Éditeur(s) : Springer Heidelberg
Résumé : This study describes how three individual fish, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.), developed a novel behaviour and learnt to use a dorsally attached external tag to activate a self-feeder. This behaviour was repeated up to several hundred times, and over time these fish fine-tuned the behaviour and made a series of goal-directed coordinated movements needed to attach the feeder’s pull string to the tag and stretch the string until the feeder was activated. These observations demonstrate a capacity in cod to develop a novel behaviour utilizing an attached tag as a tool to achieve a goal. This may be seen as one of the very few observed examples of innovation and tool use in fish.
Animal Cognition (1435-9448) (Springer Heidelberg), 2014-05 , Vol. 17 , N. 3 , P. 779-785

Droits : Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00171/28217/26513.pdf
DOI:10.1007/s10071-013-0710-3
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00171/28217/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Pyrethroid insecticides are widely used in agriculture and in homes. Despite the neurotoxicity of these insecticides at high doses, few studies have examined whether lower-level exposures could adversely affect children's neurodevelopment. The PELAGIE cohort included 3421 pregnant women from Brittany, France between 2002 and 2006. When their children reached their sixth birthday, 428 mothers from the cohort were randomly selected, successfully contacted and found eligible. A total of 287 (67%) mothers agreed to participate with their children in the neuropsychological follow-up. Two cognitive domains were assessed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children: verbal comprehension and working memory. Five pyrethroid and two organophosphate insecticide metabolites were measured in maternal and child first-void urine samples collected between 6 and 19 gestational weeks and at 6 years of age, respectively. Linear regression models were used to estimate associations between cognitive scores and urinary pyrethroid metabolite concentrations, adjusting for organophosphate metabolite concentrations and potential confounders. Maternal prenatal pyrethroid metabolite concentrations were not consistently associated with any children's cognitive scores. By contrast, childhood 3-PBA and cis-DBCA concentrations were both negatively associated with verbal comprehension scores (P-trend = 0.04 and P-trend < 0.01, respectively) and with working memory scores (P-trend = 0.05 and P-trend < 0.01, respectively). No associations were observed for the three other childhood pyrethroid metabolite concentrations (4-F-3-PBA, cis-DCCA, and trans-DCCA). Low-level childhood exposures to deltamethrin (as cis-DBCA is its principal and selective metabolite), in particular, and to pyrethroid insecticides, in general (as reflected in levels of the 3-PBA metabolite) may negatively affect neurocognitive development by 6 years of age. Whatever their etiology, these cognitive deficits may be of importance educationally, because cognitive impairments in children interfere with learning and social development. Potential causes that can be prevented are of paramount public health importance
ISSN: 0160-4120

hal-01162374
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01162374
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01162374/document
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01162374/file/Pyrethroid%20insecticide%20exposure.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.envint.2015.05.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
In contrast to mammals that have limited proliferation and neurogenesis capacities, the Xenopus frog exhibit a great potential regarding proliferation and production of new cells in the adult brain. This ability makes Xenopus a useful model for understanding the molecular programs required for adult neurogenesis. Transcriptional factors that control adult neurogenesis in vertebrate species undergoing widespread neurogenesis are unknown. NeuroD1 is a member of the family of proneural genes, which function during embryonic neurogenesis as a potent neuronal differentiation factor. Here, we study in detail the expression of NeuroD1 gene in the juvenile and adult Xenopus brains by in situ hybridization combined with immunodetections for proliferation markers (PCNA, BrdU) or in situ hybridizations for cell type markers (Vimentin, Sox2). We found NeuroD1 gene activity in many brain regions, including olfactory bulbs, pallial regions of cerebral hemispheres, preoptic area, habenula, hypothalamus, cerebellum and medulla oblongata. We also demonstrated by double staining NeuroD1/BrdU experiments, after long post-BrdU administration survival times, that NeuroD1 gene activity was turned on in new born neurons during post-metamorphic neurogenesis. Importantly, we provided evidence that NeuroD1-expressing cells at this brain developmental stage were post-mitotic (PCNA-) cells and not radial glial (Vimentin+) or progenitors (Sox2+) cells.
ISSN: 1932-6203

hal-00877023
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00877023
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00877023/document
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00877023/file/The_Neurogenic_Factor-accepted.pdf
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0066487

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD D-side publications, Evere, Belgium
Résumé : International audience
This article underlines the learning and discrimination capabilities of a model of associative memory based on artificial networks of spiking neurons. Inspired from neuropsychology and neurobiology, the model implements top-down modulations, as in neocortical layer V pyramidal neurons, with a learning rule based on synaptic plasticity (STDP), for performing a multimodal association learning task. A temporal correlation method of analysis proves the ability of the model to associate specific activity patterns to different samples of stimulation. Even in the absence of initial learning and with continuously varying weights, the activity patterns become stable enough for discrimination.
Proceedings of 14 European Symposium on Artificial Neural Networks (ESANN 2006)

hal-00115420
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00115420
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00115420/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00115420/file/esann06_HAL.pdf
ARXIV : cs.NE/0611104