family burden, paternal literacy, history of presence in communication skills courses, self-report from communication skills, and need to further learning in this era showed significant association with attitude (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
It may be concluded that generally, medical students have a positive attitude toward communication skills, and this perspective is a multi-factorial entity that programming according to the various related factors would help to attainment of additional communication capabilities among medical students.
Topics: Humans; Iran; Attitude of Health Personnel; Students, Medical; Cross-Sectional Studies; Communication; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 38403653
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-024-05140-8 -
Translational Psychiatry Feb 2024Epidemiological investigations indicate that parental drug abuse experiences significantly influenced the addiction vulnerability of offspring. Studies using animal...
Epidemiological investigations indicate that parental drug abuse experiences significantly influenced the addiction vulnerability of offspring. Studies using animal models have shown that paternal cocaine use and highly motivated drug-seeking behavior are important determinants of offspring addiction susceptibility. However, the key molecules contributing to offspring addiction susceptibility are currently unclear. The motivation for cocaine-seeking behavior in offspring of male rats was compared between those whose fathers self-administered cocaine (SA) and those who were yoked with them and received non-contingent cocaine administrations (Yoke). We found that paternal experience with cocaine-seeking behavior, but not direct cocaine exposure, could lead to increased lever-pressing behavior in male F1 offspring. This effect was observed without significant changes to the dose-response relationship. The transcriptomes of ventral tegmental area (VTA) in offspring were analyzed under both naive state and after self-administration training. Specific transcriptomic changes in response to paternal cocaine-seeking experiences were found, which mainly affected biological processes such as synaptic connections and receptor signaling pathways. Through joint analysis of these candidate genes and parental drug-seeking motivation scores, we found that gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor subunit gamma-3 (Gabrg3) was in the hub position of the drug-seeking motivation-related module network and highly correlated with parental drug-seeking motivation scores. The downregulation of Gabrg3 expression, caused by paternal motivational cocaine-seeking, mainly occurred in GABAergic neurons in the VTA. Furthermore, down-regulating GABAergic Gabrg3 in VTA resulted in an increase in cocaine-seeking behavior in the Yoke F1 group. This down-regulation also reduced transcriptome differences between the Yoke and SA groups, affecting processes related to synaptic formation and neurotransmitter transmission. Taken together, we propose that paternal cocaine-seeking behavior, rather than direct drug exposure, significantly influences offspring addiction susceptibility through the downregulation of Gabrg3 in GABAergic neurons of the VTA, highlighting the importance of understanding specific molecular pathways in the intergenerational inheritance of addiction vulnerability.
Topics: Rats; Male; Animals; Humans; Ventral Tegmental Area; Motivation; Cocaine; Cocaine-Related Disorders; Fathers; Self Administration; Drug-Seeking Behavior; Receptors, GABA-A
PubMed: 38388464
DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-02835-w -
Journal of Pediatric Surgery Jun 2024Studies of mental health in adolescents with Hirschsprung disease (HD) are scarce. This cross-sectional study investigates mental health, psychosocial functioning and...
BACKGROUND
Studies of mental health in adolescents with Hirschsprung disease (HD) are scarce. This cross-sectional study investigates mental health, psychosocial functioning and quality of life in HD adolescents.
METHODS
Adolescents (12-18 years) treated at the Department of pediatric surgery at Oslo University Hospital were invited for participation. Mental health was assessed by interview; Child Assessment Schedule (CAS) and questionnaires; parental Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and adolescent Youth Self-Report (YSR). Psychosocial functioning was rated by Child Global Assessment Scale (cGAS). Adolescent Quality of Life was assessed by Pediatric Quality of Life inventory (PedsQL) and chronic family difficulties (CFD) by interview. Medical records were reviewed for somatic history.
RESULTS
Thirty-seven adolescents, 28 males, median age 14.3 years, participated. By CAS interview, 8 of 37 (44% of females and 14% of males) fulfilled criteria for psychiatric diagnosis all within emotional and related disorders. Twenty-seven percent had CBCL internalizing scores and 16% had YSR internalizing scores in clinical range indicating emotional problems. By interviewer rated cGAS, 27% were scored in clinical range. By PedsQL 16% reported reduced psychosocial health score. Increased CFD, lower psychosocial functioning and reduced QoL as well as less paternal education were significantly associated with psychiatric diagnosis. Twice as many (4/8) adolescents who either had a stoma or bowel management had a psychiatric diagnosis compared to those who had neither stoma nor bowel management (7/28).
CONCLUSION
Nearly one in four adolescents with HD fulfilled criteria for psychiatric diagnosis. Mental health problems were associated with reduced psychosocial function and reduced QoL.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
III.
Topics: Humans; Hirschsprung Disease; Male; Quality of Life; Female; Adolescent; Cross-Sectional Studies; Child; Mental Health; Psychosocial Functioning; Mental Disorders
PubMed: 38369401
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2024.01.024 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences Feb 2024In males, large testes size signifies high sperm production and is commonly linked to heightened sperm competition levels. It may also evolve as a response to an...
In males, large testes size signifies high sperm production and is commonly linked to heightened sperm competition levels. It may also evolve as a response to an elevated risk of sperm depletion due to multiple mating or large clutch sizes. Conversely, weapons, mate or clutch guarding may allow individuals to monopolize mating events and preclude sperm competition, thereby reducing the selection of large testes. Herein, we examined how paternal care, sexual size dimorphism (SSD), weaponry and female fecundity are linked to testes size in glassfrogs. We found that paternal care was associated with a reduction in relative testes size, suggesting an evolutionary trade-off between testes size and parenting. Although females were slightly larger than males and species with paternal care tended to have larger clutches, there was no significant relationship between SSD, clutch size and relative testes size. These findings suggest that the evolution of testes size in glassfrogs is influenced by sperm competition risk, rather than sperm depletion risk. We infer that clutch guarding precludes the risk of fertilization by other males and consequently diminishes selective pressure for larger testes. Our study highlights the prominent role of paternal care in the evolution of testes size in species with external fertilization.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Animals; Testis; Parenting; Semen; Spermatozoa; Reproduction; Sexual Behavior, Animal
PubMed: 38351799
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0054 -
Frontiers in Neural Circuits 2023Parental care plays a crucial role in the physical and mental well-being of mammalian offspring. Although sexually naïve male mice, as well as certain strains of female... (Review)
Review
Parental care plays a crucial role in the physical and mental well-being of mammalian offspring. Although sexually naïve male mice, as well as certain strains of female mice, display aggression toward pups, they exhibit heightened parental caregiving behaviors as they approach the time of anticipating their offspring. In this Mini Review, I provide a concise overview of the current understanding of distinct limbic neural types and their circuits governing both aggressive and caregiving behaviors toward infant mice. Subsequently, I delve into recent advancements in the understanding of the molecular, cellular, and neural circuit mechanisms that regulate behavioral plasticity during the transition to parenthood, with a specific focus on the sex steroid hormone estrogen and neural hormone oxytocin. Additionally, I explore potential sex-related differences and highlight some critical unanswered questions that warrant further investigation.
Topics: Humans; Mice; Male; Animals; Female; Paternal Behavior; Aggression; Oxytocin; Mammals
PubMed: 38298741
DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2023.1340497 -
Journal of Evolutionary Biology Jan 2024The evolutionary repercussions of parental effects-the impact of the developmental environment provided by parents on offspring-are often discussed as static effects...
The evolutionary repercussions of parental effects-the impact of the developmental environment provided by parents on offspring-are often discussed as static effects that can have negative influences on offspring fitness that may even persist across generations. However, individuals are not passive recipients and may mitigate the persistence of parental effects through their behaviour. Here, we tested how the burying beetle, Nicrophorus orbicollis, a species with complex parental care, responded to poor parenting. We cross-fostered young and manipulated the duration of parental care received and measured the impact on traits of both F1 and F2 offspring to experimentally extricate the effect of poor parenting from other parental effects. As expected, reducing parental care negatively affected traits that are ecologically important for burying beetles, including F1 offspring development time and body size. However, F1 parents that received reduced care as larvae spent more time feeding F2 offspring than parents that received full care as larvae. As a result, both the number and mass of F2 offspring were unaffected by the developmental experience of their parents. Our results show that flexible parental care may be able to overcome poor developmental environments and limit negative parental effects to a single generation.
Topics: Animals; Parenting; Larva; Coleoptera; Behavior, Animal; Biological Evolution
PubMed: 38285656
DOI: 10.1093/jeb/voad005 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... Jan 2024Biological relatedness is a key consideration in studies of behavior, population structure, and trait evolution. Except for parent-offspring dyads, pedigrees capture...
Biological relatedness is a key consideration in studies of behavior, population structure, and trait evolution. Except for parent-offspring dyads, pedigrees capture relatedness imperfectly. The number and length of DNA segments that are identical-by-descent (IBD) yield the most precise estimates of relatedness. Here, we leverage novel methods for estimating locus-specific IBD from low coverage whole genome resequencing data to demonstrate the feasibility and value of resolving fine-scaled gradients of relatedness in free-living animals. Using primarily 4-6× coverage data from a rhesus macaque () population with available long-term pedigree data, we show that we can call the number and length of IBD segments across the genome with high accuracy even at 0.5× coverage. The resulting estimates demonstrate substantial variation in genetic relatedness within kin classes, leading to overlapping distributions between kin classes. They identify cryptic genetic relatives that are not represented in the pedigree and reveal elevated recombination rates in females relative to males, which allows us to discriminate maternal and paternal kin using genotype data alone. Our findings represent a breakthrough in the ability to understand the predictors and consequences of genetic relatedness in natural populations, contributing to our understanding of a fundamental component of population structure in the wild.
PubMed: 38260273
DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.09.574911 -
Nutrients Jan 2024Understanding how fathers engage in feeding while experiencing disadvantage is important for family-focused interventions. A cross-sectional online survey involving 264...
Understanding how fathers engage in feeding while experiencing disadvantage is important for family-focused interventions. A cross-sectional online survey involving 264 Australian fathers was conducted to explore feeding involvement and the relationships between feeding practices, food insecurity, and household and work chaos. Practices related to coercive control, structure, and autonomy support were measured for two age groups (<2 years and 2-5 years). Multivariable linear regression was used to examine the associations for each practice. Three-quarters of the sample were food insecure, impacting adults more than children, and correlated with household chaos. Food insecurity was associated with increased 'persuasive feeding' and 'parent-led feeding' in younger children. Household chaos was positively associated with coercive control practices in both younger and older child groups, with the strongest associations for 'using food to calm' and 'overt restriction', respectively. In older child groups, household chaos was negatively associated with 'offer new foods' and 'repeated presentation of new foods'. Structure practices had no significant relationships with any factors, and work chaos did not predict any feeding practices. These findings emphasize a need for societal and structural support to address food insecurity and household chaos. Tailored strategies are crucial to support fathers in responsive feeding.
Topics: Adult; Child, Preschool; Humans; Male; Australia; Cross-Sectional Studies; Fathers; Food Security; Meals
PubMed: 38257098
DOI: 10.3390/nu16020205 -
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland) Jan 2024A series of studies have shown that mothers' early tactile behaviors have positive effects, both on full-term and preterm infants, and on mothers alike. Regarding... (Review)
Review
A series of studies have shown that mothers' early tactile behaviors have positive effects, both on full-term and preterm infants, and on mothers alike. Regarding fathers, research has focused mostly on paternal skin-to-skin care with preterm infants and has overlooked the tactile behavior effects with full-term newborns on infants' outcomes and on fathers themselves. The current systematic review considered the evidence regarding paternal tactile behaviors with full-term infants, including skin-to-skin care (SSC) and spontaneous touch (ST), during parent-infant interactions, and differentiated biophysiological, behavioral and psychological variables both in fathers and in infants. We also compared fathers' and mothers' tactile behaviors for potential differences. The few available studies suggest that paternal touch-SSC and ST-can have positive effects on fathers and infants alike. They also show that, despite some intrinsic differences, paternal touch is as pleasant as maternal touch. However, given the paucity of studies on the topic, we discuss why this field of research should be further explored.
PubMed: 38247712
DOI: 10.3390/bs14010060