The posterior parietal cortex is included in the dorsal cortical visual pathway underlying the three-dimensional (3-D) visual recognition of space and objects. The neurons in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) respond visually to the three-dimensional objects, whereas those in the anterior intraparietal area (AIP) respond to hand movements to grasp them. LIP receives visual inputs from V3A, whereas AIP projects to the premotor areas; however, it is not known whether the neurons in LIP project to AIP. We herein investigated the connectional substrates that underlie the transformation of three-dimensional vision to prehensile hand movements in the Japanese monkey (Macaca fuscata). After identifying the three-dimensional visually responsive region in the posterior part of LIP by the unit recordings, we injected a bidirectional tracer, wheat germ agglutinin conjugated to horseradish peroxidase, into one of the recording sites. We found that LIP receives neuronal projections from V3A and sends axons to AIP. To confirm our findings, we injected several orthograde tracers into V3A and retrograde tracers into AIP in the same hemispheres. We found that the V3A neurons projecting to LIP terminate in the vicinity of the LIP neurons projecting to AIP. The results suggest that the cortical connections of V3A-LIP-AIP in the lateral bank of the intraparietal sulcus play an important role in the visuomotor transformation for prehensile hand movements.
1 Dopamine (DA) plays significant roles in regulation of social behavior. In social groups of humans and other animals, social hierarchy exists, which is determined by several behavioral characteristics such as aggression and impulsivity as well as social affiliations. In this study, we investigated the effects of pharmacological blockade of DA D2 receptor on social hierarchy of Japanese macaque and mouse social groups. We found acute administration of the D2 antagonist, sulpiride, in socially housed Japanese macaques attenuated social dominance when the drug was given to high social class macaques. A similar attenuation of social dominance was observed in high social class mice with D2 antagonist administration. In contrast, D2 antagonist administration in low social class macaque resulted in more stable social hierarchy of the group, whereas such effect was not observed in mouse social group. These results suggest that D2 receptor signaling may play important roles in establishment and maintenance of social hierarchy in social groups of several species of animals. Dopamine (DA) is a neurotransmitter that has been shown to play roles in various aspects of brain function, depending on where in the brain it works 1 . DA signaling is processed thorough two distinct classes of receptors, D1-like and D2-like receptors 2 . DA D1 and D2 receptors often appear to yield the opposite effects in terms of behavioral outcomes, which are conserved across different species including rodents and non-human primates [3][4][5] . Recent studies have also demonstrated involvements of the DA system in regulation of social behaviors [6][7][8][9] , which may be partly associated with rewarding properties of social activity 10,11 . Humans and many other animals live in social groups. Thus, social activity of subjects is practiced under the attributes of social groups such as social hierarchy and friendships. In particular, social hierarchy has been suggested a critical factor that affects reproduction and health of subjects living in social groups 12 . Social rank in hierarchy has been shown to be associated with several behavioral characteristics such as aggression and impulsivity, which are positively correlated, and common in both animals and humans [13][14][15][16][17] , although in humans, social affiliation, in addition to aggression and impulsivity, has been reported to be another behavioral strategy in gaining higher social rank in hierarchy 16,17 . In this regard, DA could play substantial roles in construction and maintenance of social hierarchy, as DA signaling has been demonstrated to be involved in regulation of aggressive and impulsive behavior [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] . In this study, we examined the effects of pharmacological manipulation to inhibit D2 receptor function in socially housed macaques and mice. We specifically selected macaques and mice, since these species exhibit rigorous linear social hierarchy in their social groups, but distinct mechanisms seem to be involved in construction of social hierarchy...
Background:Although dopamine has been suggested to play a role in mediating social behaviors of individual animals, it is not clear whether such dopamine signaling contributes to attributes of social groups such as social hierarchy.Methods:In this study, the effects of the pharmacological manipulation of dopamine D1 receptor function on the social hierarchy and behavior of group-housed mice and macaques were investigated using a battery of behavioral tests.Results:D1 receptor blockade facilitated social dominance in mice at the middle, but not high or low, social rank in the groups without altering social preference among mates. In contrast, the administration of a D1 receptor antagonist in a macaque did not affect social dominance of the drug-treated animal; however, relative social dominance relationships between the drug-treated and nontreated subjects were altered indirectly through alterations of social affiliative relationships within the social group.Conclusions:These results suggest that dopamine D1 receptor signaling may be involved in social hierarchy and social relationships within a group, which may differ between rodents and primates.
Humans innately perceive infantile features as cute. The ethologist Konrad Lorenz proposed that the infantile features of mammals and birds, known as the baby schema (kindchenschema), motivate caretaking behaviour. As biologically relevant stimuli, newborns are likely to be processed specially in terms of visual attention, perception, and cognition. Recent demonstrations on human participants have shown visual attentional prioritisation to newborn faces (i.e., newborn faces capture visual attention). Although characteristics equivalent to those found in the faces of human infants are found in nonhuman primates, attentional capture by newborn faces has not been tested in nonhuman primates. We examined whether conspecific newborn faces captured the visual attention of two Japanese monkeys using a target-detection task based on dot-probe tasks commonly used in human visual attention studies. Although visual cues enhanced target detection in subject monkeys, our results, unlike those for humans, showed no evidence of an attentional prioritisation for newborn faces by monkeys. Our demonstrations showed the validity of dot-probe task for visual attention studies in monkeys and propose a novel approach to bridge the gap between human and nonhuman primate social cognition research. This suggests that attentional capture by newborn faces is not common to macaques, but it is unclear if nursing experiences influence their perception and recognition of infantile appraisal stimuli. We need additional comparative studies to reveal the evolutionary origins of baby-schema perception and recognition.
1 The e ects of intrathecal (i.t.) administration of N-, P/Q-or L-type voltage-dependent Ca 2+ -channel blockers were tested in two pain models involving bradykinin (BK)-and a,b-methylene ATP (a,bmeATP)-induced activation of primary a erent neurons in mice. 2 The nociceptive response (amount of time spent licking and biting the hindpaw) induced by intraplantar injection of BK (500 pmol mouse 71 ) was signi®cantly attenuated by both o-conotoxin GVIA (N-type blocker) and calciseptine (L-type) but not by o-agatoxin IVA (P/Q-type).3 The nociceptive response induced in a similar way by a,bmeATP (100 nmol) was signi®cantly inhibited by both the above N-and P/Q-type Ca 2+ -channel blockers but not by the L-type blocker. 4 The nociceptive responses elicited by BK and a,bmeATP were dose-dependently inhibited by a tachykinin-NK1-receptor antagonist (L-703,606) and an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-receptor antagonist (D-AP5), respectively. 5 Intrathecal administration of substance P (SP) (1.8 nmol) or NMDA (350 pmol) elicited algesic responses, such as licking, biting and scratching of the hindquarters. The SP-induced algesic behaviour was signi®cantly inhibited by the L-type blocker but not by the N-type. The NMDAinduced response was not a ected by either the N-or the P/Q-type blocker. 6 These ®ndings suggest that BK and ATP most likely excite di erent types of sensory neurons in the periphery and that within the spinal cord the former stimulates peptidergic transmission regulated by presynaptic N-and postsynaptic L-type Ca 2+ channels, while the latter stimulates glutamatergic transmission regulated by presynaptic N-and P/Q-type channels.
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