Stereotypies in caged parrots, @entity161 and XXXX : evidence for a common mechanism.

@entity1 @entity1032 @entity146 @entity75 @entity73 @entity2438 @entity458 @entity161 @entity3119 @entity4676
Spontaneously occurring abnormal behaviors in animals have recently received considerable attention, both in veterinary medicine and as a potential model for @entity146 in several @entity1 @entity146 . Stereotypies are abnormal repetitive, unvarying, and functionless behaviors that are often performed by captive and domesticated animals housed in barren environments. They closely resemble the stereotypies of @entity2438 and @entity1032 @entity1 , stereotypies of unmedicated chronic @entity161 @entity1 , certain classes of simple tic in @entity4676 , and several drug-induced behaviors. However, evidence for a common mechanism has been lacking. Stereotypies in @entity1 @entity146 are indicative of profound @entity75 involving the basal ganglia, and are associated with pervasive @entity73 and @entity458 . Here we show that stereotypy in captive Orange-Wing Amazon Parrots (Amazona amazonica) is correlated with poor performance on the same psychiatric task (the 'gambling task') as stereotypy in @entity2438 and @entity161 @entity1 . The task measures recurrent perseveration-the tendency to inappropriately repeat responses. Thus, the more stereotypy a parrot performed, the more likely it was to inappropriately repeat itself from trial-to-trial on the task; and the more rapidly it made repeated, but not switched, responses. These results parallel the executive @entity73 seen in @entity1 @entity1 , and therefore suggest that, like in @entity1 @entity1 , stereotypy in caged parrots reflects a general disinhibition of the behavioral control mechanisms of the dorsal basal ganglia. If this result holds true in other laboratory species, stereotypic animals are likely to be of questionable utility in behavior, neuroscience, and neuropharmacological experiments. In @entity1 , stereotypies and @entity3119 are considered to be mutually exclusive categories of behavior, with different neural substrates, and different treatment strategies. These results, therefore, suggest that the pharmacological treatment of stereotypies in veterinary medicine based on the assumption that they are equivalent to @entity1 @entity3119 may be inappropriate. As stereotypies in captive animals develop in response to the captive environment, these results also emphasize the role that the environment may play in eliciting or exacerbating stereotypy in @entity1 @entity1 . Finally, by parallel to @entity1 @entity1 , there is a potential @entity458 in animals showing these behaviors.
