Rats anticipate damaged rungs on the elevated ladder: Applications for rodent models of Parkinson's disease.

The present study examined rats' ability to anticipate undetectable wider gaps between rungs produced when they stepped on and dislodged damaged rungs while they traversed a slightly inclined elevated ladder. Rats in the first of three experiments reduced running speeds when they encountered four evenly spaced damaged rungs either always placed on the first or second half of the ladder (the break-a-way (BW) phase) but quickly recovered to their baseline (BL) levels when damaged rungs where replaced with intact rungs (the recovery phase). Rats previously exposed to damaged rungs over the first half of the ladder increased their speeds above BL on its second "safer" half during the recovery phase, a delayed "relief-like" positive contrast effect. In Experiment 2, other rats decreased their speeds more as they approached a single damaged rung at a fixed location when it occurred before than after the mid-point of the ladder. Although they quickly recovered to BL speeds on the portion of the ladder after the damaged rung or replaced intact rung, they never showed any "relief-like"/escape effects. Rats also reduced their likelihood of dislodging the damaged rung with a fore paw over extended BW training. In the third experiment rats encountered a more easily dislodged damaged rung that was signaled by a closer intact rung on half the trials. Under these conditions rats displayed a more reliable positive contrast "relief-like" effect. We discussed how traditional associative and cognitive theories of aversive conditioning account for these findings and their relationship to normal changes in dopamine production and possible effects of reduced production from the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) in the Basal ganglia in rodent models of Parkinson's disease.

Recurrent disease outbreak in a warm temperate marginal coral community.

Coral diseases contribute to the rapid degradation of coral reefs on a global scale. Although widespread in tropical and subtropical reefs, disease outbreaks have not been described in warm temperate areas. Here, we report the outbreak of a new coral disease in a warm temperate marginal coral community in Japan. Outbreaks of the disease have been observed during the summer and autumn months since 2014. It affects the coral species Porites heronensis and was tentatively named "White Mat Syndrome" (WMS) as it consists of a white microbial mat dominated by Thiothrix sp., a sulfide oxidizing bacteria. Outbreaks followed high seasonal temperatures and were associated with the macroalga Gelidium elegans, which acts as a pathogen reservoir. With ocean warming and the anticipated increase in novel coral-algae interactions as some coral species shift poleward, WMS and emerging diseases could hinder the role of temperate areas as a future coral refuge.

Narrative processing of entertainment media and mental illness stigma.

This study examined the narrative effects of familiarity, transportation, whether a story is factual or fiction, and perceived realism on the stigmatizing behavior of social distancing behavior. A sample of N = 137 participants watched a commercial movie about mental illness. Genre was manipulated to determine whether fiction or nonfiction impacted social distancing behavior. Although there was no effect of the genre manipulation, transportation was found to have a relationship with social distancing, with the more relevant the participants found the story, the lower they demonstrated social distancing behavior. How much participants identified with the main character was found to have a partial mediating effect between perceived story relevance and social distancing behavior.