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Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences
Journal Prestige (SJR): 1.839  Citation Impact (citeScore): 3 Number of Followers: 10  Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)ISSN (Print) 2352-1546 - ISSN (Online) 2352-1546 Published by Elsevier  [3210 journals]
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- Genomic imprinting and neurobehavioral programming by adverse early life
environments: evidence from studying Cdkn1c- Abstract: Publication date: February 2019Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 25Author(s): Anthony R Isles, Rosalind M JohnImprinted genes are subject to epigenetic regulation that leads to monoallelic expression from one parental allele only. Brain expression of the imprinted gene Cdkn1c is sensitive to early life adversity, including exposure to maternal low protein diet (LPD) where increased expression of Cdkn1c is due to de-repression of the normally silent paternal allele. Maternal LPD also leads to changes in the dopamine system and reward related behaviours in offspring. We have recently demonstrated that these brain and behavioural phenotypes are recapitulated in a transgenic model in which Cdkn1c expressi alone is increased. Here we summarise these findings and suggest that the loss of imprinting of Cdkn1c in the offspring following maternal low protein diet is a key contributor to the associated changes in the dopamine system and behavior reported after early life adversity.
- Abstract: Publication date: February 2019Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 25Author(s): Anthony R Isles, Rosalind M JohnImprinted genes are subject to epigenetic regulation that leads to monoallelic expression from one parental allele only. Brain expression of the imprinted gene Cdkn1c is sensitive to early life adversity, including exposure to maternal low protein diet (LPD) where increased expression of Cdkn1c is due to de-repression of the normally silent paternal allele. Maternal LPD also leads to changes in the dopamine system and reward related behaviours in offspring. We have recently demonstrated that these brain and behavioural phenotypes are recapitulated in a transgenic model in which Cdkn1c expressi alone is increased. Here we summarise these findings and suggest that the loss of imprinting of Cdkn1c in the offspring following maternal low protein diet is a key contributor to the associated changes in the dopamine system and behavior reported after early life adversity.
- Circadian and epigenetic control of depression-like behaviors
- Abstract: Publication date: February 2019Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 25Author(s): Shogo Sato, Paolo Sassone-CorsiAccumulating evidence illustrates that disruption of circadian rhythms may lead to depression-like behaviors. Recent studies demonstrate that neuronal and synaptic gene induction is under epigenetic control, and robust epigenetic remodeling is observed under depression and related psychiatric disorders. Notably, intertwined links between the circadian clock and epigenetics may point to novel approaches for antidepressant treatments, epigenetic therapy and chronotherapy. Indeed, clock components directly or indirectly coordinate cyclic epigenetic modifications and cyclic histone modifications are required for rhythmic gene expression. Here we propose that potential strategies for antidepressant therapy should incorporate epigenetic rewiring of neuronal gene regulation through circadian genomic and epigenetic variation.
- Abstract: Publication date: February 2019Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 25Author(s): Shogo Sato, Paolo Sassone-CorsiAccumulating evidence illustrates that disruption of circadian rhythms may lead to depression-like behaviors. Recent studies demonstrate that neuronal and synaptic gene induction is under epigenetic control, and robust epigenetic remodeling is observed under depression and related psychiatric disorders. Notably, intertwined links between the circadian clock and epigenetics may point to novel approaches for antidepressant treatments, epigenetic therapy and chronotherapy. Indeed, clock components directly or indirectly coordinate cyclic epigenetic modifications and cyclic histone modifications are required for rhythmic gene expression. Here we propose that potential strategies for antidepressant therapy should incorporate epigenetic rewiring of neuronal gene regulation through circadian genomic and epigenetic variation.
- Imprinted small noncoding RNA genes in brain function and behaviour
- Abstract: Publication date: February 2019Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 25Author(s): Virginie Marty, Jérôme CavailléThe imprinted DLK1-DIO3 and SNURF-SNRPN (PWS) chromosomal domains are characterized by large arrays of box C/D small nucleolar RNA and microRNA genes that display preferential expression in the brain. Here, we provide an overview of their multifaceted roles in brain function and behaviour focusing particularly on the miR-379/miR-410, SNORD115 and SNORD116 gene clusters.
- Abstract: Publication date: February 2019Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 25Author(s): Virginie Marty, Jérôme CavailléThe imprinted DLK1-DIO3 and SNURF-SNRPN (PWS) chromosomal domains are characterized by large arrays of box C/D small nucleolar RNA and microRNA genes that display preferential expression in the brain. Here, we provide an overview of their multifaceted roles in brain function and behaviour focusing particularly on the miR-379/miR-410, SNORD115 and SNORD116 gene clusters.
- Autism, psychosis, and genomic imprinting: recent discoveries and
conundrums- Abstract: Publication date: February 2019Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 25Author(s): Bernard J CrespiGenomic imprinting generates a category of genes that is unique because: (1) they are subject to intragenomic conflicts, within individuals, and thus (2) their phenotypic effects on offspring-to-mother interactions are predictable from evolutionary theory. I describe recent advances in our understanding of how imprinted genes may exert conflicting effects, and how the sequelae of such conflicts may impact upon aspects of human behavior and risks for specific psychiatric conditions. The main conclusion is that imprinted genes mediate expression of many penetrant human social-brain disorders including autism and psychosis. However, discerning the targets, mechanisms, and large-scale significance of their effects requires more studies of small, SNP-based and methylation-based imprinted gene effects on phenotypes relevant to offspring-mother social interactions in typical populations.
- Abstract: Publication date: February 2019Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 25Author(s): Bernard J CrespiGenomic imprinting generates a category of genes that is unique because: (1) they are subject to intragenomic conflicts, within individuals, and thus (2) their phenotypic effects on offspring-to-mother interactions are predictable from evolutionary theory. I describe recent advances in our understanding of how imprinted genes may exert conflicting effects, and how the sequelae of such conflicts may impact upon aspects of human behavior and risks for specific psychiatric conditions. The main conclusion is that imprinted genes mediate expression of many penetrant human social-brain disorders including autism and psychosis. However, discerning the targets, mechanisms, and large-scale significance of their effects requires more studies of small, SNP-based and methylation-based imprinted gene effects on phenotypes relevant to offspring-mother social interactions in typical populations.
- Circadian biology and sleep in monogenic neurological disorders and its
potential application in drug discovery- Abstract: Publication date: February 2019Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 25Author(s): Shu-qun Shi, Carl Hirschie JohnsonSleep disturbances are common in people with monogenic neurological disorders and they dramatically affect the life of individuals with the disorders and their families. The associated sleep problems are probably caused by multiple factors that have not been elucidated. Study of the underlying molecular cause, behavioral phenotypes, and reciprocal interactions in several single-gene disorders (Angelman Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, Rett Syndrome, and Huntington’s Disease) leads to the suggestion that sleep disruption and other symptoms may directly result from abnormal operation of circadian systems due to genetic alteration and/or conflicting environmental cues for clock entrainment. Therefore, because circadian patterns modify the symptoms of neurological disorders, treatments that modulate our daily rhythms may identify heretofore unappreciated therapies for the underlying disorders.
- Abstract: Publication date: February 2019Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 25Author(s): Shu-qun Shi, Carl Hirschie JohnsonSleep disturbances are common in people with monogenic neurological disorders and they dramatically affect the life of individuals with the disorders and their families. The associated sleep problems are probably caused by multiple factors that have not been elucidated. Study of the underlying molecular cause, behavioral phenotypes, and reciprocal interactions in several single-gene disorders (Angelman Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, Rett Syndrome, and Huntington’s Disease) leads to the suggestion that sleep disruption and other symptoms may directly result from abnormal operation of circadian systems due to genetic alteration and/or conflicting environmental cues for clock entrainment. Therefore, because circadian patterns modify the symptoms of neurological disorders, treatments that modulate our daily rhythms may identify heretofore unappreciated therapies for the underlying disorders.
- Developmental and neurobehavioral transitions in survival circuits
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Regina M Sullivan, Maya OpendakAlthough animals of all ages experience threats, the neurobehavioral response to threat shows fundamental changes across development in altricial species, including humans and rodents. Although the mature animal has an arsenal of defensive strategies to engage, including attack, escape, hide or freeze, the motorically immature infant exhibits age-appropriate responses to threats that involve approach to the caregiver for protection. The neurobiology supporting this difference relies on both the immature state of the infant brain and neural networks specifically adapted to its unique environmental niche. Using examples from innate threats, we review the development of threat survival circuit neurobiology to illustrate developmental transitions and the important role of the caregiver in controlling the infant's neurobehavioral response to threat.
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Regina M Sullivan, Maya OpendakAlthough animals of all ages experience threats, the neurobehavioral response to threat shows fundamental changes across development in altricial species, including humans and rodents. Although the mature animal has an arsenal of defensive strategies to engage, including attack, escape, hide or freeze, the motorically immature infant exhibits age-appropriate responses to threats that involve approach to the caregiver for protection. The neurobiology supporting this difference relies on both the immature state of the infant brain and neural networks specifically adapted to its unique environmental niche. Using examples from innate threats, we review the development of threat survival circuit neurobiology to illustrate developmental transitions and the important role of the caregiver in controlling the infant's neurobehavioral response to threat.
- The role of learning in threat imminence and defensive behaviors
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Michael S FanselowLife threatening situations as urgent as defending against a predator precludes the use of slow trial and error strategies. Natural selection has led to the evolution of a behavioral system that has three critical elements. (1) When it is activated it limits the behaviors available to the organism to a set of prewired responses that have proven over phylogeny to be effective at defense. (2) A rapid learning system, called Pavlovian fear conditioning, that has the ability to immediately identify threats and promote prewired defensive behaviors. (3) That learning system has the ability to integrate several informational dimensions to determine threat imminence and this allows the organism to match the most effective defensive behavior to the current situation. The adaptive significance of conscious experiential states is also considered.
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Michael S FanselowLife threatening situations as urgent as defending against a predator precludes the use of slow trial and error strategies. Natural selection has led to the evolution of a behavioral system that has three critical elements. (1) When it is activated it limits the behaviors available to the organism to a set of prewired responses that have proven over phylogeny to be effective at defense. (2) A rapid learning system, called Pavlovian fear conditioning, that has the ability to immediately identify threats and promote prewired defensive behaviors. (3) That learning system has the ability to integrate several informational dimensions to determine threat imminence and this allows the organism to match the most effective defensive behavior to the current situation. The adaptive significance of conscious experiential states is also considered.
- Fear paradigms: The times they are a-changin’
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Jeansok J Kim, Min Whan JungFear is considered an integral part of the brain's defensive mechanism that evolved to protect animals and humans from predation and other ecological threats. Hence, it is logical to study fear from the perspective of antipredator-survival behaviors and circuits by sampling a range of threatening situations that organisms are likely to encounter in the wild. In the past several decades, however, mainstream fear research has focused on the importance of associative learning; that is, how animals become frightened of innocuous cues as consequences of their contingent pairing with aversive events. While significant discoveries have been made, contemporary fear models derived from learning studies are likely to provide only a partial picture of the brain's fear system because they cannot simulate the dynamic range of risky situations in nature that require various adaptive actions and decisions. This review considers two different approaches to study fear, grounded on behaviorism and ethology and examines their contributions in revealing the naturalistic workings of fear in guiding and shaping behavior as animals make real-world choices.
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Jeansok J Kim, Min Whan JungFear is considered an integral part of the brain's defensive mechanism that evolved to protect animals and humans from predation and other ecological threats. Hence, it is logical to study fear from the perspective of antipredator-survival behaviors and circuits by sampling a range of threatening situations that organisms are likely to encounter in the wild. In the past several decades, however, mainstream fear research has focused on the importance of associative learning; that is, how animals become frightened of innocuous cues as consequences of their contingent pairing with aversive events. While significant discoveries have been made, contemporary fear models derived from learning studies are likely to provide only a partial picture of the brain's fear system because they cannot simulate the dynamic range of risky situations in nature that require various adaptive actions and decisions. This review considers two different approaches to study fear, grounded on behaviorism and ethology and examines their contributions in revealing the naturalistic workings of fear in guiding and shaping behavior as animals make real-world choices.
- The ethological deconstruction of fear(s)
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Dean MobbsThe natural world presents a myriad of dangers that can threaten an organism's survival. This diversity of threats is matched by a set of universal and species specific defensive behaviors which are often subsumed under the emotions of fear and anxiety. A major issue in the field of affective science, however, is that these emotions are often conflated and scientists fail to reflect the ecological conditions that gave rise to them. I attempt to clarify these semantic issues by describing the link between ethologically defined defensive strategies and fear. This in turn, provides a clearer differentiation between fears, the contexts that evoke them and how they are organized within defensive survival circuits.
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Dean MobbsThe natural world presents a myriad of dangers that can threaten an organism's survival. This diversity of threats is matched by a set of universal and species specific defensive behaviors which are often subsumed under the emotions of fear and anxiety. A major issue in the field of affective science, however, is that these emotions are often conflated and scientists fail to reflect the ecological conditions that gave rise to them. I attempt to clarify these semantic issues by describing the link between ethologically defined defensive strategies and fear. This in turn, provides a clearer differentiation between fears, the contexts that evoke them and how they are organized within defensive survival circuits.
- Prospection and natural selection
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): T Suddendorf, A Bulley, B MiloyanProspection refers to thinking about the future, a capacity that has become the subject of increasing research in recent years. Here we first distinguish basic prospection, such as associative learning, from more complex prospection commonly observed in humans, such as episodic foresight, the ability to imagine diverse future situations and organize current actions accordingly. We review recent studies on complex prospection in various contexts, such as decision-making, planning, deliberate practice, information gathering, and social coordination. Prospection appears to play many important roles in human survival and reproduction. Foreseeing threats and opportunities before they arise, for instance, drives attempts at avoiding future harm and obtaining future benefits, and recognizing the future utility of a solution turns it into an innovation, motivating refinement and dissemination. Although we do not know about the original contexts in which complex prospection evolved, it is increasingly clear through research on the emergence of these capacities in childhood and on related disorders in various clinical conditions, that limitations in prospection can have profound functional consequences.
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): T Suddendorf, A Bulley, B MiloyanProspection refers to thinking about the future, a capacity that has become the subject of increasing research in recent years. Here we first distinguish basic prospection, such as associative learning, from more complex prospection commonly observed in humans, such as episodic foresight, the ability to imagine diverse future situations and organize current actions accordingly. We review recent studies on complex prospection in various contexts, such as decision-making, planning, deliberate practice, information gathering, and social coordination. Prospection appears to play many important roles in human survival and reproduction. Foreseeing threats and opportunities before they arise, for instance, drives attempts at avoiding future harm and obtaining future benefits, and recognizing the future utility of a solution turns it into an innovation, motivating refinement and dissemination. Although we do not know about the original contexts in which complex prospection evolved, it is increasingly clear through research on the emergence of these capacities in childhood and on related disorders in various clinical conditions, that limitations in prospection can have profound functional consequences.
- Survival circuits and therapy: from automaticity to the conscious
experience of fear and anxiety- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Steven C Hayes, Stefan G HofmannWe will briefly examine the implication of a multi-dimensional and multi-level view of evolution for addressing the role and function of survival circuits in the context of human cognition, and the underlying emotional, memory, and behavioral processes both impact. It is our contention that human cognition can partially direct and channel these more ancient neurobiological regulatory systems. We argue that while survival circuits can be helpful or hurtful to human functioning, they are particularly likely to be problematic when they occur in the context of cognitive processes that have become automatic and well-practiced, and thus beyond normal conscious processes of cognitive control. Psychotherapy can be of help in increasing access to such ‘unconscious’ process, reducing their automatic impact, and allowing human goals and values to over-ride maladaptive processes engaged by survival circuits.
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Steven C Hayes, Stefan G HofmannWe will briefly examine the implication of a multi-dimensional and multi-level view of evolution for addressing the role and function of survival circuits in the context of human cognition, and the underlying emotional, memory, and behavioral processes both impact. It is our contention that human cognition can partially direct and channel these more ancient neurobiological regulatory systems. We argue that while survival circuits can be helpful or hurtful to human functioning, they are particularly likely to be problematic when they occur in the context of cognitive processes that have become automatic and well-practiced, and thus beyond normal conscious processes of cognitive control. Psychotherapy can be of help in increasing access to such ‘unconscious’ process, reducing their automatic impact, and allowing human goals and values to over-ride maladaptive processes engaged by survival circuits.
- Survival circuits and risk assessment
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Neil McNaughton, Philip J CorrRisk assessment (RA) behaviour is unusual in the context of survival circuits. An external object elicits eating, mating or fleeing; but conflict between internal approach and withdrawal tendencies elicits RA-specific behaviour that scans the environment for new information to bring closure. Recently rodent and human threat responses have been compared using ‘predators’ that can be real (e.g. a tarantula), robot, virtual, or symbolic (with the last three rendered predatory by the use of shock). ‘Quick and dirty’ survival circuits in the periaqueductal grey, hypothalamus, and amygdala control external RA behaviour. These subcortical circuits activate, and are partially inhibited by, higher-order internal RA processes (anxiety, memory scanning, evaluation and sometimes — maladaptive rumination) in the ventral hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex.Graphical abstract
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Neil McNaughton, Philip J CorrRisk assessment (RA) behaviour is unusual in the context of survival circuits. An external object elicits eating, mating or fleeing; but conflict between internal approach and withdrawal tendencies elicits RA-specific behaviour that scans the environment for new information to bring closure. Recently rodent and human threat responses have been compared using ‘predators’ that can be real (e.g. a tarantula), robot, virtual, or symbolic (with the last three rendered predatory by the use of shock). ‘Quick and dirty’ survival circuits in the periaqueductal grey, hypothalamus, and amygdala control external RA behaviour. These subcortical circuits activate, and are partially inhibited by, higher-order internal RA processes (anxiety, memory scanning, evaluation and sometimes — maladaptive rumination) in the ventral hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex.Graphical abstract
- Hypothalamic survival circuits related to social and predatory defenses
and their interactions with metabolic control, reproductive behaviors and
memory systems- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Newton Sabino CanterasThe hypothalamus may be viewed as the central piece of the survival circuits and is responsible for organizing endocrine, autonomic and behavioral responses to guarantee the survival of both the individual and the species. The hypothalamus is largely known to control the three basic classes of behavior required for animal survival, namely, ingestive, defensive, and reproductive behaviors. Over the years, a great deal has been learned regarding the hypothalamic circuits organizing these classes of behavior. In this review, we will focus on hypothalamic circuits involved in organizing anti-predatory and social defenses, noting putative interactions with other hypothalamic systems that mediate metabolic control and social responses, and exploring how the hypothalamic defensive circuits may influence emotional memory linked to predatory and social threats.
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Newton Sabino CanterasThe hypothalamus may be viewed as the central piece of the survival circuits and is responsible for organizing endocrine, autonomic and behavioral responses to guarantee the survival of both the individual and the species. The hypothalamus is largely known to control the three basic classes of behavior required for animal survival, namely, ingestive, defensive, and reproductive behaviors. Over the years, a great deal has been learned regarding the hypothalamic circuits organizing these classes of behavior. In this review, we will focus on hypothalamic circuits involved in organizing anti-predatory and social defenses, noting putative interactions with other hypothalamic systems that mediate metabolic control and social responses, and exploring how the hypothalamic defensive circuits may influence emotional memory linked to predatory and social threats.
- Economic choice: the foraging perspective
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Benjamin Y HaydenForaging theory offers an alternative foundation for understanding economic choice, one that sees economic choices as the outcome of psychological processes that evolved to help our ancestors search for food. Most of the choices encountered by foragers are between pursuing an encountered prey (accept) and ignoring it in favor of continued search (reject). Binary choices, which typically occur between simultaneously presented items, are special case, and are resolved through paired alternating accept–reject decisions limited by the narrow focus of attention. The foraging approach also holds out promise for helping to understand self-control and invites a reconceptualization of the mechanisms of binary choice, the relationship between choosing and stopping, and of the meaning of reward value.
- Abstract: Publication date: December 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 24Author(s): Benjamin Y HaydenForaging theory offers an alternative foundation for understanding economic choice, one that sees economic choices as the outcome of psychological processes that evolved to help our ancestors search for food. Most of the choices encountered by foragers are between pursuing an encountered prey (accept) and ignoring it in favor of continued search (reject). Binary choices, which typically occur between simultaneously presented items, are special case, and are resolved through paired alternating accept–reject decisions limited by the narrow focus of attention. The foraging approach also holds out promise for helping to understand self-control and invites a reconceptualization of the mechanisms of binary choice, the relationship between choosing and stopping, and of the meaning of reward value.
- Editorial overview: Apathy and motivation
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 3 July 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral SciencesAuthor(s): Masud Husain, Christopher R Pryce
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 3 July 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral SciencesAuthor(s): Masud Husain, Christopher R Pryce
- Editorial overview: The evolution of language as a neurobiological system
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 27 June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral SciencesAuthor(s): Christopher I Petkov, William D. Marslen-Wilson
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 27 June 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral SciencesAuthor(s): Christopher I Petkov, William D. Marslen-Wilson
- Vocal learning: a language-relevant trait in need of a broad cross-species
approach- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 27 April 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral SciencesAuthor(s): Ella Z Lattenkamp, Sonja C VernesAlthough humans are unmatched in their capacity to produce speech and learn language, comparative approaches in diverse animal models are able to shed light on the biological underpinnings of language-relevant traits. In the study of vocal learning, a trait crucial for spoken language, passerine birds have been the dominant models, driving invaluable progress in understanding the neurobiology and genetics of vocal learning despite being only distantly related to humans. To date, there is sparse evidence that our closest relatives, nonhuman primates have the capability to learn new vocalisations. However, a number of other mammals have shown the capacity for vocal learning, such as some cetaceans, pinnipeds, elephants, and bats, and we anticipate that with further study more species will gain membership to this (currently) select club. A broad, cross-species comparison of vocal learning, coupled with careful consideration of the components underlying this trait, is crucial to determine how human speech and spoken language is biologically encoded and how it evolved. We emphasise the need to draw on the pool of promising species that have thus far been understudied or neglected. This is by no means a call for fewer studies in songbirds, or an unfocused treasure-hunt, but rather an appeal for structured comparisons across a range of species, considering phylogenetic relationships, ecological and morphological constrains, developmental and social factors, and neurogenetic underpinnings. Herein, we promote a comparative approach highlighting the importance of studying vocal learning in a broad range of model species, and describe a common framework for targeted cross-taxon studies to shed light on the biology and evolution of vocal learning.
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 27 April 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral SciencesAuthor(s): Ella Z Lattenkamp, Sonja C VernesAlthough humans are unmatched in their capacity to produce speech and learn language, comparative approaches in diverse animal models are able to shed light on the biological underpinnings of language-relevant traits. In the study of vocal learning, a trait crucial for spoken language, passerine birds have been the dominant models, driving invaluable progress in understanding the neurobiology and genetics of vocal learning despite being only distantly related to humans. To date, there is sparse evidence that our closest relatives, nonhuman primates have the capability to learn new vocalisations. However, a number of other mammals have shown the capacity for vocal learning, such as some cetaceans, pinnipeds, elephants, and bats, and we anticipate that with further study more species will gain membership to this (currently) select club. A broad, cross-species comparison of vocal learning, coupled with careful consideration of the components underlying this trait, is crucial to determine how human speech and spoken language is biologically encoded and how it evolved. We emphasise the need to draw on the pool of promising species that have thus far been understudied or neglected. This is by no means a call for fewer studies in songbirds, or an unfocused treasure-hunt, but rather an appeal for structured comparisons across a range of species, considering phylogenetic relationships, ecological and morphological constrains, developmental and social factors, and neurogenetic underpinnings. Herein, we promote a comparative approach highlighting the importance of studying vocal learning in a broad range of model species, and describe a common framework for targeted cross-taxon studies to shed light on the biology and evolution of vocal learning.
- Sex differences in the nicotinic acetylcholine and dopamine receptor
systems underlying tobacco smoking addiction- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 26 April 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral SciencesAuthor(s): Terril L .Verplaetse, Evan D Morris, Sherry A McKee, Kelly P CosgroveConverging lines of evidence suggest that men generally smoke for nicotine-related reinforcement, whereas women smoke for non-nicotine factors. Women have more difficulty quitting smoking and are less responsive to nicotine replacement therapies than men, underscoring the importance of examining sex differences in the neurochemical mechanisms underlying nicotine-motivated behavior. We review the recent imaging literature on sex differences in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor system and in the dopaminergic system in response to nicotine administration and tobacco smoking. We offer an explanation to unify imaging findings related to the dopamine system. We then propose a course of action for future medication development for tobacco smoking addiction.
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 26 April 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral SciencesAuthor(s): Terril L .Verplaetse, Evan D Morris, Sherry A McKee, Kelly P CosgroveConverging lines of evidence suggest that men generally smoke for nicotine-related reinforcement, whereas women smoke for non-nicotine factors. Women have more difficulty quitting smoking and are less responsive to nicotine replacement therapies than men, underscoring the importance of examining sex differences in the neurochemical mechanisms underlying nicotine-motivated behavior. We review the recent imaging literature on sex differences in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor system and in the dopaminergic system in response to nicotine administration and tobacco smoking. We offer an explanation to unify imaging findings related to the dopamine system. We then propose a course of action for future medication development for tobacco smoking addiction.
- Language acquisition as skill learning
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 25 April 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral SciencesAuthor(s): Nick Chater, Morten H ChristiansenLanguage acquisition researchers have often viewed children as ‘mini-linguists,’ attempting to infer abstract knowledge of language from exposure to their native language. From this perspective, the challenge of acquisition can seem so formidable that meeting it would appear to require that much of this knowledge must be built-in, as a language instinct or universal grammar. From this viewpoint, language acquisition is also disconnected from language processing, and from the acquisition of other learned perceptuo-motor or cognitive abilities. This paper explores a recent alternative viewpoint, the ‘language-as-skill’ framework, according to which the child's challenge is practical, not theoretical: the child learns to understand and produce the language from practicing conversational interactions. Language acquisition can thus be seen as a type of skill acquisition, using similar mechanisms to those involved in learning to ride a bicycle, play a musical instrument, or draw a picture; and the need to acquire knowledge of the abstract structure of language is dissolved. This perspective takes the pressure off biological adaptation as the primary driver of language evolution, emphasizing instead the cultural evolution of linguistic structure.
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 25 April 2018Source: Current Opinion in Behavioral SciencesAuthor(s): Nick Chater, Morten H ChristiansenLanguage acquisition researchers have often viewed children as ‘mini-linguists,’ attempting to infer abstract knowledge of language from exposure to their native language. From this perspective, the challenge of acquisition can seem so formidable that meeting it would appear to require that much of this knowledge must be built-in, as a language instinct or universal grammar. From this viewpoint, language acquisition is also disconnected from language processing, and from the acquisition of other learned perceptuo-motor or cognitive abilities. This paper explores a recent alternative viewpoint, the ‘language-as-skill’ framework, according to which the child's challenge is practical, not theoretical: the child learns to understand and produce the language from practicing conversational interactions. Language acquisition can thus be seen as a type of skill acquisition, using similar mechanisms to those involved in learning to ride a bicycle, play a musical instrument, or draw a picture; and the need to acquire knowledge of the abstract structure of language is dissolved. This perspective takes the pressure off biological adaptation as the primary driver of language evolution, emphasizing instead the cultural evolution of linguistic structure.
