| 1. |
- Bäckman, Lars, et al.
(author)
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Linking cognitive aging to alterations in dopamine neurotransmitter functioning : Recent data and future avenues
- 2010
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In: Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0149-7634 .- 1873-7528. ; 34:5, s. 670-677
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Molecular-imaging studies of dopaminergic neurotransmission measure biomarkers of dopamine (DA), such as the DA transporter and D(1) and D(2) receptor densities in the living brain. These studies indicate that individual differences in DA functions are linked to cognitive performance irrespective of age, and serve as powerful mediators of age-related decline in executive functioning, episodic memory, and perceptual speed. This focused review targets several recent findings pertaining to these relationships. Specifically, we discuss novel evidence concerning (a) the role of DA in within-person cognitive variability; (b) age-related differences in DA release during cognitive processing; (c) DA release following cognitive training in younger and older adults; and (d) the relationship between DA and task-induced functional brain activity. Based on these lines of empirical inquiry, we outline a series of avenues for future research on aging, DA, and cognition.
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| 2. |
- Lard, Mercy, et al.
(author)
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Tracking the small with the smallest--using nanotechnology in tracking zooplankton.
- 2010
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In: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 5:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A major problem when studying behavior and migration of small organisms is that many of the questions addressed for larger animals are not possible to formulate due to constraints on tracking smaller animals. In aquatic ecosystems, this problem is particularly problematic for zoo- and phytoplankton, since tracking devices are too heavy to allow the organism to act naturally. However, recent advances in nanotechnology have made it possible to track individual animals and thereby to focus on important and urgent questions which previously have not been possible to address. Here we report on a novel approach to track movement and migratory behavior of millimeter sized aquatic animals, particularly Daphnia magna, using the commercially available nanometer sized fluorescent probes known as quantum dots. Experimental trials with and without quantum dots showed that they did not affect behavior, reproduction or mortality of the tested animals. Compared to previously used methods to label small animals, the nano-labeling method presented here offers considerable improvements including: 24 h fluorescence, studies in both light and darkness, much improved optical properties, potential to study large volumes and even track animals in semi-natural conditions. Hence, the suggested method, developed in close cooperation between biologists, chemists and physicists, offers new opportunities to routinely study zooplankton responses to light, food and predation, opening up advancements within research areas such as diel vertical/horizontal migration, partial migration and other differences in intra- and interspecific movements and migration.
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| 3. |
- Ekvall, Mikael T., et al.
(author)
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Behavioural responses to co-occurring threats of predation and ultraviolet radiation in Daphnia
- 2020
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In: Freshwater Biology. - : Wiley. - 0046-5070 .- 1365-2427. ; 65:9, s. 1509-1517
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Organisms in the wild are faced with multiple threats and a common response is a change in behaviour. To disentangle responses to several threats, we exposed two differently sized species of the freshwater invertebrate Daphnia to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and predation from either moving pelagic or benthic ambush predators. Using an advanced nanotechnology-based method, we tracked the three-dimensional movements of those mm-sized animals at the individual level. Each behavioural trial was performed both under conditions resembling night (no UVR) and day (UVR) and we examined patterns of the depth distribution and swimming speed by Daphnia across three treatments: no predator (control); bottom-dwelling damselfly (Calopteryx sp.); and fish (stickleback, Pungitius pungitius) predators. We also quantified the actual predation rate by the two predators on the two Daphnia species, Daphnia manga and Daphnia pulex. We show that individual Daphnia are able to identify predators with different feeding habitats, rank multiple and simultaneously occurring risks and respond in accordance with the actual threat; complex responses that are generally associated with larger animals. In a broader context, our results highlight and quantify how a cocktail of everyday threats is perceived and handled by invertebrates, which advances our understanding of species distribution in space and time, and thereby of population dynamics and ecosystem function in natural ecosystems.
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| 4. |
- Bianco, Giuseppe, et al.
(author)
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Plankton 3D tracking: the importance of camera calibration in stereo computer vision systems
- 2013
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In: Limnology and Oceanography: Methods. - : Wiley. - 1541-5856. ; 11, s. 278-286
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Computer vision applications are very useful to study animal movements, but due to their intrinsic complexity they are challenging to design, implement, and use properly. We here describe a calibration procedure for a laboratory stereo vision system for tracking zooplankton in three dimensions (3D). We demonstrate the crucial importance of using a correct calibration for proper interpretation of animal swimming tracks. We also address the effect of the air-water shift phase in the calibration procedure. Actually, not performing a proper calibration caused an average positional error of more than 25 body-lengths in the investigated animal Daphnia magna. Furthermore, we evaluate the different outcomes of using 2D and 3D tracks obtained with a calibrated stereo vision system and show that although 2D tracking might be sufficient in some cases, the method was in our study unable to give information of swimming path geometry and underestimated the speed by 25%. Finally, we discuss consequences for biologically relevant questions when an incorrect methodology is used and strongly recommend that future studies provide detailed descriptions of the framework used for calibration to allow for comparisons between different studies.
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| 5. |
- Ekvall, Mikael, et al.
(author)
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Three-dimensional tracking of small aquatic organisms using fluorescent nanoparticles.
- 2013
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In: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Tracking techniques are vital for the understanding of the biology and ecology of organisms. While such techniques have provided important information on the movement and migration of large animals, such as mammals and birds, scientific advances in understanding the individual behaviour and interactions of small (mm-scale) organisms have been hampered by constraints, such as the sizes of existing tracking devices, in existing tracking methods. By combining biology, chemistry and physics we here present a method that allows three-dimensional (3D) tracking of individual mm-sized aquatic organisms. The method is based on in-vivo labelling of the organisms with fluorescent nanoparticles, so-called quantum dots, and tracking of the organisms in 3D via the quantum-dot fluorescence using a synchronized multiple camera system. It allows for the efficient and simultaneous study of the behaviour of one as well as multiple individuals in large volumes of observation, thus enabling the study of behavioural interactions at the community scale. The method is non-perturbing - we demonstrate that the labelling is not affecting the behavioural response of the organisms - and is applicable over a wide range of taxa, including cladocerans as well as insects, suggesting that our methodological concept opens up for new research fields on individual behaviour of small animals. Hence, this offers opportunities to focus on important biological, ecological and behavioural questions never before possible to address.
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