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Cadaverine and putrescine initiate the burial of dead conspecifics by rats
Abstract
Rats buried the bodies of conspecifics dead for more than 40 hr but not those dead for less than 5 hr. They also buried anesthetized conspecifics sprinkled with putrescine or cadaverine or even wooden dowels treated in the same manner. However, rats first rendered anosmic by intranasal injections of zinc sulphate did not bury aged carcasses or dowels sprinkled with putrescine or cadaverine. Thus, the burial of dead conspecifics by rats appears to be under the control of these two polyamines, which contribute to the characteristic odor of decaying tissue.
... Examples include strategies for reducing pathogens in nests: eusocial insects build antimicrobial/antifungal secretions into the walls of their nests [54], while birds [57,60] and nestbuilding mammals [67,148] may include anti-parasitic materials. Similarly, insects [54] and humans, both of which live at high densities, dispose of their dead (see also reports in mice [149] and wolves [150]). Though these particular behaviours are probably convergent, the proximate mechanisms underpinning them are likely to be multimodal and may vary across taxa according to which senses species use to perceive their environment. ...
... Though these particular behaviours are probably convergent, the proximate mechanisms underpinning them are likely to be multimodal and may vary across taxa according to which senses species use to perceive their environment. For example, insects rely heavily on odour cues to determine when to dispose of the dead (see also mice [149]), while humans likely rely more heavily on behavioural, tactile, and visual cues for recognizing when someone has died. Overall, this pattern suggests that while environmental protection behaviours may be ubiquitous and ancient, some niche dimensions, like nest-building, may exert particularly strong selection for these behaviours, producing the convergences that we see in distant lineages. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed an urgent need for a comprehensive, multidisciplinary understanding of how healthcare systems respond successfully to infectious pathogens –and how they fail. This paper contributes a novel perspective that focuses on the selective pressures that shape healthcare systems over evolutionary time. We use a comparative approach to trace the evolution of care-giving and disease control behaviours across species and then map their integration into the contemporary human healthcare system. Self-care and pro-health environmental modification are ubiquitous across animals, while derived behaviours like care for kin, for strangers, and group-level organisational responses have evolved via different selection pressures. We then apply this framework to our behavioural responses to COVID-19 and demonstrate that three types of conflicts are occurring: 1) conflicting selection pressures on individuals, 2) evolutionary mismatches between the context in which our healthcare behaviours evolved and our globalised world of today and 3) evolutionary displacements in which older forms of care are currently dispensed through more derived forms. We discuss the significance of understanding how healthcare systems evolve and change for thinking about the role of healthcare systems in society during and after the time of COVID-19—and for us as a species as we continue to face selection from infectious diseases.
... Zebrafish (Danio rerio) exhibit avoidance and defensive behaviors when exposed to putrescine 30,33 , and cortisol levels significantly increase, indicating stress 33 . Putrescine induces the burial of conspecific hooded rats (Rattus norvegicus domestica) 34 likely to prevent risks associated with corpses such as scavenger attraction or pathogen exposure 35,36 . Conversely, putrescine can be attractive for certain predators or scavengers, where an odor of death may indicate an available meal. ...
Fish use odor to avoid exposure to predation and disease. Harnessing these odors as repellents is proving useful for management initiatives that conserve native species or control invasive populations. Here, we evaluated the behavioral response of invasive sea lamprey to putrescine, a decay molecule that many prey organisms avoid. Putrescine is found in tissue extracts that contain sea lamprey alarm cue, and human saliva, two mixtures known to elicit flight and avoidance responses in migratory sea lamprey. We used two behavioral assays to evaluate metrics of repellency: behavioral preference (space use) and change in activity rates and found context-dependent results. In smaller assays with individual fish, we found that putrescine had no effect on sea lamprey activity but did induce avoidance. In larger assays with multiple animals, sea lamprey did not avoid putrescine. Our results also showed consistent changes in activity and avoidance behavior in sea lamprey exposed to alarm cue in the smaller assay, concluding that this design could prove useful as a high-throughput screening tool. We also investigated a novel odor identified in sea lamprey skin, petromyzonacil, and found no behavioral effects to this odor on its own or in synergy with putrescine. Our results show limited evidence that putrescine acts as robust repellent for sea lamprey and highlight the importance of environmental context when interpreting avoidance behavior in laboratory settings.
... Multiple amines including (but not limited to) isobutylamine, isopentylamine, trimethylamine, cadaverine, putrescine, tyramine, phenylethylamine, and tryptamine are key indicators of the spoilage or putrefaction of meats or fishes (Barger and Walpole 1909;Tarr 1938;Bai et al. 2019;Veciana-Nogues et al. 1996). In fact, cadaverine and putrescine, two diamines associated with decaying tissue, promoted the burying of conspecifics in rats (Pinel et al. 1981). Thus, for many species, several of these amines are highly aversive and may trigger innate avoidance (e.g., Ferrero et al. 2011;Dewan et al. 2013;Li et al. 2013;Hussain et al. 2013;Saraiva et al. 2016). ...
Trace amine-associated receptors (TAARs) are a family of G protein-coupled receptors that function as odorant receptors in the main olfactory system of vertebrates. TAARs are monoallelically expressed in primary sensory neurons where they couple to the same transduction cascade as canonical olfactory receptors and are mapped onto glomeruli within a specific region of the olfactory bulb. TAARs have a high affinity for volatile amines, a class of chemicals that are generated during the decomposition of proteins and are ubiquitous physiological metabolites that are found in body fluids. Thus, amines are proposed to play an important role in intra- and interspecific communication such as signaling the sex of the conspecific, the quality of the food source, or even the proximity of a predator. TAARs have a crucial role in the perception of these behaviorally relevant compounds as the genetic deletion of all or even individual olfactory TAARs can alter the behavioral response and reduce the sensitivity to amines. The small size of this receptor family combined with the ethological relevance of their ligands makes the TAARs an attractive model system for probing olfactory perception. This review will summarize the current knowledge on the olfactory TAARs and discuss whether they represent a unique subsystem within the main olfactory system.
... Corpse management appears to be relatively unusual outside of humans and insects. Rodents will bury corpses in response to olfactory cues emitted through decomposition (Pinel et al., 1981) and in one case, a wolf mother (Canis lupus) was inferred to have buried her dead pups (Boyd et al., 1993). The researchers found locations where pups appeared to have been buried, then subsequently dug up and taken away by scavengers (Boyd et al., 1993). ...
One of the striking features of human social complexity is that we provide care to sick and contagious individuals, rather than avoiding them. Care-giving is a powerful strategy of disease control in human populations today; however, we are not the only species which provides care for the sick. Widespread reports occurring in distantly related species like cetaceans and insects suggest that the building blocks of care for the sick are older than the human lineage itself. This raises the question of what evolutionary processes drive the evolution of such care in animals, including humans. I synthesize data from the literature to evaluate the diversity of care-giving behaviors and conclude that across the animal kingdom there appear to be two distinct types of care-behaviors, both with separate evolutionary histories: (1) social care behaviors benefitting a sick individual by promoting healing and recovery and (2) community health behaviors that control pathogens in the environment and reduce transmission within the population. By synthesizing literature from psychology, anthropology, and biology, I develop a novel hypothesis (Hominin Pathogen Control Hypothesis) to explain how these two distinct sets of behaviors evolved independently then merged in the human lineage. The hypothesis suggests that social care evolved in association with offspring care systems whereas community health behaviors evolved as a type of niche construction. These two types of behaviors merged in humans to produce complex, multi-level healthcare networks in humans. Moreover, each type of care increases selection for the other, generating feedback loops that selected for increasing healthcare behaviors over time. Interestingly, domestication processes may have contributed to both social care and community health aspects of this process.
... Animals including some social insects, birds, and mammals exhibit a diversity of responses following the discovery of a dead conspecific. In some animals such as eusocial insects and rats, the presence of a conspecific corpse prompts stereotyped responses such as burial, removal or ingestion [8,75]. Among other animals, particularly social mammals with large relative brain sizes such as cetaceans, primates, and elephants, observations of captive or free ranging individuals responding to conspecific corpses are both numerous and variable. ...
Animals utilize a variety of auditory and visual cues to navigate the landscape of fear. For some species, including corvids, dead conspecifics appear to act as one such visual cue of danger, and prompt alarm calling by attending conspecifics. Which brain regions mediate responses to dead conspecifics, and how this compares to other threats, has so far only been speculative. Using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) we contrast the metabolic response to visual and auditory cues associated with a dead conspecific among five a priori selected regions in the American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) brain: the hippocampus, nidopallium caudolaterale, striatum, amygdala, and the septum. Using a repeated-measures, fully balanced approach, we exposed crows to four stimuli: a dead conspecific, a dead song sparrow (Melospiza melodia), conspecific alarm calls given in response to a dead crow, and conspecific food begging calls. We find that in response to observations of a dead crow, crows show significant activity in areas associated with higher-order decision-making (NCL), but not in areas associated with social behaviors or fear learning. We do not find strong differences in activation between hearing alarm calls and food begging calls; both activate the NCL. Lastly, repeated exposures to negative stimuli had a marginal effect on later increasing the subjects' brain activity in response to control stimuli, suggesting that crows might quickly learn from negative experiences.
... In this case, the olfactory detection of putrescine or cadaverine, which are given off by decaying rat carcasses, triggers burying behaviour. No conceptual mediation is apparently present, since rats have been found to bury anaesthetised conspecifics and pieces of wood that have been sprinkled with either of these two components (Pinel et al. 1981). ...
It is generally assumed that humans are the only animals who can possess a concept of death. However, the ubiquity of death in nature and the evolutionary advantages that would come with an understanding of death provide two prima facie reasons for doubting this assumption. In this paper, my intention is not to defend that animals of this or that nonhuman species possess a concept of death, but rather to examine how we could go about empirically determining whether animals can have a concept of death. In order to answer this question, I begin by sketching an account of concept possession that favours intensional classification rather than mere extensional discrimination. Further, I argue that the concept of death should be construed as neither binary nor universal. I then present a proposal for a set of minimal conditions that must be met to have a concept of death. I argue that having a minimal understanding of death entails first expecting a dead individual to be alive, and then grasping its non-functionality and irreversibility. Lastly, I lay out the sort of observational and experimental evidence that we should look for to determine whether animals have the capacity for a minimal comprehension of death.
... To avoid these risks, social insects such as ants, termites and bees have special undertaking procedures to efficiently dispose of conspecific corpses [26][27][28]. Rats (Rattus norvegicus) likewise bury cagemates that have been dead for more than 40 h [29]. For these colony living animals, any contact that occurs is therefore associated with body removal and the ultimate driver is maintaining colony health. ...
Observations of some mammals and birds touching their dead provoke questions about the motivation and adaptive value of this potentially risky behaviour. Here, we use controlled experiments to determine if tactile interactions are characteristic of wild American crow responses to dead crows, and what the prevalence and nature of tactile interactions suggests about their motivations. In Experiment 1, we test if food or information acquisition motivates contact by presenting crows with taxidermy-prepared dead crows, and two species crows are known to scavenge: dead pigeons and dead squirrels. In Experiment 2, we test if territoriality motivates tactile interactions by presenting crows with taxidermy crows prepared to look either dead or upright and life-like. In Experiment 1, we find that crows are significantly less likely to make contact but more likely to alarm call and recruit other birds in response to dead crows than to dead pigeons and squirrels. In addition, we find that aggressive and sexual encounters with dead crows are seasonally biased. These findings are inconsistent with feeding or information acquisition-based motivation. In Experiment 2, we find that crows rarely dive-bomb and more often alarm call and recruit other crows to dead than to life-like crows, behaviours inconsistent with responses given to live intruders. Consistent with a danger response hypothesis, our results show that alarm calling and neighbour recruitment occur more frequently in response to dead crows than other stimuli, and that touching dead crows is atypical. Occasional contacts, which take a variety of aggressive and sexual forms, may result from an inability to mediate conflicting stimuli.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolutionary thanatology: impacts of the dead on the living in humans and other animals’.
... In humans, a range of interesting emotional and conscious, and unconscious responses to putrescine have been documented, including increased vigilance, active and planned retreat, and hostility towards out-group members [92]. However, not all vertebrates show avoidance: in rats, cadaverine and putrescine elicit the burying of dead conspecifics [93], and in goldfish, the same chemicals enhance feeding activity [94]. ...
Evolutionary thanatology benefits from broad taxonomic comparisons of non-human animals' responses to death. Furthermore, exploring the sensory and cognitive bases of these responses promises to allow classification of the underlying mechanisms on a spectrum from phylogenetically ancient to more derived traits. We draw on studies of perception and cognition in invertebrate and vertebrate taxa (with a focus on arthropods, corvids, proboscids, cetaceans and primates) to explore the cues that these animals use to detect life and death in others, and discuss proximate and ultimate drivers behind their capacities to do so. Parallels in thanatological behaviour exhibited by the last four taxa suggest similar sensory–cognitive processing rules for dealing with corpses, the evolution of which may have been driven by complex social environments. Uniting these responses is a phenomenon we term ‘animacy detection malfunction’, whereupon the corpse, having both animate and inanimate attributes, creates states of fear/curiosity manifested as approach/avoidance behaviours in observers. We suggest that integrating diverse lines of evidence (including the ‘uncanny valley’ effect originating from the field of robotics) provides a promising way to advance the field, and conclude by proposing avenues for future research.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolutionary thanatology: impacts of the dead on the living in humans and other animals’.
... The 'fatty acid death cues' represent a group of conserved post-mortem chemical signatures that trigger avoidance in gregarious species in both Crustacea and Hexapoda, including amphipods (Amphipoda) [45], woodlice and pill bugs (Isopoda) [46], springtails (Collembola) [47,48], crickets (Orthoptera) [49], cockroaches (Blattodea) [46,50], booklice (Psocoptera) [51] and social caterpillars (Lepidoptera) [46]. These compounds are comparable to cadaverine and putrescine in vertebrates, which are emitted from decaying flesh and stimulate burial in rats [52] and aversion in fish [53]. ...
Eusocial insects frequently face death of colony members as a consequence of living in large groups where the success of the colony is not dependent on the fate of the individual. Whereas death of conspecifics commonly triggers aversion in many group-living species due to risk of pathogens, eusocial insects perform cooperative corpse management. The causes and social context of the death, as well as feeding and nesting ecology of the species, influence the way that corpses are treated. The corpse itself releases cues that dictate the colony's response. As a result, social insects exhibit behavioural responses that promote disease resistance, colony defence and nutrient recycling. Corpse management represents a unique adaption that enhances colony success, and is another factor that has enabled eusocial insects to be so successful. In this review, we summarize the causes of death, the sensory detection of death and corpse management strategies of social insects. In addition, we provide insights into the evolution of behavioural response to the dead and the ecological relevance of corpse management.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolutionary thanatology: impacts of the dead on the living in humans and other animals’.
... Of the rat defensive responses that failed to make Bolles's (1970) original list, defensive burying has been studied most extensively (see Treit, 1983, andWilkie, 1983, for reviews). Defensive burying occurs in rats as an unconditioned response directed at unfamiliar objects encountered in a familiar test environment (Hudson, 1950;Terlecki, Pinel, & Treit, 1979) and at the sources of noxious odors (Pinel, Gorzalka, & Ladak, 1981) or flavors (Jackson, Garbin, & Hollingsworth, 1984), but it has been studied most frequently as a conditioned response. In the typical conditioned-defensive-burying experiment, a rat receives a single electric shock from a wire-wrapped wooden dowel mounted on the wall of the test chamber, just above the layer of bedding material that covers the floor. ...
Rats (Rattus norvegicus) deprived of the opportunity to interact with particulate matter until they were young adults engaged in defensive burying after they were shocked by a wire-wrapped dowel in a test chamber that held bedding material. Interacting with a particulate substrate during development is not necessary for the expression of defensive burying in adulthood. However, interacting with a particulate substrate early in the rats' lives did have a substantial effect on the emergence and maintenance of burying behavior. Defensive burying developed at a later age and declined at an earlier age in rats maintained on wire mesh from birth until testing than it did in rats raised until weaning on bedding and housed on mesh thereafter. Because defensive burying is a complex, flexible, yet reliable response sequence that cannot be performed without the appropriate substrate, it has considerable potential as a model for the study of the development of species-specific defense responses.
... Taken together, the results shown in Figure 5 places 0.6 nmol TMT below 5 g of fox feces odor, and on the same level as 80 nmol cadaverine and 2-phenylethylamine in terms of eliciting freezing. Cadaverine is part of the smell arising from decaying flesh and has been found to elicit burying behavior in rats (Pinel et al. 1981). The innately aversive effects on rats of cadaverine can be reversed to attractiveness by linking the smell with the act of copulation (Pfaus et al. 2001), but male rats will also cross an electrified floor to gain access to a female in heat (Anderson 1937). ...
TMT (2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline) is known as a component of fox feces inducing fear in rodents. However, no recent chemical analyses of fox feces are available, and few studies make direct comparisons between TMT and fox feces. Fox feces from 3 individuals were used to prepare 24 samples to be analyzed for the presence of TMT using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). When TMT was added in low amounts (50-2000 nmol/g), TMT was detected in 10 out of 11 samples. When no TMT was added, TMT was detected in only 1 out of 13 samples. In a second experiment, we tested the behavioral response of male Brown Norway (BN) and Wistar rats to either fox feces, a low amount of TMT (0.6 nmol) or 1-hexanol. TMT induced freezing in the rats, but fox feces induced significantly more freezing episodes and longer total duration of freezing in both rat strains. In experiment 3, male BN rats were exposed over several days to fox feces, rat feces, 1-hexanol, cadaverine, 2-phenylethylamine, and TMT, one odor at a time. Fox feces induced significantly more freezing episodes of a longer total duration than any of the other odors, with rat feces and 1-hexanol giving rise to the lowest amount of freezing. This finding, together with our inability to verify the presence of TMT in fox feces, indicates that the concentration of TMT in our fox feces samples was below 50 nmol/g. It may also be that other compounds in fox feces play a role in its fear-inducing properties.
... To the conservation biologist this complexity offers both special challenges and opportunities. For example, the activities of invasive rodents, which threaten biodiversity on many islands [39], may be reduced in sensitive areas by exploiting their avoidance of conspecific carcasses [40] and their sensitivity to puterscine and cadaverine odors [41]. Similarly, some birds learn to avoid aspects of their environment associated with a conspecific's death. ...
Expanding human populations favors a few species while extinguishing and endangering many others (Maxwell et al., 2016; Pimm et al., 2014). Understanding how animals perceive and learn about dangers and rewards can aid conservationists seeking to limit abundant or restore rare species (Schakner and Blumstein, 2016; Greggor et al., 2014; Angeloni et al., 2008; Fernández-Juricic and Schulte, 2016). Cognition research is informing conservation science by suggesting how naïve prey learn novel predators (Griffin et al., 2000; Moseby et al., 2015; Schakner et al., 2016; Blumstein, 2016), the mechanisms underlying variation in tolerance of human disturbance (Bostwick et al., 2014), and when natural aversions and fear learning can be leveraged to humanely control predators (Nielsen et al., 2015; Colman et al., 2014; Norbury et al., 2014; Lance et al., 2010; Cross et al., 2013). Insights into the relationships between cognition and adaptability suggest that behavioral inflexibility often presages species rarity (Amiel et al., 2011; Reif et al., 2011; Sol et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2014; but see Kellert, 1984). Human compassion and restraint are ultimately required to conserve species. Cognitive science can therefore further inform conservation by revealing the complex inner worlds of the animals we threaten and, in partnership with environmental psychologists, explore how such newfound knowledge affects our empathy for other species and ultimately the public’s actions on behalf of species in need of conservation (Collado et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2014).
... compounds are comparable to cadaverine and putrescine in vertebrates, which have been shown to stimulate burial in rats (Pinel, Gorzalka & Ladak 1981) and avoidance in fish (Hussain et al. 2013). ...
In social insects, the efficiency of exploitation of resources and colony defence are mediated by chemical communication. In colonies dependent on nutritionally limited resources, corpses represent both a food resource and a risk of pathogens. Because this risk vs. reward changes with time after death, behavioural plasticity in the response to corpses would be advantageous. How social insects regulate this trade‐off remains unknown.
We conducted quantitative behavioural bioassay and chemical analysis to study corpse management in the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes . We hypothesized that R. flavipes responds differently towards corpses with prolonged post‐mortem time, and this behavioural plasticity is mediated by the dynamic change in death cues.
We show that R. flavipes uses a post‐mortem signalling system that depends on an early death cue that stimulates corpse retrieval and cannibalism, and late death cues that stimulate recruitment and burial. A blend of 3‐octanone and 3‐octanol is released immediately after death, with the alcohol (possibly in conjunction with the ketone) playing a clear role as a death cue. This cue enables the colony to recycle nutrients before decomposition occurs and before risk of pathogens increases. The accumulation of late death cues, decomposition products shared by diverse arthropods, elicits a behavioural switch from cannibalism to burial.
The ability to detect and respond to the dead is vital to group‐living animals. Our study reveals a behavioural shift in corpse management triggered by the interplay of an early death cue and late death cues, which balances risks and rewards associated with corpses. The post‐mortem chemical communication highlights the adaptation of a social insect to its ecological niche.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
As in many other species of nonhuman primates, chimpanzee mothers with a dead infant may continue to care for and transport the infant for days, weeks, or even longer. The bereaved females do this despite what humans perceive as the foul odour from the putrefying corpse. Putrescine is a major contributor to the “smell of death,” and it elicits behaviours aimed at getting rid of the source of the smell, or escape responses in mammals including humans. However, it has never been shown that the odour of putrescine is aversive to chimpanzees. To address this question, we visually presented six adult chimpanzees with the corpse of a small bird, or a stuffed glove, in association with putrescine, ammonia, or water, and recorded the chimpanzees’ reactions. The apes spent significantly less time near the object when it was paired with putrescine than the other substances, although they showed no signs of increased arousal or anxiety. We interpret the findings as evidence of an aversion to the smell of death in chimpanzees, discuss the implications for understanding the continued maternal-like behaviour of bereaved female chimpanzees, and suggest future research directions for the field of comparative evolutionary thanatology.
Postmortem attentive behaviour (PAB) has been rec- orded across several mammalian species. Here, we document two instances of PAB in the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin (Sousa plumbea) along the Sindhu- durg coast in Maharashtra, India. We describe the subsequent behaviours displayed by the care-giving individuals and other group members. In both cases, an adult ‘postmortem attender’, was observed to sup- port and erratically move around a dead calf. In the second case, the adult–calf pair was escorted by a second adult individual. An examination of the carcass in the first instance revealed blunt force trauma under the right flipper of the calf. These findings suggest that closely associated group members may be dis- tressed by injury to or death of an offspring and stress the importance of long-term behavioural studies. We also discuss the evolutionary significance of PAB in the larger context of social behaviour across mamma- lian groups and the importance of cataloguing these incidents.
Corpse management is essential for social animals to maintain colony health. In the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, workers carry out undertaking behaviors to mitigate the risks associated with the dead. In this study, we hypothesized that termites would respond differently to the corpses from different castes based on their postmortem chemical signatures. To test this hypothesis, we 1) documented the behavioral responses of the workers toward corpses from different castes, and 2) profile the chemical signatures of these corpses. Corpses from all castes were retrieved inside the nests and cannibalized when they were decomposed <64 h, regardless of the presence or absence of the cues that we refer to as early death cues (3-octanol and 3-octanone). However, after 64 h, all corpses except for soldiers were buried on site by R. flavipes workers. The late death cues (oleic acid) were cumulative over time among castes but accumulated more slowly and at lower levels in soldiers. The differential release of 3-octanol and 3-octanone between workers/soldiers and nymphs could be explained by either qualitative or quantitative differences in signaling the death between imaginal and neuter developmental pathways. In summary, the efficient and selective recognition of the dead and the fine-tuning of subsequent undertaking responses observed in R. flavipes are aspects of corpse management, which can minimize the potential risks associated with different castes and maximize the colony fitness.
Cadaverine, a diamine monomer, broadly exists in living organisms participating in metabolism processes. As a promising substitute of 1,6-diaminohexane, cadaverine can polymerize with dicarboxylic acids and yield biobased polyamides, polyamide (PA) 5×, showing ecofriendly and excellent mechanical properties in the fields of electronics, automobile, material, storage, and others. Due to the increasing attentions on environment problems, biopolyamide is expected to be an ideal and green material to substitute conventional chemistry polyamide. This review summarizes the properties, potential applications, and production strategies about cadaverine and mainly focuses on the recent developments by cellular engineering Escherichia coli and Corynebacterium glutamicum as main workhorses. In addition, the key enzyme lysine decarboxylase decorated by means of immobilization and mutation to efficiently catalyze lysine and its catalysis mechanisms are also discussed. In order to achieve industrial applications, the indispensable steps of separation and purification are described as well and perspectives for cadaverine manufacturing from renewable resources are further provided.
Although some definitions of thanatology-broadly definable as the study of death and dying-exclude nonhumans as subjects, recognition of the scientific value of studying how other species respond to sick, injured, dying and dead conspecifics appears to be growing. And whereas earlier literature was largely characterized by anecdotal descriptions and sometimes fanciful interpretations, we now see more rigorous and often quantitative analysis of various behaviors displayed towards conspecifics (and sometimes heterospecifics) at various stages of incapacitation, including death. Studies of social insects in particular have revealed chemical cues that trigger corpse management behaviors, as well as the adaptive value of these behaviors. More recent research on other taxonomic groups (including aquatic and avian species, and mammals) has sought to better document these animals' responses to the dying and dead, to identify influencing factors and underlying mechanisms, and to better understand the physiological, emotional, social and psychological significance of the phenomena observed. This special issue presents original short reports, reviews, and full research articles relating to these topics in New World monkeys, Old World monkeys and apes, as well as equids and proboscids. The range of events, data, hypotheses and proposals presented will hopefully enrich the field and stimulate further developments in comparative evolutionary thanatology.
Field-effect transistor (FET) devices based on conductive nanomaterials have been used to develop the biosensors. However, development of FET-based biosensors that allow efficient stability, especially in gas phase, for obtaining reliable and reproducible responses remains a challenge. In this study, we developed a nanodisc (ND)-functionalized bioelectronic nose (NBN) based on nickel (Ni)-decorated carboxylated polypyrrole nanoparticle (cPPyNP)-FET that offers the detection of liquid and gaseous cadaverine (CV). The TAAR13c, specifically binding to CV which is an indicator of food spoilage, was successfully constructed in NDs. The NBN was fabricated by the oriented assembly of TAAR13c-embedded NDs (T13NDs) onto the transistor with Ni/cPPyNPs. The NBN showed high-performance in selectivity and sensitivity for the detection of CV, with excellent stability in both aqueous and gas phase. Moreover, the NBN allowed efficient measurement of corrupted real-food samples. It demonstrates the ND-based device can allow the practical biosensor that provides high stability in gas phase.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
There is an increasing recognition of the choroid plexus’ (CP) functional relevance for brain homeostasis, and its malfunction has been associated with neurologic diseases, in newborns, young adults, and the elderly, like kernicterus, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease. Yet, the CP still remains an overlooked organ requiring further investigation. The minute size of the CP, particularly in rodent models, increases the difficulties associated with the implementation of suitable protocols to address the ever-increasing research questions. In recent years we have implemented fundamental methods to study gene expression and function in the CP. These include CP epithelial cell (CPEC) primary cultures; use of CP explants for expression analysis, and electrophysiology and bioluminescence assays; Ca²⁺ imaging; gene silencing in CP epithelial cell lines; and transport studies across blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB) in vitro models. This chapter describes these protocols aiming to attract more researchers willing to enhance the current knowledge on CP functions and the relevance of its malfunction to the central nervous system pathophysiology. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
Modern archaeology has amassed considerable evidence for the disposal of the dead through burials, cemeteries and other monuments. Drawing on this body of evidence, this book offers fresh insight into how early human societies conceived of death and the afterlife. The twenty-seven essays in this volume consider the rituals and responses to death in prehistoric societies across the world, from eastern Asia through Europe to the Americas, and from the very earliest times before developed religious beliefs offered scriptural answers to these questions. Compiled and written by leading prehistorians and archaeologists, this volume traces the emergence of death as a concept in early times, as well as a contributing factor to the formation of communities and social hierarchies, and sometimes the creation of divinities.
This book contains a wide range of information of huge complexity on rat behavior. The book has three objectives. The first objective is to present an introduction of rat behavior. In choosing the rat as the subject species, the book has made the assumption that this species will remain, as it has in the past, the primary subject used the laboratory investigations of behavior. The second objective is to describe the organization and complexity of rat behavior. The major theme emerging from many lines of research on rat behavior is that understanding the rules of behavioral organization will be central in understanding the structural basis of behavior. The third objective is to update, as much as is possible, previous compendiums of rat behavior. Behavioral neuroscience continues to be a diverse field of research in which there remain many competing experimental methods and hypotheses. The behavioral descriptions in this book are closely tied to the laboratory methods from which they were derived, thus allowing investigators to exploit both the behavior and the methods for their own research. The first part of the book includes sections on natural history, sensory systems, motor systems, regulatory systems, development and parental behavior, social behavior, cognitive functions, and models. The second section is comprised by the major tests used by scientists interested in each domain of behavior.
In recent years, a great deal of laboratory research has been devoted to the study of experimentally induced food aversions. Animals come to reject an initially attractive food item, because its ingestion is paired with a malaise inducing agent. This chapter is concerned with a second and rather different kind of food aversion; one that requires no special experimental procedures because it occurs quite spontaneously in many species living in their natural environment, as well as under laboratory conditions. It is shown that this naturally occurring food aversion is acquired in the sense that it develops during the course of the primary socialization process, at least in Norway rats and probably in many other flesh-eating species as well. Since it is so widespread, this food aversion deserves its own experimental analysis, aimed at identifying its sensory and motivational bases, neural substrate, and ontogeny. Apart from its own intrinsic interest, research on the present food aversion may also uncover important similarities and differences between this naturally occurring aversion and the malaise-induced aversions referred to earlier. Further, research on this food aversion may shed additional light on the interdependence of two major classes of behavior-sociality and food getting. Finally, the experimental analysis of the present food aversion using animals may provide a useful perspective in which to view the current controversy among anthropologists concerning the ecological vs cultural determinants of cannibalism among humans.
Benzodiazepines were introduced into clinical practice in the early 1960s. Their range of actions -sedative/hypnotic, anxiolytic, anticonvulsant and muscle relaxant- combined with low toxicity seemed to make them ideal medications for many common conditions such as anxiety, insomnia and ordinary life stresses. These agents were the gold standard in the treatment of anxiety from the 1960's through the early 1980's and even now they are one of the most used drugs in many countries. Benzodiazepines are the most commonly prescribed psychotropic drugs in the elderly for sleep disorders and initial management of anxiety. Once starting on a benzodiazepine, older patients are more likely to use benzodiazepines chronically. Aged patients treated with benzodiazepines are more susceptible to present unwanted co-lateral actions such as impaired cognition, sedation and motor incoordination with an increased risk for falls with resultant bone fracture, these effects does not seem to be related with changes in pharmacokinetic parameters. The clinical analyses of the prevalence of anxiety disorders in the elderly have reported that women show a higher prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder than men and hence women are more frequently treated with benzodiazepines than men. In addition, women experience more side effects of benzodiazepines including drowsiness, sedation, confusion, ataxia and falls. Such higher sensitivity of women may be due to sex differences in pharmacokinetic parameters: clearance is greater in young adult women than in men and declines with age in men but not in women; and the volume of distribution is larger in aged men than in aged women. Also, in the elderly, benzodiazepines of long half-live are used as anxiolytics. In spite of this clinical information, little basic research has been done using aged animals, particularly females, to explore the anxiolytic-like and side-effects of benzodiazepines. Some studies using aged males report an absence of an anxiolytic-like action of diazepam or chlordiazepoxide employing the dark-light transition, the burying behavior and the elevated plus maze tests. A single study using middle-aged females (with irregular estrous cycles or in persistent diestrus) reported that diazepam did not affect any parameter reflecting experimental anxiety (active or passive responses in the burying behavior test), but increased parameters indicating impaired reactivity. Also in basic research there is evidence showing a hypersensitivity of males to the motor effects of benzodiazepines revealed by a shift to the left in the dose-effect curve on locomotor activity and rota-rod with increasing age. In rats, as in primates including humans, there are selective brainareas age-related alterations in the composition of GABAA receptors (decrease in the expression of α1 and α2 subunits in some regions such as cortex and cerebellum and increase in the α6 subunit in cerebellum), suggesting that these changes could account for the absent anxiolytic-like effects and excessive side actions produced by benzodiazepines in the elderly.
Social chemosignals are not simply vestigial. Rather, they are the oldest sensory system for coordinating social and reproductive behavior. Because they are evolutionarily conserved, they are a parsimonious system for integrating social interactions, emotions, and motivation in a variety of physical contexts and endocrine states. Hormones play a role in three ways: they change the meaning of an odorant, often without changing sensitivity or acuity; hormones are regulated by social odors and pheromones; hormones are social chemosignals themselves, functioning as odors, pheromones, and vasanas. Including humans in the comparative psychology and neuroendocrinology of social chemosignals provides animal research with a rich framework for addressing the relationship among perception, psychological responses, and levels of awareness. The animal literature brings precise insights into neuroendocrine mechanisms of production and response. It also brings a heightened appreciation of the diversity of ways that the same social function can be achieved.
Notes that in typical laboratory settings, the defensive reactions of animals appear to be limited to freezing, fleeing, and attacking. However, 95 naive adult male hooded rats tested in the presence of bedding material incorporated it into a striking and adaptive behavioral sequence. Ss shocked once through a stationary prod buried this shock source, even when the shock–test interval was 20 days. Moreover, the burying seemed to be guided specifically by the relation between the prod and the shock; Ss shocked through a grid did not bury the prod, and Ss shocked by 1 of 2 identical prods buried only the shock prod. Thus, the usual assumption that the rat's defensive repertoire is limited to a few simple behaviors appears to have been shaped by the constraints of standard testing environments rather than by the actual propensities of the rat. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
During a single 1-hr feeding test, adult male Norway rats were offered intact carcasses of adult male rodents, sacrificed by CO₂ asphyxiation. In Exp I, 79 Ss fed more readily on conspecifics dead 24–220 hrs than on conspecifics dead 10 min or 6 hrs. In Exp II, 22 Ss fed readily on roof rats (
Rattus rattus) whether they had been dead 10 min or 24 hrs. In Exp III, 15 Ss rendered anosmic by zinc sulfate treatment fed more readily on conspecifics dead for 10 min than did 17 controls. In Exp IV, 34 Ss consumed more flesh from house mice coated with roof rat urine than from mice coated with Norway rat urine. It is concluded that Norway rats exhibit a natural aversion to feed on the intact carcasses of freshly sacrificed adult conspecifics in the sense that they are more likely to feed on other species of rodent. The aversion diminishes with the dissipation of the chemoreceptive cue(s) identifying the carcass as a conspecific. (64 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This report describes the general behaviour patterns, spacing patterns and alarm vocalizations of California ground squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi) as observed in three successive springs of research. Functions are suggested for most behaviour patterns. Males maintain home ranges relatively exclusive of other males via site-specific aggression. Female home ranges overlap extensively with those of other females, and defence is confined to the immediate vicinity of the burrow. Both sexes respond to avian and mammalian predators with relatively predator-specific vocalizations.
Following various kinds of controlled social interactions, 64 male mice reacted to the odors from other males trained to win or lose agonistic encounters. Defeated Ss prefer the odor from novel victims over that from particular victors which earlier defeated Ss (p < .01). But defeated or nondefeated Ss prefer the odor from novel victors over that from novel victims (p < .05). Additonal experiments showed that defeated or nondefeated Ss are indifferent to the odors from isolates vs. novel victors, but nondefeated Ss prefer the odor from isolates over that from victims (p < .01). Male Ss also prefer the odor from nonshocked mice over that from shocked mice (p < .01). Findings suggest that male mice respond to an olfactory signal emitted by stressed mice. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
Previous investigations have shown that rats bury a variety of conditioned and unconditioned aversive stimuli. Such burying has been considered as a species-typical defensive reaction. In the present studies, rats buried spouts filled with Tabasco sauce, or condensed milk to which a taste aversion was conditioned, but did not bury water-filled spouts or spouts filled with a palatable novel food (apple juice) to which a taste aversion was not conditioned. However, in other experiments rats consistently and repeatedly buried Purina Rat Chow, Purina Rat Chow coated with quinine, and glass marbles. This indicates that a variety of stimuli, not all aversive or novel, evoke burying by rats. Whereas the behavior may reasonably be considered as a species-typical defensive behavior in some situations, the wide range of conditions that occasion burying suggests that the behavior has no single biological function.
The formation as well as the content of cadaverine were determined in different tissues of pregnant and non-pregnant rats. The placenta and ovary were most potent in the ability to form cadaverine. To our knowledge this is the first report of an in vitro formation of cadaverine linked to a normal physiological process, i.e. pregnancy. The highest concentration of cadaverine was found in the placenta and ovary of the pregnant rat. Treatment with aminoguanidine generally elevated the content of cadaverine, indicating a role of diamine oxidase as a regulator of diamine content.
Polyamine contents in 24 h urine of 16 psoriatic patients and seven healthy individuals are measured. The average values of putrescine and spermine showed slight increase in the psoriatic group, while those of spermidine were unchanged. When psoriatic patients are divided into three groups according to the extent of their skin lesion, the putrescine level is found to be higher in the group more serverely affected.Der Polyamingehalt des 24-h-Urins von 16 Psoriatikern und sieben Probanden wurde bestimmt. Die durchschnittlichen Werte von Putrescin und Spermien waren in der psoriatischen Gruppe etwas erhht, whrend die von Spermidin unverndert blieb.Bei Unterteilung psoriatischer Patienten in drei Gruppen unter Bercksichtigung der Ausdehnung der Hautvernderungen, ist der Putrescinspiegel im Urin hher in der Gruppe der groflchiger befallenen Psoriasis.
When rats first encountered a mouse-trap or a flashbulb in a chamber to which they had been habituated, they buried it with bedding material from the floor of the chamber, whereas rats previously habituated to the trap or the flashbulb did not. Conversely, rats did not bury a stationary, wire-wrapped wooden prod or a length of polyethylene tubing, even on first encounter. However, almost every rat struck by the trap, shocked by the prod, exposed to an airblast from the tube, or to a flash of the bulb, buried the respective source of aversive stimulation with the bedding material, even when a comparable control object was present during conditioning and testing. Thus, the phenomenon of defensive burying is not restricted to situations in which neutral objects serve as the source of painful electric shock. Rats seem to enter the experimental environment with an already established tendency to bury some objects (unconditioned defensive burying) but not others, and they readily learn to selectively bury an object that has been the source of any one of a variety of aversive stimuli (conditioned defensive burying).
Hooded rats trained to use olfactory cues to locate scented food pellets buried in an open field were unable to do so following bathing of the olfactory mucosa with a 5% zinc sulphate solution. An identical intranasal injection of physiological saline had no effect on performance of the task. This peripherally-induced anosmia lasted from 2 to at least 14 days in different subjects. The advantages of the present technique over surgical ablation of the olfactory bulbs as a means of producing anosmia are discussed.
Polyamine concentrations were evaluated in normal prostatic tissue as well as in hyperplastic prostate. Normal tissues had high concentrations of putrescine and spermine with intermediate spermidine concentrations, whereas there was a significant increase in the spermine concentration with hypertrophy of the prostate. Although not highly significant, spermidine concentrations were elevated slightly in benign hyperplasia whereas the putrescine content was decreased compared to normal tissue. Polyamine concentrations were measured also in kidney tumors and corresponding normal cortical kidney tissue. The concentration of spermidine in renal carcinomas was significantly elevated when compared to histologically normal areas of the same kidney. The spermine concentration of the tumor was generally lower but not highly significant. The serum level of peptide hormones TSH and C-peptide was elevated in 48 and 45% respectively in patients suffering from hyperplasia whereas the serum content of TSH prolactin and FSH was altered in 29 54 and 50% in patients with renal cancer.
— To determine whether changes in cerebral polyamines might mediate previously reported ACTH-induced changes in brain biochemistry and behavior, the cerebral content of polyamines was examined following ACTH treatment. Male CD-1 mice were injected daily for 3 days with long-acting (zinc phosphate) preparations of ACTH1–24 (1 μg/g) or ACTH4–10 (0.33 μg/g) and killed 24 h after the last injection. Putrescine, spermidine and spermine contents were determined by high pressure liquid chromatography. Putrescine content was significantly elevated in all brain regions by ACTH1–24 (approx 50%), and in the telencephalon by ACTH4–10 At the dose tested ACTH4–10 was less effective than ACTH1–24. Telencephalic spermidine was also elevated (10%)by ACTH1–24, but spermine content was not altered in any brain region. One injection of the long-acting ACTH1–24 preparation elevated telencephalic putrescine (49%) 24 h post-injection. ACTH1–24 (1 μg/g) in saline produced a peak elevation of all three telencephalic polyamines 6 h post-injection, while in the liver only putrescine was significantly elevated and reached a peak at 10h. Neither plasma polyamine nor ornithine concentrations were significantly altered by any of the treatments. Corticosterone, in both single and multiple injection regimens, failed to alter telencephalic polyamine content. Adrenalectomy, however, prevented the ACTH1–24-induced increase in telencephalic polyamines. It is concluded that ACTH acts directly in the brain to increase cerebral polyamine concentrations. The possibility that adrenal hormones exert permissive effects on this action is discussed.
Putrescine, spermidine, and spermine levels were determined in normal brain and central nervous system-related tumor tissues obtained at operation from 50 patients. The biochemical data were correlated with morphological histopathological descriptions of the same tissues. There was little variation in putrescine levels in normal cerebral cortical tissue. Subcortical white matter had lower putrescine but higher spermidine content than those of the overlying cortex. Putrescine levels were elevated in all astrocytomas assayed, and the magnitude of this elevation was proportional to the malignancy of the tumor as determined by histopathological criteria. In contradistinction, putrescine content of "benign" tumors was generally equal to or lower than that of the normal cerebral cortex. Spermidine and spermine levels varied widely in the tumors assayed and did not correlate with criteria of malignancy. It is concluded that putrescine may be a good biochemical marker of malignancy in central nervous system-related tumors.
1. Polyamines regulate the activity of the acetylcholinesterase from the central nervous system of the tobacco hornworm Manduca and from the synaptic plasma membrane of rat brain.2. The acetylcholinesterase from Manduca is more sensitive to polyamines than the acetylcholinesterase from rat brain.3. Polyamines enhance the affinity of both acetylcholinesterases for the substrate.4. Both acetylcholinesterases show negative cooperativity, but in presence of physiological concentrations of polyamines the negative cooperativity is eliminated.5. The effect of polyamines on acetylcholinesterase is not due to changes in the fluidity of the membrane.
References cited in other notes are either to very recent publications, or to articles in other fields.
Elevation of brain GABA levels by GABA-T inhibition is accompanied by a decrease of S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activity. This is followed by an increase of ornithine decarboxylase activity and a severalfold increase of brain putrescine levels. Spermidine and spermine levels are not significantly affected under these conditions. These unexpected findings support a regulatory interaction between GABA and polyamine metabolism.
The possibility that arginine and lysine might be decarboxylated by rat tissues was investigated. No evidence for decarboxylation of arginine could be found. Lysine decarbosylase (L-lysine carboxy-lyase, EC 4.1.1.18) activity producing CO2 and cadaverine was detected in extracts from rat ventral prostate, androgen-stimulated mouse kidney, regenerating rat liver and livers from rats pretreated with thioacetamide. These tissues all have high ornithine decarboxylase (L-ornithine carboxy-lyase, EC 4.1.1.17) activities. Lysine and ornithine decarboxylase activities were lost to similar extents on inhibition of protein synthesis by cycloheximide and on exposure to alpha-difluoromethylornithine. A highly purified ornithine decarboxylase preparation was able to decarboxylate lysine and the ratio of ornithine to lysine decarboxylase activities was constant throughout purification. Kinetic studies of the purified preparation showed that the V for ornithine was about 4-fold greater than for lysine, but the Km for lysine (9 mM) was 100-times greater than that for ornithine (0.09 mM). These experiments indicate that all of the detectable lysine decarboxylase activity in rat and mouse tissues was due to the action of ornithine decarboxylase and that significant cadaverine production in vivo would occur only when ornithine decarboxylase activity is high and lysine concentrations substantially exceed those of ornithine.
Children with cystic fibrosis excreted elevated urinary levels of all three polyamines--putrescine, spermidine, and spermine. Heterozygote parents excreted intermediate concentrations of the polyamines, but not levels significantly different from levels in normal controls. Patients with cystic fibrosis who were administered a tracer amount of [14C]spermidine excreted 11--13% of the radiolabel within 72 hr whereas normal controls excreted 60--76% of the radiolabel within 72 hr. Spermine excretion was positively correlated with increased pathology as assessed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical score, whereas urinary putrescine and spermidine levels were negatively correlated with increased pathology.
In Experiment 1, rats living in chambers containing bedding material were injected with a toxicosis-producing dose of lithium chloride shortly after their initial taste of sweetened condensed milk. They consumed no additional milk and used the bedding to bury the spout through which the milk had been delivered, although they did not bury a concurrently available water spout. In another control condition, rats did not bury a spout containing a novel solution (saccharin) not paired with toxicosis. In Experiment 2, rats did not bury a milk spout until milk consumption was followed by toxicosis. In Experiment 3, rats buried a spout containing Tabasco pepper sauce but not a concurrently available water spout. Thus, burying the food source appears to be an integral component of the rat's defensive reaction to noxious food.
Ptomaines, also known as putrefactive bases, are microbiological degradation products of postmortem protein catabolism and have caused much concern for forensic toxicologists for more than 100 years [1,2]. In 1885 Brieger [3] noted, in a review of the considerable volume of literature that existed even then, “that no facet of medical research, even extending into the present day, is so confused and devoid of actual results, as the field of the so-called putrefaction or cadaveric alkaloids.” (The term ptomaine originates from Selmi [4] who, through the Stass-Otto method, succeeded in isolating from cadaveric material noncrystalline products that could be confused with morphine, codeine, and atropine in their reactions and effects.) Brieger's major contribution was to deviate from the standard practice of establishing such cadaveric alkaloids through experiments with aminals and chemical reactions by demonstrating the chemical individuality of the body and investigating its composition [3]. He succeeded in identifying (besides neurine, muscarine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine, and diethylamine) two diamines that he named “cadaverine” and “putrescine” that were then unknown to chemistry. Cadaverine was identified as pentylethyldiamine and putrescine was supposed to be a dimethylated ethyldiamine.
Polyamines have been implicated as markers of cell kinetic parameters. Putrescine and spermine were elevated in the urine of women with normal pregnancies. Particularly striking was the over 75-fold increase in spermine excretion. Putrescine was more than twofold that found for normal women. In several patients followed serially during pregnancy to assess the temporal pattern of the urinary excretion of polyamines, it was found that the highest levels of all three polyamines occurred at 12 weeks of gestation. In amniotic fluid, putrescine was higher prior to 30 weeks of gestation whereas spermidine was significantly higher at or beyond 30 weeks of gestation. Spermine was relatively high in both groups. Studies are ongoing to assess whether alterations from these normally elevated patterns will occur in the fluids of pregnant women at high risk for abnormal fetal development.
The aversive efficacy of the urine of male rats, hamsters, C57Bl mice, 129Re mice and T.T. albino mice was assayed using group-housed subordinate T.T. male mice as subjects. The aversive pheromone was found to be specific only at the strain level, the urine of all other species and strains used having no apparent effect. The aversive properties of: (1) individual isolate urine; (2) pooled isolate urine and (3) the urine of the same donors under grouped conditions, were assessed using conspecific T.T. males as subjects. It was found that the aversive factor was not inividual specific and that grouping of the donors resulted in a complete loss of the urinary aversive factor. The results are discussed in terms of possible control mechanisms and territorial implications.
We have found relatively rapid increases in putrescine in pituitary and hypothalamic estrogen target tissues following a single injection of estrogen, and a gradual increase in the pituitary concentration of spermidine which correlates well with the estrogenic stimulation of pituitary growth (proliferation of acidophilic mammotrophs). In contrast to data from a pilot experiment which we prematurely reported in abstract form (Gray et al., 1978), we have found no increases in hypothalamic spermidine and spermine concentrations at times up to 48 h after estrogen injection. The extent of the involvement of the natural polyamines in the mediation of steroid hormone action in the nervous system, as elsewhere, remains unknown.
Reviews evidence from survivors of clinical death, using ethological, anthropological, and psychological findings. The similarity of afterlife visions to drug-induced hallucinations invites a rational framework for the present experimental analysis. From observations of animals burying their dead, through awareness of the seasonal rebirth of nature, to recognition of inherited characteristics, early homo sapiens developed the concept of life after death in an effort to explain these behaviors and their underlying feelings. Cross-cultural studies confirm that the experiences of dying and visiting "the other side" involve universal elements and themes that are predictable and definable. These phenomena arise from common structures in the brain and nervous system, common biological experiences, and common reactions of the CNS to stimulation. The resultant experience can be interpreted as evidence that people survive death, but it may be more easily understood as a dissociative hallucinatory activity of the brain. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Advances in Polyamine Research
- R A Campbell
- D R Morris
- D Bartos
- G D Daves
- F Bartos
Campbell, R. A., D. R. Morris, D. Bartos, G. D. Daves and F. Bartos. Advances in Polyamine Research. New York: Raven, 1978.
Introduction to the Polyamines
- S S Cohen
Cohen, S. S. Introduction to the Polyamines. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1971.
Estrogen increases hypothalamic and pituitary polyamine levels in ovariectomized rats Harik, S. 1. The effect of L-dopa on polyamine metabolism in the central nervous system of the rat Putrescine as a biochemical marker of malignant brain tumors
- H E Gray
- T W Jasper
- W G Luttge
- J B Shukla
Gray, H. E., T. W. Jasper, W. G. Luttge, J. B. Shukla and O.M. Rennert. Estrogen increases hypothalamic and pituitary polyamine levels in ovariectomized rats. J. Neurochem. 34" 753-755, 1980. 10, Harik, S. 1. The effect of L-dopa on polyamine metabolism in the central nervous system of the rat. Trans. Am. Neurol. Ass+ 102: 125-127, 1977. 11, Harik, S. I. and C. H. Sutton. Putrescine as a biochemical marker of malignant brain tumors. Cancer Res. 39: 5010-5015, 1979.
Altered polyamine metabolism in cystic fibrosis Urinary polyamine levels in patients with psoriasis
- D H Russell
- M G Rosenblum
- R C Beckerman
- B G+
- L M Durie
- D R Taussig
- K S Barnett
- Yoshikawa
Russell, D. H., M. G. Rosenblum, R C. Beckerman, B. G+ Durie, L. M. Taussig and D. R. Barnett. Altered polyamine metabolism in cystic fibrosis. Pediat. Res. 13:113%1140, 1979. 20+ Sakakibara, S. and K. Yoshikawa. Urinary polyamine levels in patients with psoriasis. Archs. derm. ReLS. 265: 133-137, 1979.