Relinquishing Owners Underestimate Their Dog's Behavioral Problems: Deception or Lack of Knowledge?

Undesirable behavior is a leading cause of canine relinquishment. Relinquishing owners could provide valuable information about their dog's behavior, although the reliability of their reports has been questioned by the sheltering community. This study aimed to investigate (a) whether relinquishing owners' reports of dog behavior differed based on the behavioral screening method; (b) whether relinquishing owners' reports were impacted by the confidentiality of their responses; and (c) whether relinquishing and non-relinquishing owners perceived the behavior of their dogs differently. The sample included 427 relinquished dogs from three animal shelters and 427 pet dogs, matched for sex and breed. Owners responded to a direct question about whether they were experiencing problems with their dog's behavior and completed the mini C-BARQ which includes 42 questions about the frequency and severity of specific canine behaviors in various circumstances. More than two-thirds (69.3%) of relinquishing owners indicated they were not experiencing problems with their dog's behavior when asked directly, compared with only 34.5% of pet owners. Yet, relinquished dogs had significantly higher (less desirable) scores than pet dogs across most C-BARQ scales. The disparity between C-BARQ scores and the single, direct question does not appear to be the result of deliberately biased reporting by relinquishing owners as the perceived confidentiality (or lack thereof) did not affect their responses (X2 = 1.44, p = 0.97). It is possible that relinquishing owners had less understanding of dog behavior and did not recognize behavior problems as a problem. Our findings support the use of standardized behavioral questionnaires, such as the mini C-BARQ, to collect behavioral information from owners at the time of relinquishment and highlight opportunities for animal shelters to reduce relinquishment by assisting owners to recognize and manage behavioral problems.

A distributed dopamine-gated circuit underpins reproductive state-dependent behavior in Drosophila females

Motherhood induces a drastic, sometimes long-lasting, change in internal state and behavior in most female animals. Here, we show that a mating-induced increase in olfactory attraction of female Drosophila flies to nutrients relies on interconnected neural pathways in the two higher olfactory brain regions, the lateral horn (LH) and the mushroom body (MB). Using whole brain calcium imaging, we find that mating does not induce a global change in the activity of the whole brain nor of entire brain regions, suggesting specific neuronal or network changes in the olfactory system. Systematic behavioral screening and electron microscopy (EM) connectomics identify two types of LH output neurons required for the attraction of females to polyamines -one of them previously implicated in the processing of male pheromones. In addition, we characterize multiple MB pathways capable of inducing or suppressing polyamine attraction, with synaptic connections to the identified LH neurons and a prominent role for the β′1 compartment. Moreover, β′1 dopaminergic neurons are modulated by mating and are sufficient to replace mating experience in virgins inducing the lasting behavioral switch in female preference. Taken together, our data in the fly suggests that reproductive state-dependent expression of female choice behavior is regulated by a dopamine-gated distributed learning circuit comprising both higher olfactory brain centers.

Early-adolescent antibiotic exposure results in mitochondrial and behavioral deficits in adult male mice

Exposure to antibiotic treatment has been associated with increased vulnerability to various psychiatric disorders. However, a research gap exists in understanding how adolescent antibiotic therapy affects behavior and cognition. Many antibiotics that target bacterial translation may also affect mitochondrial translation resulting in impaired mitochondrial function. The brain is one of the most metabolically active organs, and hence is the most vulnerable to impaired mitochondrial function. We hypothesized that exposure to antibiotics during early adolescence would directly affect brain mitochondrial function, and result in altered behavior and cognition. We administered amoxicillin, chloramphenicol, or gentamicin in the drinking water to young adolescent male wild-type mice. Next, we assayed mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation complex activities in the cerebral cortex, performed behavioral screening and targeted mass spectrometry-based acylcarnitine profiling in the cerebral cortex. We found that mice exposed to chloramphenicol showed increased repetitive and compulsive-like behavior in the marble burying test, an accurate and sensitive assay of anxiety, concomitant with decreased mitochondrial complex IV activity. Our results suggest that only adolescent chloramphenicol exposure leads to impaired brain mitochondrial complex IV function, and could therefore be a candidate driver event for increased anxiety-like and repetitive, compulsive-like behaviors.

School Building Administrator Reports of Screening Practices Across Academic, Behavioral, and Health Domains

Research conducted to date provides a limited understanding of the landscape of school-based screening practices across academic, behavioral, and health domains, thus providing an impetus for the current survey study. A total of 475 K–12 school building administrators representing 409 unique school districts across the United States completed an online survey, which assessed current school-based screening practices across domains from the point of data collection to intervention selection. Whereas 70% to 81% of the respondents reported the use of universal screening across health and academic domains, respectively, only 9% of the respondents endorsed the use of universal social, emotional, and behavioral screening. In addition, discrepancies were identified across domains with regard to such factors as (a) who reviews screening data, (b) how screening data are used to determine student risk, and (c) how interventions are designed for those students demonstrating risk. The lack of consensus in practice calls for dissemination concerning best practices in the implementation of social, emotional, and behavioral screening; risk identification; and Tier 1 intervention.

Exploring Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Screening Approaches in U.S. Public School Districts

Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. public school districts, we explored the current landscape of social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) approaches and their impact on behavioral outcomes. Data suggest SEB screening is the exception rather than the rule, with most districts reporting that students are referred to an internal support team when SEB concerns arise. Districts more likely to report SEB problems were identified and supported internally when they had elementary SEB programs, were located in urban areas, and had higher socioeconomic status levels. District administrators who reported that SEB problems were identified and addressed internally, including use of universal screening procedures, reported the highest levels of knowledge about their SEB approach as well as willingness to change their practices.

A Customizable Low-Cost System for Massively Parallel Zebrafish Behavioral Phenotyping

High-throughput behavioral phenotyping is critical to genetic or chemical screening approaches. Zebrafish larvae are amenable to high-throughput behavioral screening because of their rapid development, small size, and conserved vertebrate brain architecture. Existing commercial behavioral phenotyping systems are expensive and not easily modified for new assays. Here, we describe a modular, highly adaptable, and low-cost system. Along with detailed assembly and operation instructions, we provide data acquisition software and a robust, parallel analysis pipeline. We validate our approach by analyzing stimulus response profiles in larval zebrafish, confirming prepulse inhibition phenotypes of two previously isolated mutants, and highlighting best practices for growing larvae prior to behavioral testing. Our new design thus allows rapid construction and streamlined operation of many large-scale behavioral setups with minimal resources and fabrication expertise, with broad applications to other aquatic organisms.