2xc3 midterm 1 (imported deck)

An organism that feeds on organic matter, typically having specialized sense organs and nervous system, and able to respond rapidly to stimuli

The two kingdoms of multicellular organisms are plants and fungi

Babies fed with fake whooping crane hand puppet to avoid humanizing them

Grow to have white feathers and must learn how to fly

Flying demonstrated by humans dressed in white sheets

Taught to migrate with plane

Strong innate satisfaction from friendly species
Extension of our sociability to other friendly species

Important part of ecosystem

Seed dispersal

infestation/Pests Several insect species feed on apples like the apple maggot fly and larvae Parasitoid wasps lay eggs inside other eggs of fles

Fertilizer

Pollination The flowers on apple trees require pollination by honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees and other insects in order to produce the apple fruit

Us as humans modify apples to be bigger and sweeter

Entertainment,
Protection of rare endangered animals
Model systems for human application
Control pests and damage reduction

Non-human animals as models for understanding human cognition and behaviour
We can conduct many types of research we cannot do on humans

Memory enhancing drugs and perhaps treatment of mental retardation in humans

Put several dozen flies in chamber
Shocks them slightly, a chemical scent is released
Want to see how well flies can associate smell with shock
Flies can choose which tube to go to, if flies remember the shocking, they will choose the other tube that has a different chemical scent

Give the fly 10 training sessions - not forming long term memory if lessons are crammed together. Fly needs spaced out lessons with rest periods and optimal rest period appears to be 15 minutes

Some flies are given extra Kreb genes (gene is nromally present in flies for short term memory to long term memory) but the flies given extra Kreb gene remember better
In those with memory issues, Switch from short term to long term memory is somewhere between on and off sometimes - it would be helpful to create a drug that would push this switch towards on

Engine sucked up geese
Mitochondrial DNA sequences from tissue samples matched known genetic material for Canada goose (Branta canadensis)
Applied molecular tools and stable hydrogen isotopes to demonstrate that migratory Canada geese were responsible for the crash

Collisiions between wildlife and aircraft have resulted in the loss of over 400 aircraft since 1950 and over 100 human lives since 1995
Collisions between aircraft and birds cost the aviation industry over \$1.2 billion per year
In Canada, over 800 bird strike incidents are reported each year. In US, 7400 per year
Most airports employs control teams that do research on and run programs for reducing bird collision
Research in Israel has reduced bird aircraft collisions and damage by 85% saved human and bird life over US \$40 million a year

Exercising through judgement or observation, analyzing
Critical does not mean negative
Analyzing: Breaking up a whole into parts: examing the details

Clarity
Accuracy
Precision
Relevance
Depth
Breadth
Logic
Significance
Fairness

Intellectual interaction
Pay attention to Purpose/questions Does it make senseIs the conclusion reasonable?What issues remain unresolved?
Write an accurate summary in your own words
Critical thinking takes time and effort
Think of data, facts, experiences
Concepts and theories

Purpose: Reducing pain
Question:: Should you pay for acupuncture treatment?
Theory/Assumption: Inserting needles at blocked acupuncture points can restore Qi (life's energy" when the yin and yang are out of balance
Intellectual standards: Not accurate, not logical

Experiment was double blind with random assignment of patients to treatment
3 treatments AcupunctureSham acupunctureNo acupuncture (waiting list)
51% of ppl said they felt headache reduction with real treatment
53% percent said they felt better with sham treatment
15% said they felt better with no treatment
Strong placebo effect indicated by the difference between sham acupuncture and no treatment

CausesRegression to the mean Maybe they found another treatment like medicine because they were put on a waitlist

No critical scientific evidence that accupuncture (as well as alternative medicine) relieves pain
There is strong latent demand for alternative medicine - especially when standard medicine cannot resolve a problem
McMaster caters to such a demand

Observation
Hypotheses formulation
Testable prediction
Critical tests of the prediction using properly designed experiments by independent teams
Everything is done following critical thinking and illectual standards

Observation: many ppl like to receive massage, but its not clear if it reduced pain
Question: Does massage reduce pain?
Hypothesis: massage is a prevalent practice because it makes ppl feel good, but doesn't reduce pain
Prediction: Ppl with lower back pain who receive a massage report a similar experience to those who receive a placebo treatment

Relevant for all scientific disciplines
The person who collects the data is blind to subjects' assignment to treatments

Relevant for all human subjects (most proper protocol)
Both data collector and subjects are blind to treatment
Randomized controlled trials is a poor standard

Latin for " I shall please"
Placebo effect: The expectation and anticipation of clinical improvement

Spontaneous improvement
Statistical regression to the mean
Placebo effect (psychological disorders)
Biases (ex: patient being polite)
Co-interventions (ex: pain killers)

In all experiments, the experiment is biased
In human experiments, the subjects are biased
In humans,t here is a very strong placebo effect

The house sparrow has one of the broadest distributions of all bird species as they have invaded new habitats many times Lynn Martin and his colleagues have been studying their expansion because glucocorticoid hormones like corticosterone are linked to stress response Birds on the edge of expansion are shown to have a strong surge of corticosterone when exposed to a stressorWorking hypothesis is that at the proximate level, increases corticosterone leads to a better memory of stressors.From an ultimate perspective, the payoffs for better memory in environments with novel and unpredictable stressors should be the greatest in leading populations during invasions

What is that?
Why is that?
Sometimes defined as non evolutionary

Why is that?

Example: If we suspect males direct aggression towards other males to gain food access, we might focus on different proximate factors than if we suspect that males direct aggression toward other males during mating season to get mating opportunities Question would be approached differently because foraging and mating behaviours are often not the sameProximate analysis can help understand how natural selection shaped male aggression

In house finches, males are brighter than females "What" causes difference?"Why" do these differences pesist overtime?
At the proximate level, it was seen that difference is caused by amount of carotenoids in diet
Did a study with females and had 2 groups Gave one group apples and water Gave one apples and water with canthaxanthin which resulted in brighter plumage
From a proximate perspective it can be asked"What " causes between population differences in female coloration?"What" causes differences in males and females?

Differential availability of carotenoid seems to be the answer
Females do not actively search for food while males do

Males who had brighter plumage obtained mates more easily and females were attracted to them
Males could also get rid of pathogen easily with brighter plumage Females choose them because they won't pass down pathogen to kids
Plumage coloration cannot be inherited though - it is based on diet

The endocrine system is a communication network that influences many aspects of animal behaviour Has ductless glands that secrete hormones directly into bloodstream of vertebrates Major glands: pituitary, adrenal, thyroid, pancreas, gonads, hypothalamus

Neurohormones are releases into blood via neurons

Most vertebrate hormones are protein hormones When composed of small # of amino acids, are sometimes called peptide hormones Soluble in water and blood "hydrophillic"

Steroid hormones are stored in cells, when produced ,they are immediately released in bloodstream (like testosterone)Fat soluble Sometimes testosterone can become dihydrotestosterone or estradiol which is linked to mating and parental care

Many glands secrete more than one hormone and the same hormone can have different effects on different target cells

Hormones affect Cell division Behaviour Muscle contractions

Leads to behavioural change
In a subordinate animal reacting with a dominant animal - the subordinate animal will produce CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone) from hypothalamus and ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) from the anterior pituitary gland Leads to production of cortisol and eventually reduced aggression

Hormones are almost always transported through bloodstream except the cells in the lens of the eyes Hormone will only affect a cell if the cell has a proper receptor for that cell Cells with particular receptor site are known as target cells
Lock and key system - Hormone receptor complex Lock (receptor) is not activated until the correct key (hormone) reaches it

Field endocrinology: Measuring hormone levels in natural populations Used in ecotourism - measures stress levels of animals in presence of humans

3 interactive systems Input system made up of all the sensory systems Central processor made up of integrator that process and integrate info received Output systems

Hormones can increase/decrease frequency of behaviour
Hormones can prime animals and make them more or less likely to behave a certain way
Positive feedback loops: if a male wins a fight because of high testosterone, that promotes the testosterone levels to be high
Hormones also affect organization of behaviour in early development Like a male fetus among female fetuses is exposed to less testosterone, he will be less aggressive and less sexual than male fetuses that were around more male fetuses

When an indvidual senses a stressor, the hypothalamus releases epinephrine along one pathway (aka adrenaline) which is secreted by adrenal glands
Dilates blood vessels Increases heart and breathing rate

Digestive and reproductive systems are shut down

Along the second pathway CRH and a growth hormone releasing hormone and thyrotrophin releasing hormone (GHRH and TRH) are secreted by the hypothalamus

CRH causes anterior pituitary gland to increase ACTH production which causes adrenal gland to release cortisol This converts non carbs to sugar for energy

Adrenal gland increases production of aldosterone which increases water retention and reduces bleeding

Males surrounded by 2 males in utero (2M) are more aggressive than males surrounded by 2 females Testosterone in 2M males is higher
Comparison of mating behaviour of 2M and 2F males by a single male and single female together in cage 2M males mounted females more quickly 2M males had more offspring 2M males provided less parental care
2M females have higher levels of circulating testosterone and are less preferred as mates
In gerbils, the hypothalamus controls copulatory behaviour and this area of the brain is sexually dimorphic which means males and females show different activity patterns in the preoptic area 2M females have preoptic metabolic activity that resembles more males than females

Vasopressin and oxytocin are neurohormones produced in the hypothalamus and then transported to various brain regions or projected to the pituitary gland for release play important roles in reproduction and parental care in mammals
Homologs (hormones that share the same evolutionary history) of vasopressin were found 700 million years ago

Prairie voles are monogamous and both males and females have a single mate for each breeding season Males display very little parental care Individuals have many more vasopressin receptors in the ventral palladium area of the brains that meadow voles do This is said to be the cause of the difference in male social behaviour If vasopressin is administered artificially then males will become more parental but this is not the case for polygamous meadow voles, who lack receptors to bind to extra vasopressin

At approximately 21 days of age, some bees leave the nest and forage for pollen and nectar and return to the nest This behaviour is associated with increasing levels of juvenile hormone 3 (JH III) which is produced in a gland called the corpus alltum Changes in levels of JH III caused changes to the rate at which bees curtailed within hive activitiesRemoval of corpus alltum caused delayed foraging behaviour and returned to nest much laterWhen these bees are given Methoprene (chemical similar to JHIII) they show no difference in foraging behaviour
Forager bees have higher concentrations of octopamine in their brains than do nurse bees that stay at the hive

2 types of males
Type 1 males build nests and are 4x larger than type 2, have larger gonad to body size ratio, produce sounds in numbers of behavioural contexts Short grunts when engaged in aggressive behaviour and when courting females If selected as a mate, they stay with eggs
Type 2 males are called "sneakers" because they stay in the nests that are built by type 1 males and they release sperm in order to attempt to dertlize the nesting femaleThey also do not hum to attract females and only occasionally grunt

Called neuroethology: finding out the the neurobiological underpinning of behaviour
The thicker the diameter of an axon, the faster the nervous impulse travels along it
For honeybees, the spatial navigation associated with foraging is linked to a group of neurons located in the front of the brain called a mushroom body
Sometimes "would be" foragers turn back to the nest and hover up and down for some time which is known as orientation flight, which indicates their position to them in relation to their nest
Mushroom bodies help with visual and olfactory cues in search for food
Mushroom bodies of foragers are 14.8% larger

The vocal organ of the midshipman is a set of paired sonic muscles attached to its swim bladders - both types have such sonic muscles so the sounds they produce don't differ
Type 1 has more larger sonic muscles with more muscle fibres - this is why they produce different vocalizations
Each sonic muscle receives nervous impulses from a nucleus that runs from the hindbrain of the fish down to the musclesThe 2 sonic motor nuclei act as pacemaker neurons Pacemaker neurons in type 1 fires at a higher rate than type 2 Arginine vasotocin inhibits activity in neurobiological circuitry associated with sounds in type 1 but doesn't affect vocal activity and sound perception in type 2

Mallards can sleep with one eye open and one eye shut
They sleep with half their brain awake and half their brain asleep
Mallards on the periphery of their group rely on unihemispheric sleep more than birds in the centre of the group - they keep one eye open outward
Type of sleep is called slow wave sleep Allows quick response to predators but doesn't wake up the bird's sleeping brain half
Dolphins swim up to surface to breathe and sleep
Temperatures are higher in awake half of brain than asleep half