Mechanism of food restriction: protection of cellular homeostasis

The major difficulty in defining the mechanisms for the action of food restriction relates to its diversity and lack of specificity. In searching for the common factor(s) and commonality involved in such diversified effects, a cellular homeostasis mechanism is proposed. A study initiated in our laboratory strongly indicates that the cellular homeostatic mechanism is seriously compromised by oxidative damage of free radical reaction with aging. Data on mitochondrial hydroperoxide, microsomal cytochrome P-450 breakdown, and reduction of cytosolic antioxidant capacity support the notion. Remarkably, food restriction attenuates all of these age-related changes. It is concluded therefore that food restriction preserves the homeostatic regulatory processes by maintaining the integrity of (i) membrane structure and function, (ii) proper redox state of cellular components, and (iii) detoxification process of xenobiotics.     

Is the Tonal Quality of Birdsong Learned? Evidence from Song Sparrows

Song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) songs are composed largely of pure-tonal sounds. This paper investigates the role that learning plays in the development of the tonal structure of song sparrow songs, as well as the role that tonal quality plays in determining the suitability of songs as models for learning. 20 birds were trained with both normal pure-tonal songs and modified songs that included harmonic overtones. The harmonic-modified songs were obtained from birds singing in a helium atmosphere, the result of which is to perturb vocal tract resonances and thus alter a song's tonal quality. Subjects learned equally well from normal and harmonic models. Birds that learned material from harmonic models reproduced some of this material with harmonic overtones, but the majority of notes learned from harmonic models were subsequently reproduced as pure-tonal copies. Thus, the tonal structure of songs does not influence young song sparrows in their selection of song models, but there is a strong tendency to reproduce songs in a pure-tonal fashion, even if learned from harmonic models.     

Arginine Vasotocin Injection Increases Probability of Calling in Cricket Frogs, but Causes Call Changes Characteristic of Less Aggressive Males

Male cricket frogs,Acris crepitanscommunicate to males and females using advertisement calls, which are arranged into call groups. Calls at the middle and end, but not beginning of the call group, are modified in response to male–male aggressive interactions. We found in this field study of male cricket frogs in natural breeding choruses that the peptide hormone arginine vasotocin (AVT) not only increased the probability that males called after injections, but also caused modifications in middle and end calls to produce calls characteristic of less aggressive males. Moreover, AVT-injected males showed significantly greater increases in call dominant frequency than saline-injected males, again, a characteristic of less aggressive males. Cricket frog calls are used to both repel males and attract females, thus call changes may relate to male–male and/or male–female interactions. Saline-injected males also demonstrated significant changes in several call traits, including changes that occurred in the beginning and middle calls of the call groups, but not the end calls. AVT appeared to block some call changes produced through handling. These data suggest that AVT can influence acoustic communication in frogs in several ways, including effects on call characteristics and dominant frequency, as well as potentially blocking some handling effects.     

Effect of neurotensin on pancreatic function in man

The effect of neurotensin on submaximally-stimulated hepatobiliary and pancreatic secretion was studied in 6 healthy subjects. An intravenous infusion of neurotensin 1.4 ± 0.3 pmol/kg/min, designed to reproduce plasma neurotensin immunoreactivity levels within the physiological range, produced a significant increase in pancreatic bicarbonate output. Plasma concentrations of pancreatic polypeptide rose by 83 ± 16 pmol/l and were associated with a small reduction in trypsin, but no significant change in bilirubin outputs.     

Long-term storage of learned birdsongs prior to production

Sixteen male swamp sparrows, Melospiza georgiana, were reared by hand in the laboratory and exposed in infancy to tape-recorded songs. Training ended around 2 months of age. Samples of singing were tape recorded sporadically from the age of 50 to 90 days and on a weekly basis from about 95 to 400 days. Analysis revealed that explicit rehearsal of learned songs did not begin, on the average, until 240 days after the last exposure to training songs. Swamp sparrows can commit song syllables to memory and produce imitations of them 8 months later with no rehearsal in the interim.     

Characterization and the broad cross‐species applicability of 20 anonymous nuclear loci isolated from the Taiwan Hwamei (Garrulax taewanus)

We isolated 20 anonymous nuclear loci (8556 bp in total) from the Taiwan Hwamei (Garrulax taewanus), an endemic songbird of Taiwan. A panel of nine to 15 individuals with unknown relationship was used to characterize polymorphism of these loci. We identified 46 single nucleotide polymorphic sites (SNPs) in 15 polymorphic loci. Frequency of SNPs was one per every 186 bp in average. Nucleotide diversity, θ, ranged from 0.00054 to 0.00371 per locus. We also tested cross‐species applicability of these loci on 17 species from eight different passerine families. All 20 loci could be successfully amplified (ranged from one to 16 species, mean = 7.9 species).     

Vasopressin and aggression in cross-fostered California mice (Peromyscus californicus) and white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus)

To examine how developmental experiences alter neural pathways associated with adult social behavior, we cross-fostered pups between the more aggressive and monogamous California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) and the less aggressive and polygamous white-footed mouse (P. leucopus). Cross-fostered males became more like their foster parents when tested as adults. Male white-footed mice became more aggressive only in an aggression test in a neutral arena, whereas the territorial California mice became less aggressive in resident-intruder aggression test, as measured by attack latency. Only the species that displayed a change in resident-intruder aggression showed a change in arginine vasopressin (AVP) levels: cross-fostered California mice had significantly lower levels of AVP-immunoreactive (AVP-ir) staining than controls in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and the supraoptic nucleus (SON) and a nonsignificant trend toward lower levels in the medial amygdala (MA). Neither species showed changes in AVP-ir staining in a control area, the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). The changes in AVP-ir staining in the BNST and SON may not be caused by stress because cross-fostering was not associated with changes in adult plasma concentrations of two steroid hormones, corticosterone and testosterone, that have been associated with stress-related alterations in AVP pathways. These results suggest that manipulating the early parental environment can directly alter both a neurotransmitter system and species-typical patterns of social behavior, but that these effects may vary between species and under different social contexts.