Behavioral Research Blog

02 Apr
animal behavior research
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Can a food preservative increase symptoms of autism?
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has a strong genetic component – a well-known fact. However, recent studies suggest that environmental factors, such as dietary ingredients, can cause exacerbation of the symptoms.

26 Mar
animal behavior research
Other (Animal)
Walking in circles - the exploratory activity of Drosophila
Like rats and mice, fruit flies avoid open spaces and stay close to physical borders. In rats and mice this is caused by fear to be out in the open and preference for close contact with borders.

23 Mar
human behavior research
Psychology
Parent-child interaction: Measuring the effectiveness of interactions
Quality of parent-child interaction is one of the major predictors of emotional and social development of children, which makes parent-child interaction an important focus of child development research.

21 Mar
animal behavior research
Other (Animal)
How to know if an animal is nauseated
Nausea is a prominent factor influencing the quality of life for patients undergoing chemotherapy. That is why it is useful to study the nauseating side effects of therapies or the anti-nauseating potential of drugs.

15 Mar
animal behavior research
Zebrafish Research
Zebrafish and withdrawal
Recent work done by Khor et al. (2011) looked at the effect of mitragynine on behavior in zebrafish going through withdrawal after chronic morphine exposure. The effects of Mitragynine on morphine-withdrawn zebrafish.

13 Mar
animal behavior research
Zebrafish Research
Three ways to test hallucinogens on zebrafish
Hallucinogenic drugs (psychedelics) have a growing significance in biopsychiatric research. Zebrafish are a popular animal model and seem highly sensitive to various drugs of abuse.

01 Mar
animal behavior research
Other (Animal)
Bed bug behavior - What smell can tell
Bed bugs are on the rebound in developed countries. Traditionally, bed bugs are controlled with pesticides. However, traps with attractive human body odors are a promising alternative.

24 Feb
animal behavior research
Zebrafish Research
The search for robust fear inducing stimuli in zebrafish research
Zebrafish behavioral research has grown by leaps and bounds, and behavioral paradigms are being developed with the aim of better understanding mechanisms that might underlie aberrant behavioral phenotypes.

15 Feb
human behavior research
Healthcare
Clinical interviews – analyzing verbal and non-verbal behavior
In general, researchers choose the methods and techniques that best suit their research objectives. That’s no different when researching doctor-patient communication or any other clinical interview setting.

13 Feb
animal behavior research
Zebrafish Research
Zebrafish research: growing demands in South America
It was at the Society for Neuroscience last November that I was invited to speak at the second annual LAZEN meeting held last December in Porto Alegre, Brazil.