Analyzing the influence of emotion on false memory through electroencephalogram is helpful to further explore the cognition function of brain. In this study, we improved the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm experiment to study the false memory. The memory materials are combined with mixed emotions, which are closer to real life. Twenty-eight participants were randomly divided into positive group and

Decisions can be risky or riskless, depending on the outcomes of the choice. Expected Utility Theory describes risky choices as a utility maximization process: we choose the option with the highest utility, which we compute considering both the value of the option and its associated risk. According to the random utility maximization framework, riskless choices could also be based on a utility measure

Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by significant changes in brain architecture and behaviors. The poor maturity of the adolescent brain is associated with heightened vulnerability to exogenous agents, including alcohol. Alcohol is the most consumed drug among teenagers, and binge-drinking during adolescence is a major public health concern. Studies have suggested that adolescent alcohol

Assessments of the welfare status of captive and semi-captive animals often compare how their expression of natural behaviours differs from that of free-ranging conspecifics. Bukit Merah Orang Utan Island (BMOUI) is the only orangutan rehabilitation and conservation centre in the Malay Peninsula. We recorded and analyzed the activity budget and postural behaviours of orangutans moving freely in the

Female intrasexual competition can be intense in cooperatively breeding species, with the dominant breeder or matriarch limiting reproduction in subordinates via aggression, eviction or infanticide. In males, these tendencies bidirectionally link to testosterone, but in females, there has been no systematic investigation of androgen-mediated behaviour within and across generations. In 22 wild meerkat

Non-human primates respond to the death of a conspecific in diverse ways, some which may present phylogenetic continuity with human thanatological behaviours. Of these responses, infant corpse carrying by mothers (ICC) is the most-frequently reported. Despite its prevalence, quantitative analyses of this behaviour are scarce and inconclusive. We compiled a database of 409 published cases across 50

While we know that dogs evolved from wolves through a process of domestication, it remains unclear how this process may have affected dog cognitive development. Here we tested dog (N=44) and wolf (N=37) puppies, 5-18 weeks old, on a battery of temperament and cognition tasks. Dog puppies were more attracted to humans, read human gestures more skillfully and made more eye contact with humans than wolf

Behavioral specialization in honey bees is regulated by hormones and neuromodulators that tune neuronal activity and gene expression, and can be viewed as a temporarily fixed behavioral state associated with a specific brain state. Honey bee scouts, which search for new food sources, show a higher expression of genes involved in glutamate, GABA and catecholamine signaling than recruits that remain

To find an object we are looking for, we must recognize it. Prevailing models of visual search neglect recognition, focusing instead on selective attention mechanisms. These models account for performance limitations that participants exhibit when searching highly simplified stimuli often used in laboratory tasks. However, it is unclear how to apply these models to complex natural images of real-world

An accurate model of the factors that contribute to individual differences in reading ability depends on data collection in large, diverse and representative samples of research participants. However, that is rarely feasible due to the constraints imposed by standardized measures of reading ability which require test administration by trained clinicians or researchers. Here we explore whether a simple

Environmental cues attain the ability to guide behavior via learned associations. As predictors, cues can elicit adaptive behavior and lead to valuable resources (e.g., food). For some individuals, however, cues are transformed into incentive stimuli and elicit motivational states that can be maladaptive. The goal-tracker/sign-tracker animal model captures individual differences in cue-motivated behaviors

A long-standing question in animal behaviour is how organisms solve complex tasks. Here we explore how the dynamics of animal behaviour in the ubiquitous tasks of mate-search and competition can arise from a physics-based model of effective interactions. Male orb-weaving spiders of the genus Trichonephila are faced with the daunting challenge of entering the web of a much larger and potentially cannibalistic

Animals have evolved cognitive abilities whose impairment can incur dramatic fitness costs. While malnutrition is known to impact brain development and cognitive functions in vertebrates, little is known in insects, whose small brain appears particularly vulnerable to environmental stressors. Here, we investigated the influence of diet quality on learning and memory in the parasitoid wasp Venturia

Animal behavior is highly structured. Yet, structured behavioral patterns - or "statistical ethograms" - are not immediately apparent from the full spatiotemporal data that behavioral scientists usually collect. Here, we introduce a framework to quantitatively characterize rodent behavior during spatial (e.g., maze) navigation, in terms of movement building blocks or motor primitives. The hypothesis

Specific mate communication and recognition underlies reproduction and hence speciation. Mate communication evolves during adaptation to ecological niches and makes use of social signals and habitat cues. Our study provides new insights in Drosophila melanogaster premating olfactory communication, showing that female pheromone (Z)-4-undecenal (Z4-11Al) and male pheromone cVA interact with food odour

Analysing animal vocalisations in detail provides insights into the biomechanics, decision making and sensory processes behind their behaviours. Echolocating bats, and in particular, the CF-FM calls of high-duty cycle bats serve as a convenient model system to illustrate this point. The CF component in the CF-FM call is used for prey detection and the FM component is used in target ranging. According

Differences in human general intelligence or reasoning ability can be quantified with the psychometric factor g, because individual performance across cognitive tasks is positively correlated. g also emerges in mammals and birds, is correlated with brain size and may similarly reflect general reasoning ability and behavioural flexibility in these species. To exclude the alternative that these positive

Pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism, or cannibalism without mating, is expected to promote the evolution of male strategies that enhance mating success and reduce the risk of cannibalism, such as preferential mating with feeding females. However, sexual selection on male competitiveness may alter male courtship decisions in the face of cannibalism risk. We investigated the effect of prey availability

Domesticated mice and rats have shown to be powerful model systems for biomedical research, but there are cases in which the biology of species is a poor match for the hypotheses under study. The California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) has unique physiological and behavioral traits and has emerged as a powerful model for studying sex differences in the biology of psychiatric disease, which is particularly

It is now well-accepted that memory is a dynamic process, and that stress and training level may influence which memory system an individual engages when solving a task. In this work, we investigated whether and how chronic stress impacts spatial and cue-based memories according to training level. To that aim, control and chronically stressed Japanese quail were trained in a task that could be solved

We simulate stable distributions to study the ideal movement pattern for the spread of a virus using autonomous carrier. We observe Levy walks to be the most ideal way to spread and further study how the parameters in Levy distribution affects the spread.

Animal culture and social bonds are relevant to wildlife conservation because they influence patterns of geography, behavior, and strategies of survival. Numerous examples of socially-driven habitat partitioning and ecological-niche specialization can be found among vertebrates, including toothed whales. But such social-ecological dynamics, described here as ‘social niche partitioning’, are not known

Explanations for the evolution of monogamy in mammals typically emphasise one of two possibilities: monogamy evolves when females are overdispersed (such that males cannot defend more than one female at a time) or when males provide a service to the female. However, the first claim has never been directly tested. I test it directly at three levels using data from primates and ungulates. First, I show

Gait and whole body posture are sensitive measures of the proper functioning of numerous neural circuits, and are often perturbed in many neurological, neuromuscular, and neuropsychiatric illnesses. Rodents provide a tractable model for elucidating disease mechanisms and interventions, however, studying gait and whole body posture in rodent models requires specialized methods and remains challenging

Sex differences in cognitive processes could set the stage for sex-modulated vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders. While value-based decision making processes in particular have been proposed to be influenced by sex differences, the overall correct performance across sexes often show minimal differences. Computational tools allow us to uncover latent variables in reinforcement learning that

Lethal gang attacks, in which multiple aggressors attack a single victim, are among the most widespread forms of violence between human groups. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), as well as wolves (Canis lupus), spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta), and lions (Panthera leo), perform gang attacks during raids. In raids, a few individuals of a group enter another group's territory and attack its members if

The largest extinct volant birds (Pelagornis sandersi and Argentavis magnificens) and pterosaurs (Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus) are thought to have used wind-dependent soaring flight, similar to modern large birds. There are two types of soaring: thermal soaring, used by condors and frigatebirds, which involves the use of updrafts to ascend and then glide horizontally over the land or the sea; and

Central place foraging pollinators, such as bees, tend to learn multi-destination routes (traplines) to efficiently visit known feeding locations and return to their nest. To what extent these routing behaviours are shared across species is unknown. Here we ran laboratory experiments to compare trapline formation and efficiency by foragers of two social bee species that differ in their collective foraging

Parenting is an ethologically relevant social behavior consisting of stereotypic components involving the care and nourishment of young. First-time rodent dams seek and gather wandering/scattered pups back to the nest (pup retrieval), an essential aspect of maternal care. Over the decades, qualitative observations of the behaving animal have been presented in quantitative discrete units. However, systematic

In the wild, being able to recognize and remember specific locations related to food sources and the associated attributes of landmarks is a cognitive trait important for survival. In the present work we show that the crab Neohelice granulata can be trained to associate a specific environment with an appetitive reward in a conditioned place preference task. After a single training trial, when the crabs

Our understanding of the proximate and ultimate mechanisms shaping competitive phenotypes primarily stems from research on male-male competition for mates, even though female-female competition is also widespread. Obligate secondary cavity-nesting has evolved repeatedly across avian lineages, providing a useful comparative context to explore how competition over limited nest cavities shapes aggression

Gambling and substance use disorders are highly comorbid. Both clinical populations are impulsive and exhibit risky decision-making. Drug-associated cues have long been known to facilitate habitual drug-seeking, and the salient audiovisual cues embedded within modern gambling products may likewise encourage problem gambling. The dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are exquisitely sensitive

The behavior of organisms can be subject to human induced selection such as that arising from fishing. Angling is expected to induce mortality on fish with bold and explorative behavior, which are behaviors commonly linked to a high standard metabolic rate. We studied the transgenerational response of brown trout (Salmo trutta) to angling-induced selection by examining the behavior and metabolism of

Comparative studies of vocal learning and vocal non-learning animals can increase our understanding of the neurobiology and evolution of vocal learning and human speech. Mammalian vocal learning is understudied: most research has either focused on vocal learning in songbirds or its absence in non-human primates. Here we focus on a highly promising model species for the neurobiology of vocal learning:

Honey bees estimate distances to food sources using image motion experienced on the flight path and they use this measure to tune the waggle phase duration in their dance communication. Most studies on the relationship between experienced optic flow and the dance-related odometer are based on experiments with Apis mellifera foragers trained into a small tunnel with black and white patterns which allowed

Animals in urban areas that experience frequent exposure to humans often behave differently than those in less urban areas, such as less vigilance or anti-predator behavior. These behavioral shifts may be an adaptive response to urbanization and caused by habituation to humans. A possible negative consequence is cross-habituation to natural predators where urban animals exhibit reduced anti-predator

The way people choose routes through unfamiliar environments provides clues about the underlying representation they use. One way to test the nature of observers' representation is to manipulate the structure of the scene as they move through it and measure which aspects of performance are significantly affected and which are not. We recorded the routes that participants took in virtual mazes to reach

The study was conducted to examine the individual and joint effects of extrinsic motivation, manipulated via monetary reward, and curiosity, a form of intrinsic motivation, on long-term memory in the context of a trivia paradigm, in healthy younger and older adults. During the incidental encoding phase on Day 1, 60 younger and 53 older participants viewed high- and low-curiosity trivia as well as unrelated

Mixing gestating sows implies hierarchy formation and has detrimental consequences on welfare. The effects of social stress on the most vulnerable individuals may be underestimated and it is therefore important to evaluate welfare between individuals within groups. This study aimed at investigating the impact of social status and previous experience in the group on well-being of sows housed in large

Organisms are consistently under selection to respond effectively to a diversity of, sometimes rapid, changes in their environment. Behavioural plasticity can allow individuals to do so instantaneously, but why individuals vary in this respect is poorly understood. Although personality and cognitive traits are often hypothesised to influence plasticity, the effects reported are highly inconsistent

Integrating information on species-specific sensory perception together with spatial activity provides a high-resolution understanding of how animals explore environments, yet frequently used exploration assays commonly ignore sensory acquisition as a measure for exploration. Echolocation is an active sensing system used by hundreds of mammal species, primarily bats. As echolocation call activity can

Visual motion detection is among the best understood neuronal computations. One assumed behavioural role is to detect self-motion and to counteract involuntary course deviations, extensively investigated in tethered walking or flying flies. In free flight, however, any deviation from a straight course is signalled by both the visual system as well as by proprioceptive mechanoreceptors called 'halteres'

Different fish species employ a conditional approach strategy during predator inspection; the risk of approaching a predator is distributed across all inspectors, but is not shared with the animals which keep its distance. Zebrafish, a highly social fish, is increasingly being used in behavioural neuroscience, but it is not known whether it displays conditional approach. In the predator inspection

Animals create diverse structures, both individually and cooperatively, using materials from their environment. One striking example are the nests birds build for reproduction, which protect the offspring from external stressors such as predators and temperature, promoting reproductive success. To construct a nest successfully, birds need to make various decisions, for example regarding the nest material

Humans have the metacognitive capacity to be aware of what they do and do not know. While uncertainty monitoring has long been regarded as uniquely human, researchers in search of the polygenetic root of this ability have gathered evidence that primate species possess functional features parallel to humans. However, there were no systematic studies that quantitively take into account of extant data

The analysis of fish behavior in response to odor stimulation is a crucial component of the general study of cross-modal sensory integration in vertebrates. In zebrafish, the centrifugal pathway runs between the olfactory bulb and the neural retina, originating at the terminalis neuron in the olfactory bulb. Any changes in the ambient odor of a fish's environment warrants a change in visual sensitivity

Cooperation, or the act of benefiting others at the cost of the benefactor's fitness, has been a central issue in evolutionary theory. Non-human animals sometimes show coalitions or male-male ″cooperation″ to confront a male rival and challenge the rank hierarchy. Here we observed novel types of coalitions in wild stump-tailed macaques (Macaca arctoides); multiple males actively shared the mating opportunities

Collar-mounted canine activity monitors can use accelerometer data to estimate dog activity levels, step counts, and distance traveled. With recent advances in machine learning and embedded computing, much more nuanced and accurate behavior classification has become possible, giving these affordable consumer devices the potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of pet healthcare. Here we

An important goal of urban ecology is determining what differentiates urban-tolerant populations of birds from their non-urban ancestors and urban-intolerant species. One key to urban success may be reacting appropriately to human activity, and the degree to which birds view humans as threats can be quantified by their escape behavior. Understanding individual-level plasticity, however, requires the

Environmental pollutants can exert sublethal deleterious effects on animals. These include disruption of cognitive functions underlying crucial behaviours. While agrochemicals have been identified as a major threat to pollinators, other compounds, such as heavy metals that are often found in complex mixtures, have largely been overlooked. Here, we assessed the impact of acute exposure to field-realistic

Animal behaviours are demonstrably governed by sensory stimulation, previous experience and internal states like hunger. With increasing hunger, priorities shift towards foraging and feeding. During foraging, flies are known to employ efficient path integration strategies. However, general long-term activity patterns for both hungry and satiated flies in conditions of foraging remain to be better understood

The ability to entrain to auditory stimuli has been a powerful method to investigate the comparative rhythm abilities of different animals. While synchrony to regular (isochronous) rhythms is well documented, synchrony to non-isochronous stimuli, with multiple components at unequal time intervals, is rarer. Several katydid species with isochronous calls have been shown to achieve synchrony as part

When studying social behaviour, it can be important to determine whether the behaviour being recorded is actually driven by the social preferences of individuals. Many studies of animal social networks therefore attempt to disentangle social preferences from spatial preferences or restrictions. As such, there are a large number of techniques with which to test whether results from network analysis

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a protozoan parasite that reside majorly in the brain of its intermediate host. T. gondii infected rodents shows some degree of behaviour deficits, while T. gondii infection in humans is associated with psychiatric problems such as schizophrenia. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of Malaysian strains of T. gondii on rats. Forty five, four weeks old, male

The study of consistent individual differences in behaviour has become an important focus in research on animal behaviour. Behavioural phenotypes are typically measured through standardized testing paradigms and one frequently used paradigm is the novel object test. In novel-object tests, animals are exposed to new (unknown) objects and their reaction is quantified. When repeating trials to assess

Automated quantification of the behaviour of freely moving animals is increasingly needed in ethology, ecology, genetics and evolution. State-of-the-art approaches often require tags to identify animals, high computational power for data collection and processing, and are sensitive to environmental conditions, which limits their large-scale utilisation. Here we introduce a new automated tracking system

Social context is critical in shaping behavioral responses to stimuli and can alter an individual's behavioral type, which would otherwise be fixed in social isolation. For monogamous biparental vertebrates, social context is critical as interactions are frequent and consistent, involving high interindividual dependence and cooperation that can lead to large fitness impacts. We demonstrate that in

The traditional view of sex roles and sexual selection emphasises the evolution of male ornaments as a result of female mate choice and male-male competition. Female ornaments are now receiving more attention, although their roles in mating decision are still less well understood, especially considering cases in which colourful ornaments are expressed by both sexes. In this study, we analysed whether

Feeding is critical for survival and disruption in the mechanisms that govern food intake underlie disorders such as obesity and anorexia nervosa. It is important to understand both food intake and food motivation to reveal mechanisms underlying feeding disorders. Operant behavioral testing can be used to measure the motivational component to feeding, but most food intake monitoring systems do not

Genetic variation and phenotypic plasticity are predicted to align with selection surfaces, a prediction that has rarely been empirically tested. Understanding the relationship between sources of phenotypic variation, i.e. genetic variation and plasticity, with selection surfaces improves our ability to predict a population's ability to adapt to a changing environment and our understanding of how selection