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The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Jul 2022While conflict between incompatible goals has well-known effects on actions, in many situations the same action may produce harmful or beneficial consequences during...
While conflict between incompatible goals has well-known effects on actions, in many situations the same action may produce harmful or beneficial consequences during different periods in a nonconflicting manner, e.g., crossing the street during a red or green light. To avoid harm, subjects must be cautious to inhibit the action specifically when it is punished, as in passive avoidance, but act when it is beneficial, as in active avoidance or active approach. In mice of both sexes performing a signaled action to avoid harm or obtain reward, we found that addition of a new rule that punishes the action when it occurs unsignaled delays the timing of the signaled action in an apparent sign of increased caution. Caution depended on task signaling, contingency, and reinforcement type. Interestingly, caution became persistent when the signaled action was avoidance motivated by danger but was only transient when it was approach motivated by reward. Although caution is represented by the activity of neurons in the midbrain, it developed independent of frontal cortex or basal ganglia output circuits. These results indicate that caution disrupts actions in different ways depending on the motivational state and may develop from unforeseen brain circuits. Actions, such as crossing the street at a light, can have benefits during one light signal (getting somewhere) but can be harmful during a different signal (being run over). Humans must be cautious to cross the street during the period marked by the appropriate signal. In mice performing a signaled action to avoid harm or obtain reward, we found that addition of a new rule that punishes the action when it occurs unsignaled, delays the timing of the signaled action in an apparent sign of increased caution. Caution became persistent when the signaled action was motivated by danger, but not when it was motivated by reward. Moreover, the development of caution did not depend on prototypical frontal cortex circuits.
Topics: Animals; Avoidance Learning; Basal Ganglia; Choice Behavior; Female; Humans; Male; Mesencephalon; Mice; Reinforcement, Psychology; Reward
PubMed: 35705490
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1892-21.2022 -
Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis 1980The mechanisms involved in avoidance behavior are discussed. It is assumed that the conditioned stimulus (CS) activates the memory pattern of associations related to the... (Review)
Review
The mechanisms involved in avoidance behavior are discussed. It is assumed that the conditioned stimulus (CS) activates the memory pattern of associations related to the former applications of the unconditioned stimulus (US) and, as a result, produces an undesirable sensory state. This activates another memory pattern of associations related to the avoidance response and the postponement of the US. The performance of the avoidance response discontinues the CS, resulting in inactivation of the first memory pattern; this leads to a removal of the undesirable sensations, i.e., to an improvement in the sensory state. It is suggested that avoidance behavior obeys the same general rules which apply to approach (appetitive) behavior. In both approach and avoidance behavior the instrumental response provides a desirable sensory change (due to obtaining of the desired US in approach behavior and the postponement of the undesired US together with the discontinuation of CS in avoidance behavior). In 'both cases the response gradually extinguishes when its performance no longer provides the sensory "better-being".
Topics: Animals; Avoidance Learning; Cats; Conditioning, Classical; Conditioning, Operant; Dogs; Electroencephalography; Electroshock; Extinction, Psychological; Heart Rate; Motivation; Sound
PubMed: 6999840
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Applied Animal Welfare... 2008Learned helplessness is a psychological condition whereby individuals learn that they have no control over unpleasant or harmful conditions, that their actions are... (Review)
Review
Learned helplessness is a psychological condition whereby individuals learn that they have no control over unpleasant or harmful conditions, that their actions are futile, and that they are helpless. In a series of experiments in which dogs were exposed to inescapable shocks, this lack of control subsequently interfered with the ability to learn an avoidance task. There is evidence that both neural adaptations and behavioral despair occur in response to uncontrollable aversive experiences in rodents, although this has yet to be demonstrated in other species such as horses. However, certain traditional methods of horse training and some behavioral modification techniques--it has been suggested--may involve aversive conditions over which the horse has little or no control. When training and management procedures are repeatedly unpleasant for the horse and there is no clear association between behavior and outcome, this is likely to interfere with learning and performance-in addition to compromising welfare. This article reviews published literature and anecdotal evidence to explore the possibility that the phenomenon, learned helplessness, occurs in the horse.
Topics: Animal Welfare; Animals; Avoidance Learning; Behavior, Animal; Dogs; Escape Reaction; Helplessness, Learned; Horses; Rats; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 18569222
DOI: 10.1080/10888700802101130 -
Neuroscience Jun 2024The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) is known to show three types of behavioral responses to novel objects. Whereas some rats are indifferent to novel objects, neophobic...
The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) is known to show three types of behavioral responses to novel objects. Whereas some rats are indifferent to novel objects, neophobic and neophilic rats show avoidance and approach behavior, respectively. Here, we compared the dopaminergic, serotonergic, and noradrenergic systems immunohistochemically among these rats. Trapped wild rats and laboratory rats were first individually exposed to the novel objects in their home cage. Wild rats were divided into neophobic and indifferent rats depending on their behavioral responses. Similarly, laboratory rats were divided into neophilic and indifferent rats. Consistent with the behavioral differences, in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, Fos expression in corticotropin-releasing hormone-containing neurons was higher in the neophobic rats than in the indifferent rats. In the anterior basal amygdala, the neophobic rats showed higher Fos expression than the indifferent rats. In the posterior basal amygdala, the neophobic and neophilic rats showed lower and higher Fos expressions than the indifferent rats, respectively. When we compared the neuromodulatory systems, in the dorsal raphe, the number of serotonergic neurons and Fos expression in serotonergic neurons increased linearly from neophobic to indifferent to neophilic rats. In the ventral tegmental area, Fos expression in dopaminergic neurons was higher in the neophilic rats than in the indifferent rats. These results demonstrate that approach/avoidance behavior to novel objects is correlated with the serotonergic and dopaminergic systems in the brown rat. We propose that the serotonergic system suppresses avoidance behavior while the dopaminergic system enhances approach behavior to novel objects.
Topics: Animals; Male; Rats; Avoidance Learning; Serotonergic Neurons; Dopaminergic Neurons; Dopamine; Serotonin; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; Brain; Exploratory Behavior; Behavior, Animal; Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone
PubMed: 38723837
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2024.05.003 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Oct 2021Determining the valence of an odor to guide rapid approach-avoidance behavior is thought to be one of the core tasks of the olfactory system, and yet little is known of...
Determining the valence of an odor to guide rapid approach-avoidance behavior is thought to be one of the core tasks of the olfactory system, and yet little is known of the initial neural mechanisms supporting this process or of its subsequent behavioral manifestation in humans. In two experiments, we measured the functional processing of odor valence perception in the human olfactory bulb (OB)-the first processing stage of the olfactory system-using a noninvasive method as well as assessed the subsequent motor avoidance response. We demonstrate that odor valence perception is associated with both gamma and beta activity in the human OB. Moreover, we show that negative, but not positive, odors initiate an early beta response in the OB, a response that is linked to a preparatory neural motor response in the motor cortex. Finally, in a separate experiment, we show that negative odors trigger a full-body motor avoidance response, manifested as a rapid leaning away from the odor, within the time period predicted by the OB results. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the human OB processes odor valence in a sequential manner in both the gamma and beta frequency bands and suggest that rapid processing of unpleasant odors in the OB might underlie rapid approach-avoidance decisions.
Topics: Avoidance Learning; Cues; Humans; Motor Activity; Odorants; Olfactory Bulb; Smell
PubMed: 34645711
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101209118 -
Scientific Reports May 2023Positively evaluated stimuli facilitate approach and negatively evaluated stimuli prompt avoidance responses, as typically measured by reaction time differences when...
Positively evaluated stimuli facilitate approach and negatively evaluated stimuli prompt avoidance responses, as typically measured by reaction time differences when moving a joystick toward the own body or away from it. In this study, we explore whether a whole-body response (forward and backward leaning can serve as a better indicator of approach-avoidance behavior; AA). Thirty-two subjects were presented with pictures of males and females with angry or happy facial expressions. Subjects had to perform approach or avoidance responses by leaning forward or backward, either based on the facial expression of the stimulus or the gender of the stimulus. Leaning responses were sensitive to angry faces for explicit decision cues. Here, angry facial expressions facilitated backward leaning but not when responding to the gender of the stimulus. We compare this to the established manual measure of AA and discuss our results with regard to response coding.
Topics: Male; Female; Humans; Social Behavior; Avoidance Learning; Cues; Anger; Happiness; Facial Expression; Emotions
PubMed: 37237067
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35033-7 -
Behavior Therapy Mar 2024Avoidance behavior constitutes a major transdiagnostic symptom that exacerbates anxiety. It hampers fear extinction and predicts poor therapy-outcome. Pavlovian...
Avoidance behavior constitutes a major transdiagnostic symptom that exacerbates anxiety. It hampers fear extinction and predicts poor therapy-outcome. Pavlovian counterconditioning with a reward could alleviate avoidance better than traditional extinction by reducing negative valence of the feared situation. However, previous studies are scarce and did not consider that pathological avoidance is often costly and typically evolves from an approach-avoidance conflict. Therefore, we used an approach-avoidance conflict paradigm to model effects of counterconditioning on costly avoidance (i.e., avoidance that leads to missing out on rewards). Results from our preregistered Bayesian Mixed Model analyses in 51 healthy participants (43 females) indicated that counterconditioning was more effective in reducing negative valuation and decreasing costly avoidance than traditional extinction. This study supports application of a simple counterconditioning technique, shows that its efficacy transfers to more complex avoidance situations, and suggests treatment may benefit from increasing reward drive in combination with extinction to overcome avoidance. Application in a clinical sample is a necessary next step to assess clinical utility of counterconditioning.
Topics: Female; Humans; Fear; Extinction, Psychological; Bayes Theorem; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Avoidance Learning
PubMed: 38418046
DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2023.07.013 -
BMC Neuroscience Nov 2015Under experimental conditions, virtually all behaviors of Caenorhabditis elegans are achieved by combinations of simple locomotion, including forward, reversal movement,...
BACKGROUND
Under experimental conditions, virtually all behaviors of Caenorhabditis elegans are achieved by combinations of simple locomotion, including forward, reversal movement, turning by deep body bending, and gradual shallow turning. To study how worms regulate these locomotion in response to sensory information, acidic pH avoidance behavior was analyzed by using worm tracking system.
RESULTS
In the acidic pH avoidance, we characterized two types of behavioral maneuvers that have similar behavioral sequences in chemotaxis and thermotaxis. A stereotypic reversal-turn-forward sequence of reversal avoidance caused an abrupt random reorientation, and a shallow gradual turn in curve avoidance caused non-random reorientation in a less acidic direction to avoid the acidic pH. Our results suggest that these two maneuvers were each triggered by a distinct threshold pH. A simulation study using the two-distinct-threshold model reproduced the avoidance behavior of the real worm, supporting the presence of the threshold. Threshold pH for both reversal and curve avoidance was altered in mutants with reduced or enhanced glutamatergic signaling from acid-sensing neurons.
CONCLUSIONS
C. elegans employ two behavioral maneuvers, reversal (klinokinesis) and curve (klinotaxis) to avoid acidic pH. Unlike the chemotaxis in C. elegans, reversal and curve avoidances were triggered by absolute pH rather than temporal derivative of stimulus concentration in this behavior. The pH threshold is different between reversal and curve avoidance. Mutant studies suggested that the difference results from a differential amount of glutamate released from ASH and ASK chemosensory neurons.
Topics: Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Avoidance Learning; Caenorhabditis elegans; Chemoreceptor Cells; Choice Behavior; Computer Simulation; Glutamic Acid; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Models, Biological; Motor Activity; Mutation; Spatial Navigation; Synaptic Transmission
PubMed: 26584677
DOI: 10.1186/s12868-015-0220-0 -
BMC Biology Feb 2021Recognition of stress and mobilization of adequate "fight-or-flight" responses is key for survival and health. Previous studies have shown that exposure of...
BACKGROUND
Recognition of stress and mobilization of adequate "fight-or-flight" responses is key for survival and health. Previous studies have shown that exposure of Caenorhabditis elegans to pathogens or toxins simultaneously stimulates cellular stress and detoxification responses and aversive behavior. However, whether a coordinated regulation exists between cytoprotective stress responses and behavioral defenses remains unclear.
RESULTS
Here, we show that exposure of C. elegans to high concentrations of naturally attractive food-derived odors, benzaldehyde and diacetyl, induces toxicity and food avoidance behavior. Benzaldehyde preconditioning activates systemic cytoprotective stress responses involving DAF-16/FOXO, SKN-1/Nrf2, and Hsp90 in non-neuronal cells, which confer both physiological (increased survival) and behavioral tolerance (reduced food avoidance) to benzaldehyde exposure. Benzaldehyde preconditioning also elicits behavioral cross-tolerance to the structurally similar methyl-salicylate, but not to the structurally unrelated diacetyl. In contrast, diacetyl preconditioning augments diacetyl avoidance, weakens physiological diacetyl tolerance, and does not induce apparent molecular defenses. The inter-tissue connection between cellular and behavioral defenses is mediated by JNK-like stress-activated protein kinases and the neuropeptide Y receptor NPR-1. Reinforcement of the stressful experiences using spaced training forms stable stress-specific memories. Memory retrieval by the olfactory cues leads to avoidance of food contaminated by diacetyl and context-dependent behavioral decision to avoid benzaldehyde only if there is an alternative, food-indicative odor.
CONCLUSIONS
Our study reveals a regulatory link between conserved cytoprotective stress responses and behavioral avoidance, which underlies "fight-or-flight" responses and facilitates self-protection in real and anticipated stresses. These findings imply that variations in the efficiency of physiological protection during past episodes of stress might shape current behavioral decisions.
Topics: Animals; Avoidance Learning; Benzaldehydes; Caenorhabditis elegans; Decision Making; Diacetyl; Food; Odorants; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 33563272
DOI: 10.1186/s12915-021-00956-y -
Journal of Neuroinflammation May 2017Kososan, a Kampo (traditional Japanese herbal) medicine, has been used for the therapy of depressive mood in humans. However, evidence for the antidepressant efficacy of...
BACKGROUND
Kososan, a Kampo (traditional Japanese herbal) medicine, has been used for the therapy of depressive mood in humans. However, evidence for the antidepressant efficacy of kososan and potential mechanisms are lacking. Recently, it has been recognized that stress triggers neuroinflammation and suppresses adult neurogenesis, leading to depression and anxiety. Here, we examined whether kososan extract affected social behavior in mice exposed to chronic social defeat stress (CSDS), an animal model of prolonged psychosocial stress, and neuroinflammation induced by CSDS.
METHODS
In the CSDS paradigm, C57BL/6J mice were exposed to 10 min of social defeat stress from an aggressive CD-1 mouse for 10 consecutive days (days 1-10). Kososan extract (1.0 g/kg) was administered orally once daily for 12 days (days 1-12). On day 11, the social avoidance test was performed to examine depressive- and anxious-like behaviors. To characterize the impacts of kososan on neuroinflammation and adult neurogenesis, immunochemical analyses and ex vivo microglial stimulation assay with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were performed on days 13-15.
RESULTS
Oral administration of kososan extract alleviated social avoidance, depression- and anxiety-like behaviors, caused by CSDS exposure. CSDS exposure resulted in neuroinflammation, as indicated by the increased accumulation of microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, and their activation in the hippocampus, which was reversed to normal levels by treatment with kososan extract. Additionally, in ex vivo studies, CSDS exposure potentiated the microglial pro-inflammatory response to a subsequent LPS challenge, an effect that was also blunted by kososan extract treatment. Indeed, the modulatory effect of kososan extract on neuroinflammation appears to be due to a hippocampal increase in an anti-inflammatory phenotype of microglia while sparing an increased pro-inflammatory phenotype of microglia caused by CSDS. Moreover, reduced adult hippocampal neurogenesis in defeated mice was recovered by kososan extract treatment.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that kososan extract prevents a social avoidant behavior in socially defeated mice that is partially mediated by the downregulation of hippocampal neuroinflammation, presumably by the relative increased anti-inflammatory microglia and regulation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Our present study also provides novel evidence for the beneficial effects of kososan on depression/anxiety and the possible underlying mechanisms.
Topics: Animals; Avoidance Learning; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Hippocampus; Inflammation Mediators; Male; Medicine, Kampo; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Plant Extracts; Social Behavior; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 28468634
DOI: 10.1186/s12974-017-0876-8