Behavioral test

Behavioral effects of OP insecticides have also been shown in birds (see review by Grue et al. 1991). Behavioral effects of OCs, OPs, and methylmercury on birds have been reviewed by Peakall (1985,1996). A remarkably wide range of behavioral tests were used in these studies. Tests employed included the following ... 

Iversen (1991) stresses the need for some in vivo testing for neurotoxicity and emphasizes the value of sensitive behavioral tests. Behavioral tests are described for mice and rats, which provide measures of mood, posture, CNS excitation, motor coordination, sedation, exploration, responsiveness, learning, and memory function. Such assays can function as primary screens for neurotoxicity before adopting a stepwise scheme of in vitro tests to discover more about the initial site of action of neurotoxic compounds. It is argued that the requirement for animal testing can be drastically reduced by adopting structured in vitro protocols such as these. 

Data from behavioral tests using pharmacological probes show that these neurotransmitter systems are eompromised. 

The behavioral testing of phencyclidine (PCP) abusers by means of neuropsychological (NP) assessment serves as a bridge between neuroscience research into brain effects of PCP and the treatment and rehabilitation of the drug abuser in the community. The systematic individual NP case study includes (1) a critical review... 

Human functioning the dual-interaction model. (From Smith, B.D., Effects of acute and habitual caffeine ingestion in physiology and behavior Tests of a biobehavioral arousal theory. Special issue Caffeine Research, Pharmacopsychoecologia, 7(2), 151-167, 1994. With permission.)... 

One of the most sensitive systems affected by lead exposure is the nervous system. Encephalopathy is characterized by symptoms such as coma, seizures, ataxia, apathy, bizarre behavior, and incoordination (CDC 1985). Children are more sensitive to neurological changes. In children, encephalopathy has been associated with PbB levels as low as 70 pg/dL (CDC 1985). The most sensitive peripheral index of neurotoxicity of lead is reported to be slowed conduction in small motor libers of the ulnar nerve in workers with 30-40 pg/dL lead in blood (Landrigan 1989). Other potential biomarkers of lead suggested for neurotoxicity in workers are neurological and behavioral tests, as well as cognitive and visual sensory function tests (Williamson and Teo 1986). However, these tests are not specific to elevated lead exposure... 

The role of CREB in learning and memory was first anticipated by screening Drosophila mutants in a learning and memory task in which flies were behaviorally tested... 

Although the symptomatology between PHY+SCO and PYR were comparable the effects on incapacitation and survival were not comparable all animals pretreated with PYR and the post- intoxication therapy did not perform in the behavioral test systems and died within 24 hours. This was the same result as what was found in animals treated only with the post-intoxication therapy. The mortality in animals pretreated with PHY+SCO was 25%. The addition of a post intoxication therapy in PHY+SCO pretreated animals did not improve the efficacy. On the other hand, animals pretreated with PHY+PC all survived even without post-intoxication therapy. The behavioural performance was similar for animals pretreated with PHY+SCO or PHY+PC. 

Statistical analysis For statistical analysis of the behavioral tests an analysis of variance (two-way ANOVA) was used. For the symptomatology a Fisher exact probability test or an unpaired t-test with Welch s correction was used. In all tests p values <0.05 were considered significant. 

Calil, H. M. (1978) Screening hallucinogenic drugs. II. Systematic study of two behavioral tests. Psychopharmacology, 56 87-92. 

Silva, M. T. A., and Calil, H. M. (1975) Screening hallucinogenic drugs Systematic study of three behavioral tests. Psychopharmacologia, 42 163-171. 

Three male squirrel monkeys previously trained to perform visual discrimination or visual acuity threshold tests were exposed continuously for 90 d to PGDN at a concentration of 262 mg/m3 (approximately 37 ppm) (Jones et al. 1972). The animals were removed from the exposure chambers for a 2-h period once a week for the respective behavior tests. A fourth trained monkey exposed to filtered room air under the same conditions served as the control. The only sign during exposure was mydriasis (excessive dilatation of the pupil of the eye), which increased from slight to moderate. There were no changes in avoidance behavior in the monkeys as determined by the visual tests. 

Few data on acute exposures with effects that meet the definition of an AEGL-2 were located. No clinical signs of intoxication were observed in rats exposed to PGDN at 189 ppm for 4 h. The methemoglobin level was 23.5% (Jones et al. 1972). Exposure of monkeys to PGDN at a concentration of 33 ppm for 4 h failed to affect performance in an operant avoidance behavioral test but altered the VER (Mattsson et al. 1981). 

Uphouse L, Tilson H, Mitchell CL. 1983. Long-term effects of behavioral testing on serum hormones and brain weight. Life Sci 33(14) 1395-1400. 

Rushton, J. P. and Bogaert, A. F. (1987). Race differences in sexual behavior Testing an evolutionary hypothesis. J. Res. Person. 21,529-551. 

Reading the literature on mammalian semiochemistry over the past decade, a chemist is impressed by the enormous volume of biological information that has been gathered in well planned and meticulously executed studies of the modulation of the behavior of mammals by the chemicals released by con-specifics. One cannot, however, escape the impression that the chemical basis of many of these studies is lacking. Some of the problem areas were pointed out in the foregoing sections. To a certain extent there seems to be lack of appreciation of the diffusion rates of compounds with different volatilities and of the extent to which these differences can influence the outcome of behavioral tests. It is difficult to make an estimate of the persistence of semiochemicals that are released into the laboratory atmosphere or that are left on objects or surfaces in arenas in which tests are conducted. From what is known about the evaporation rate of some heavy compounds that are considered to be semiochemicals, it could take several weeks or even months for these compounds to be depleted to levels that cannot be detected by currently available instrumentation levels at which meaningful information could still be available to experimental animals. This then leaves the question unanswered as to when it would be safe to conduct behavioral experiments in a laboratory or arena that had been occupied by conspecifics. 

McNay EC, Gold PE. 2001. Age-related differences in hippocampal extracellular fluid glucose concentration during behavioral testing and following systemic glucose administration. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 56(2) B66-B71. 

McNay EC, McCarty RC, Gold PE. 2001. Fluctuations in brain glucose concentration during behavioral testing dissociations between brain areas and between brain and blood. Neurobiol Learn Mem 75(3) 325-337. 

The migration/sorption behavior test for BHT and a-tocopherol in LDPE packaging materials in contact with fatty food simulants has indicated that the rate of migration of a-tocopherol into food simulants is lower than that for BHT. Since a-tocopherol was transferred from the film to the simulant to a lesser extent, it is considered a more stable antioxidant than BHT (Wessling et ah, 1998). BHT has also been found to migrate more rapidly than Irganox 1010 into dry food stored in LDPE wraps (Schwope et ah, 1987a). 

The odor sensitivity of an experimental animal needs to be known to appreciate communication distances and performance, but it is not easily measured. The detection thresholdhzs to be distinguished from the recognition threshold. The former is the concentration at which an odor is noticed, and the latter -typically much higher - the concentration at which behavior tests in animals or verbal responses in humans show that the odor has been recognized as a specific signal, compound, or mixture. 

The Schedule-Controlled Operant Behavior test guideline (OPPTS 870.6500) defines procedures for conducting studies of schedule-controlled operant behavior, one way of evaluating the rate and pattern of a class of learned behavior. The purpose of the guideline is to evaluate the effects of acute and repeated exposures on the rate and pattern of responding under schedules of reinforcement. Additional tests may be necessary to completely assess the effects of any substance on learning, memory, or behavioral performance. 

Exposure of nonsmokers to 50 ppm for 6-8 hours results in carboxyhemoglobin levels of 8-10%. Several investigators have suggested that the results of behavioral tests such as time discrimination, visual vigilance, choice response tests, visual evoked responses, and visual discrimination threshold may be altered at levels of carboxyhemoglobin below 5%. ... 

---