Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, San Francisco, 2010. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 71-05, Section: B, page: . Adviser: Lily Y. Jan.

<p> The dominant theory of PTSD and, subsequently, current gold standard PTSD treatments are based on a model of dysregulated fear. However, a growing body of research suggests that other emotional responses, like shame, are important contributors to PTSD symptom maintenance. The current study sought to forward the trauma literature by using an experimental paradigm to test if trauma survivors, especially those distressed by an interpersonal (vs. non-interpersonal) trauma, experience shame in response to day-to-day experiences of fear. This experimental study used a pre-post between group design in which participants (N = 178) were randomized to receive either a fear or neutral emotion prime with postmanipulation state shame serving as the outcome measure. As predicted, the fear emotion prime interacted with PTSD symptom level to significantly predict postmanipulation state shame. Among participants who reported an interpersonal index trauma and received the fear emotion prime, those with high PTSD symptom levels reported significantly more postmanipulation shame than those with low symptom levels. Interestingly, among participants who reported a non-interpersonal index and received the fear emotion prime, those with high PTSD symptom levels reported significantly less postmanipulation shame than those with low symptom levels. Exploratory analyses did not implicate emotion regulation skill deficits in this relationship. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating the relationship of shame to daily experiences of fear in the maintenance of PTSD symptoms, but further exploration into the dynamics of fear, shame, and PTSD represents a priority for the field of traumatology. This is, in part, because shame may impede the treatment and emotional processing of traumas in current gold standard exposure-based treatments.</p>

Literature suggests that in team sport settings, the ability to self-regulate is associated with enhanced teamwork and performance (Bell, 2007). Despite such evidence, little research has explored the ways in which team members regulate themselves (Callary & Durand-Bush, 2008; Wylleman, 2000). As such, applied interventions designed to enhance self-awareness and self-regulation are warranted. The present study documented if and how an elite curling team comprised of four athletes and a coach could enhance their performance and cohesion by engaging in a 24-week learning process designed to help them self-regulate, particularly their felt experiences. A narrative analysis was performed (Polkinghorne, 1995) and results were presented in chronological order to reveal the experiences of all participants over the course of the intervention. Overall, it was found that through self-observation and self-reflection (Zimmerman, 2000), the participants became more aware of him or herself, their environment and how they wanted to feel in order to perform their best. They also developed individual and collective strategies to achieve their desired feel, thoughts, and behaviours, and enhance their responses to obstacles. By learning to regulate themselves and their felt experiences, the athletes and coach unanimously reported that the intervention led to enhanced team performance and cohesion, which contributed to their highly successful season. Implications and future directions are addressed.

<p> Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) is a common genetic disorder. Besides physical abnormalities, up to 60% of children with NF1 exhibit cognitive problems including learning defects, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and difficulty with visuo-spatial tasks, e.g. judgment of line orientation (JLO). Animal models with mutations in the neurofibromin (NF1) gene also show cognitive deficits. Two NF1-dependent intracellular pathways regulate learning and long term memory (LTM) in flies. The carboxy terminus of the NF1 protein stimulates an adenylyl cyclase (AC) that raises cAMP levels and protein kinase A (PKA) activity required for learning. The central GAP domain of NF1 deactivates Ras to decrease activity in downstream mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K) pathways required for LTM. Pharmacological inhibitors exist for these pathways, including some drugs approved for use in humans for other indications. We hypothesize that compounds targeting the AC/PKA or MAPK/PI3K pathways will have modulating effects on cognitive ability, specifically learning and/or attention. In this study, three FDA approved compounds, lovastatin, rolipram, and rapamycin, were each fed to flies overnight before behavioral testing in one of three cognitive assessment assays. We developed a simplified olfactory learning apparatus, and a flight simulator with a novel collection of components. </p><p> Olfactory learning is a common and robust learning assay used for <i> Drosophila</i>. Visual learning and attention were assayed using a flight simulator containing visual cues. Effects of the drugs were also monitored at the biochemical level. <i>Drosophila</i> NF1 mutants are known to have impaired olfactory learning but we are the first to test for defects in visual learning or attention-like behavior. These studies are the first to identify deficits in visual learning and attention-like behavior in NF1 mutant flies. Treatment with these drugs did not change the behavior or biochemical markers of NF1 mutants. The visual learning ability of control flies was impaired after treatment, indicating that the drugs were able to affect relevant cognitive pathways. Future studies of <i>Drosophila</i> learning and attention-like behavior should facilitate the identification of novel therapeutics for humans suffering from NF1-associated cognitive deficits. </p>

<p> This dissertation examines the competitive and cooperative strategies of male mantled howlers (<i>Alouatta palliata</i>) living within a fragmented habitat at La Pacifica (LP), Costa Rica. Mantled howlers exhibit considerable intraspecific variation in their social behavior, and there remains much to learn regarding the nature of their sociality and the proximate mechanisms that underlie it, particularly among males living in multimale groups. In contrast to males at other mantled howler study sites, males at LP had higher rates of within-group agonism, and exhibited clear dominance hierarchies. Both groups inhabited a fragmented forest, which may exert greater pressure to compete for both food and reproductive resources than mantled howler males living in more intact forests. However, data from this dissertation also suggest that males may adjust competitive relationships as forest fragment characteristics within the same population vary. The group inhabiting the larger forest fragment experienced higher intergroup competition but lower intragroup competition than the group inhabiting the smaller fragment, allowing higher-ranking males to be more tolerant of subordinates accessing key resources, including females, in order to cooperate in group defense. Despite clear hierarchies, males at LP nevertheless form both preferred and avoided associations with specific males, which suggest that cooperative relationships among males have adaptive value. Neither rank nor age emerged as clear drivers shaping competitive and cooperative relationships. Collectively, these results suggest that male mantled howlers show considerable flexibility in their social relationships that are likely dependent on a complexity of ecological, social, and demographic factors.</p>

<p> I found that in inbred females <i>D. melanogaster,</i> physical condition plays a major role in the amount of polyandry. In some systems there is evidence that the ability to self assess allows inbred females to vary their reproductive behavior to increase promiscuity. I predicted that this may be true in <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> females, but we found that inbred females behaved less promiscuously in three proxies than outbred females. Inbred females mated with fewer total males, fewer different males, and had longer copulation latency than their outbred conspecifics. However, male mate choice is not predicted in <i>Drosophila melanogaster </i> because males invest less than females, but recently the importance of male preference has been gaining support. How these males are making decisions is an important component to understanding the evolutionary impacts of the male's behaviors. I found that male mate choices are heavily influenced by previous experiences, and the lack of experience causes significant changes in courtship latency and overall preferences.</p>

<p> Comparative and evolutionary cognitive scientists disagree on whether human and nonhuman primate cognition is driven by a general intelligence or more specific, modular mechanisms. Comparative research with chimpanzees is extensive and provides the opportunity to better understand the evolution of human cognition. Little research has been dedicated to individual differences in chimpanzee social and physical cognition. The study of individual differences can be informative in better understanding the generality of primate intelligence. Results supporting a correlation between performances in the social and physical domains would suggest that a domain-general inference system may be responsible. If no relationship is revealed between performances then more compartmentalized, modular mechanisms may be responsible. As a preliminary investigation, I administered four studies focusing on social and physical cognition to a large number of captive chimpanzees. Performance on two tool-using tasks served as indicators of physical intelligence. I administered two social investigations regarding individual variation in social responsiveness and sociability. I did not find a correlation between the social and physical investigations; however strong individual differences in performances were observed. Demographic factors sometimes played a role in the results presented here (e.g. dominance rank and age). While this research does not demonstrate a relationship between sociability and physical intelligence, additional social measures should be utilized in order to measure social cognitive ability in chimpanzees. Focusing on individual differences with a battery of social and physical tasks will be informative regarding the structure of primate intelligence and the underlying cognitive mechanisms that are responsible.</p>

<p> Male katydids produce mating calls through stridulation to attract potential mates. Calls were recorded in the field and analyzed to compare between two related species that occur in overlapping ranges in the northwestern United States. Distinct differences were found between the two species' calls in both dominant frequency and chirp rate. Also, one species interspersed trills amongst the chirps of the call, while the other species' call did not include trills. These distinct call differences can be used for species identification and can be easier to differentiate than physical characteristics. </p><p> The upper limits of sexual selection can be estimated using upper limits on Bateman gradients, which represent how fecundity increases with additional mates. Upper limits on Bateman gradients are expected to be constrained by various factors such as nutrition. These upper limits were estimated using controlled mating experiments with katydids on high and low protein diets (as adults) by measuring how maximum fecundity (fecundity with ideal mates) increased with each mating. Decreases in both maximum fecundity and the potential for sexual selection were expected in males and females due to protein limitation. This would result from decreased potential fecundity in low protein females and decreased value of nuptial gifts given by low protein males. The results did not support our predictions as strongly as hoped, but a decrease in the upper limits of sexual selection was nearly significant in low protein males, evidenced by reduced fecundity gains from remating. Also, spermatophores (the katydid nuptial gift) had a more complicated effect on fecundity than expected. Spermatophore size differed between males' first and second matings, however, larger spermatophores did not always confer more value to females, particularly in second matings. </p><p> Stable isotope analysis was used to examine the lack of significant effects from differences in dietary protein on the upper limits of sexual selection in the previous experiment. Stable isotope ratios were analyzed for three body tissues to infer diet at different life stages by comparison with isotopic values from the foods. Results showed that animals on the low protein diet may have eaten more food to make up for their protein deficit, which would have confounded nutritional effects in the previous study. Sex differences in nutrient processing were present as would be expected if males and females experience different nutritional requirements for reproduction. Nutrient processing in exoskeleton varied across food treatments in males but not in females. This suggests that males experienced greater protein limitation than females and adjusted their nutrient processing accordingly. Further work is underway to determine how much of each type of food was consumed by individuals in different experimental treatments and during different life stages. </p>

A year-long longitudinal study was conducted to quantify different types of teaching in the beginning of the year, and the effect of those choices on end of year instructional practices and student outcomes. Teacher practices were organized around the fidelity of implementation to the Responsive Classroom (RC) program (Northeast Foundation for Children, 2009). Most notably, a central RC tenant entitled “the first six weeks” was examined. RC is a universal prevention program that previously has been categorized as a Tier I social-behavioral program for students when considered within an RTI model (Elliott, 1999). Twenty-seven teachers from the New England region and 179 students participated. The Academic Competence Evaluation Scales (ACES), teacher-form (DiPerna & Elliott, 2000) was used to measure student outcomes. The Classroom Practice Measure (CPM; Rimm-Kaufman et al., 2007) was used to measure level of RC implementation. Finally, to quantify teaching behavior, a momentary time-sampling observation, called the Teaching Observation Tool (TOT; Marcotte, Klein, & Solomon, 2010), was implemented. Results from a series of multilevel models utilizing students nested within teachers indicated that both a constant, high level of instructional time and investment in environmental management time in the fall results in higher levels of student reading (significant) and math achievement (non-significant) in the spring, and lower levels of time spent correcting behavior. Teachers with large discrepancies in instructional time from fall to spring and teachers who failed to release environmental control to students over time had students with lower levels of reading and math growth. Relationships between the CPM, ACES, and the TOT indicate that RC is significantly correlated with increases in student reading achievement and motivation beyond what would be expected of a teacher that does not implement RC. However, in contrast to past research, RC in this study was not correlated with teacher reported improvements in social skills. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

<p> The underlying goal of this dissertation is to understand how the amygdala, a brain region involved in establishing the emotional significance of sensory input, contributes to the processing of complex sounds. The general hypothesis is that communication calls of big brown bats (<i>Eptesicus fuscus</i>) transmit relevant information about social context that is reflected in the activity of amygdalar neurons. </p><p> The first specific aim analyzed social vocalizations emitted under a variety of behavioral contexts, and related vocalizations to an objective measure of internal physiological state by monitoring the heart rate of vocalizing bats. These experiments revealed a complex acoustic communication system among big brown bats in which acoustic cues and call structure signal the emotional state of a sender. </p><p> The second specific aim characterized the responsiveness of single neurons in the basolateral amygdala to a range of social syllables. Neurons typically respond to the majority of tested syllables, but effectively discriminate among vocalizations by varying the response duration. This novel coding strategy underscores the importance of persistent firing in the general functioning of the amygdala. </p><p> The third specific aim examined the influence of acoustic context by characterizing both the behavioral and neurophysiological responses to natural vocal sequences. Vocal sequences differentially modify the internal affective state of a listening bat, with lower aggression vocalizations evoking the greatest change in heart rate. Amygdalar neurons employ two different coding strategies: low background neurons respond selectively to very few stimuli, whereas high background neurons respond broadly to stimuli but demonstrate variation in response magnitude and timing. Neurons appear to discriminate the valence of stimuli, with aggression sequences evoking robust population-level responses across all sound levels. Further, vocal sequences show improved discrimination among stimuli compared to isolated syllables, and this improved discrimination is expressed in part by the timing of action potentials. </p><p> Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that big brown bat social vocalizations transmit relevant information about the social context that is encoded within the discharge pattern of amygdalar neurons ultimately responsible for coordinating appropriate social behaviors. I further propose that vocalization-evoked amygdalar activity will have significant impact on subsequent sensory processing and plasticity.</p>