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  1. Article ; Online: Best practices to promote rigor and reproducibility in the era of sex-inclusive research

    Janet W Rich-Edwards / Donna L Maney

    eLife, Vol

    2023  Volume 12

    Abstract: To enhance inclusivity and rigor, many funding agencies and journals now mandate the inclusion of females as well as males in biomedical studies. These mandates have enhanced generalizability and created unprecedented opportunities to discover sex ... ...

    Abstract To enhance inclusivity and rigor, many funding agencies and journals now mandate the inclusion of females as well as males in biomedical studies. These mandates have enhanced generalizability and created unprecedented opportunities to discover sex differences. Education in sound methods to consider sex as a subgroup category has lagged behind, however, resulting in a problematic literature in which study designs, analyses, and interpretations of results are often flawed. Here, we outline best practices for complying with sex-inclusive mandates, both for studies in which sex differences are a primary focus and for those in which they are not. Our recommendations are organized within the “4 Cs of Studying Sex to Strengthen Science: Consideration, Collection, Characterization and Communication,” a framework developed by the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health in the United States. Following these guidelines should help researchers include females and males in their studies while at the same time upholding high standards of rigor.
    Keywords science forum ; sex differences ; sex as a biological variable ; statistics ; data analysis ; NIH policy ; Medicine ; R ; Science ; Q ; Biology (General) ; QH301-705.5
    Subject code 360
    Language English
    Publishing date 2023-11-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  2. Article ; Online: Reporting and misreporting of sex differences in the biological sciences

    Yesenia Garcia-Sifuentes / Donna L Maney

    eLife, Vol

    2021  Volume 10

    Abstract: As part of an initiative to improve rigor and reproducibility in biomedical research, the U.S. National Institutes of Health now requires the consideration of sex as a biological variable in preclinical studies. This new policy has been interpreted by ... ...

    Abstract As part of an initiative to improve rigor and reproducibility in biomedical research, the U.S. National Institutes of Health now requires the consideration of sex as a biological variable in preclinical studies. This new policy has been interpreted by some as a call to compare males and females with each other. Researchers testing for sex differences may not be trained to do so, however, increasing risk for misinterpretation of results. Using a list of recently published articles curated by Woitowich et al. (eLife, 2020; 9:e56344), we examined reports of sex differences and non-differences across nine biological disciplines. Sex differences were claimed in the majority of the 147 articles we analyzed; however, statistical evidence supporting those differences was often missing. For example, when a sex-specific effect of a manipulation was claimed, authors usually had not tested statistically whether females and males responded differently. Thus, sex-specific effects may be over-reported. In contrast, we also encountered practices that could mask sex differences, such as pooling the sexes without first testing for a difference. Our findings support the need for continuing efforts to train researchers how to test for and report sex differences in order to promote rigor and reproducibility in biomedical research.
    Keywords meta-research ; sex inclusion ; sex differences ; Medicine ; R ; Science ; Q ; Biology (General) ; QH301-705.5
    Subject code 150
    Language English
    Publishing date 2021-11-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  3. Article ; Online: Birdsong

    Donna L. Maney

    Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience, Vol

    Is it music to their ears?

    2012  Volume 4

    Abstract: Since the time of Darwin, biologists have wondered whether birdsong and music may serve similar purposes or have the same evolutionary precursors. Most attempts to compare song with music have focused on the qualities of the sounds themselves, such as ... ...

    Abstract Since the time of Darwin, biologists have wondered whether birdsong and music may serve similar purposes or have the same evolutionary precursors. Most attempts to compare song with music have focused on the qualities of the sounds themselves, such as melody and rhythm. Song is a signal, however, and as such its meaning is tied inextricably to the response of the receiver. Imaging studies in humans have revealed that hearing music induces neural responses in the mesolimbic reward pathway. In this study, we tested whether the homologous pathway responds in songbirds exposed to conspecific song. We played male song to laboratory-housed white-throated sparrows, and immunolabeled the immediate early gene product Egr-1 in each region of the reward pathway that has a clear or putative homologue in humans. We found that the responses, and how well they mirrored those of humans listening to music, depended on sex and endocrine state. In females with breeding-typical plasma levels of estradiol, all of the regions of the mesolimbic reward pathway that respond to music in humans responded to song. In males, we saw responses in the amygdala but not the nucleus accumbens – similar to the pattern reported in humans listening to unpleasant music. The shared responses in the evolutionarily ancient mesolimbic reward system suggest that birdsong and music engage the same neuroaffective mechanisms in the intended listeners.
    Keywords Music ; Reward ; songbird ; EGR-1 ; song ; mesolimbic reward system ; Medicine ; R ; Internal medicine ; RC31-1245 ; Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry ; RC321-571
    Subject code 780
    Publishing date 2012-11-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  4. Article ; Online: Dynamic molecular evolution of a supergene with suppressed recombination in white-throated sparrows

    Hyeonsoo Jeong / Nicole M Baran / Dan Sun / Paramita Chatterjee / Thomas S Layman / Christopher N Balakrishnan / Donna L Maney / Soojin V Yi

    eLife, Vol

    2022  Volume 11

    Abstract: In white-throated sparrows, two alternative morphs differing in plumage and behavior segregate with a large chromosomal rearrangement. As with sex chromosomes such as the mammalian Y, the rearranged version of chromosome two (ZAL2m) is in a near-constant ...

    Abstract In white-throated sparrows, two alternative morphs differing in plumage and behavior segregate with a large chromosomal rearrangement. As with sex chromosomes such as the mammalian Y, the rearranged version of chromosome two (ZAL2m) is in a near-constant state of heterozygosity, offering opportunities to investigate both degenerative and selective processes during the early evolutionary stages of ‘supergenes.’ Here, we generated, synthesized, and analyzed extensive genome-scale data to better understand the forces shaping the evolution of the ZAL2 and ZAL2m chromosomes in this species. We found that features of ZAL2m are consistent with substantially reduced recombination and low levels of degeneration. We also found evidence that selective sweeps took place both on ZAL2m and its standard counterpart, ZAL2, after the rearrangement event. Signatures of positive selection were associated with allelic bias in gene expression, suggesting that antagonistic selection has operated on gene regulation. Finally, we discovered a region exhibiting long-range haplotypes inside the rearrangement on ZAL2m. These haplotypes appear to have been maintained by balancing selection, retaining genetic diversity within the supergene. Together, our analyses illuminate mechanisms contributing to the evolution of a young chromosomal polymorphism, revealing complex selective processes acting concurrently with genetic degeneration to drive the evolution of supergenes.
    Keywords supergene ; evolution ; selection ; population genomics ; gene expression ; Medicine ; R ; Science ; Q ; Biology (General) ; QH301-705.5
    Subject code 612
    Language English
    Publishing date 2022-08-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  5. Article ; Online: Morph matters

    Brent M Horton / Mark E Hauber / Donna L Maney

    PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 10, p e

    aggression bias in a polymorphic sparrow.

    2012  Volume 48705

    Abstract: In species with discrete morphs exhibiting alternative behavioral strategies, individuals may vary their aggressive behavior in competitive encounters according to the phenotype of their opponent. Such aggression bias has been documented in multiple ... ...

    Abstract In species with discrete morphs exhibiting alternative behavioral strategies, individuals may vary their aggressive behavior in competitive encounters according to the phenotype of their opponent. Such aggression bias has been documented in multiple polymorphic species evolving under negative frequency-dependent selection, but it has not been well-studied under other selection regimes. We investigated this phenomenon in white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis), a passerine with plumage polychromatism maintained by disassortative mating. The two distinct color morphs differ with respect to reproductive strategy in that white-striped birds invest more in territorial aggression than tan-striped birds. Whether territorial aggression in this species is biased according to the morph of an intruder is less understood. We found that during peak territorial and mating activity, both color morphs and sexes can exhibit aggression bias, but whether they do so depends on the strategy (morph) of the intruder. During simulated territorial intrusions, resident white-striped males and tan-striped females, which represent the opposite ends of a continuum from high to low territorial aggression, altered their territorial responses according to intruder morph. Tan-striped males and white-striped females, which represent the middle of the continuum, did not show a bias. We propose that because of the disassortative mating system and morph differences in reproductive strategy, the fitness risks of intrusions vary according to the morphs of the resident and the intruder, and that aggression bias is an attuned response to varying threats to fitness.
    Keywords Medicine ; R ; Science ; Q
    Subject code 590
    Language English
    Publishing date 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  6. Article: New insights into the hormonal and behavioural correlates of polymorphism in white-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis

    Horton, Brent M / Ignacio T. Moore / Donna L. Maney

    The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour Animal behaviour. 2014 July, v. 93

    2014  

    Abstract: The white-throated sparrow is a promising model for behavioural neuroendocrinology and genetics because behaviour and endocrine function may be linked to a chromosomal rearrangement that determines plumage colour. The notion that the two colour morphs, ... ...

    Abstract The white-throated sparrow is a promising model for behavioural neuroendocrinology and genetics because behaviour and endocrine function may be linked to a chromosomal rearrangement that determines plumage colour. The notion that the two colour morphs, tan-striped (TS) and white-striped (WS), differ predictably in aggression and parenting has been widely accepted, despite conflicting evidence. It is also hypothesized that morph-typic behaviour is hormone-mediated, yet no field study has measured sex steroids and behaviour in the same birds. Here, we re-evaluate the TS and WS phenotypes, describe the conditions under which they differ and investigate relationships between sex steroids and behaviour. We report that (1) during territorial intrusions, WS males were more aggressive than TS birds, but this difference was restricted to singing; WS males sang more than TS males but showed identical levels of physical aggression. WS females sang more than TS females and were also more physically aggressive. (2) TS males provisioned young more frequently than did WS males, but only during first broods. The parental strategy of WS males was flexible, and during replacement broods, WS and TS males provisioned at equal rates. (3) Consistent with previous studies, we detected no morph difference in female provisioning. (4) Plasma testosterone and dihydrotestosterone were higher in WS males than in TS males during periods of peak territorial defence and during first broods; within breeding stages, male androgen levels were positively correlated with singing and negatively correlated with provisioning. Plasma oestradiol levels were higher in WS females than in TS females and higher during peak territorial defence; oestradiol levels tended to be positively correlated with singing. Overall, our results refine the TS and WS phenotypes, show that behavioural differences between them are restricted to periods with relatively high mating opportunity, and demonstrate an association between sex steroids and morph-typic behaviour. These results will inform future studies of this promising model.
    Keywords Passeriformes ; aggression ; birds ; breeding ; chromosome aberrations ; color ; correlation ; estradiol ; females ; males ; models ; morphs ; phenotype ; plumage ; territoriality ; testosterone
    Language English
    Dates of publication 2014-07
    Size p. 207-219.
    Publishing place Elsevier Ltd
    Document type Article
    ZDB-ID 281-1
    ISSN 0003-3472
    ISSN 0003-3472
    DOI 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.04.015
    Database NAL-Catalogue (AGRICOLA)

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  7. Article ; Online: Rapid effects of hearing song on catecholaminergic activity in the songbird auditory pathway.

    Lisa L Matragrano / Michaël Beaulieu / Jessica O Phillip / Ali I Rae / Sara E Sanford / Keith W Sockman / Donna L Maney

    PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 6, p e

    2012  Volume 39388

    Abstract: Catecholaminergic (CA) neurons innervate sensory areas and affect the processing of sensory signals. For example, in birds, CA fibers innervate the auditory pathway at each level, including the midbrain, thalamus, and forebrain. We have shown previously ... ...

    Abstract Catecholaminergic (CA) neurons innervate sensory areas and affect the processing of sensory signals. For example, in birds, CA fibers innervate the auditory pathway at each level, including the midbrain, thalamus, and forebrain. We have shown previously that in female European starlings, CA activity in the auditory forebrain can be enhanced by exposure to attractive male song for one week. It is not known, however, whether hearing song can initiate that activity more rapidly. Here, we exposed estrogen-primed, female white-throated sparrows to conspecific male song and looked for evidence of rapid synthesis of catecholamines in auditory areas. In one hemisphere of the brain, we used immunohistochemistry to detect the phosphorylation of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), a rate-limiting enzyme in the CA synthetic pathway. We found that immunoreactivity for TH phosphorylated at serine 40 increased dramatically in the auditory forebrain, but not the auditory thalamus and midbrain, after 15 min of song exposure. In the other hemisphere, we used high pressure liquid chromatography to measure catecholamines and their metabolites. We found that two dopamine metabolites, dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid, increased in the auditory forebrain but not the auditory midbrain after 30 min of exposure to conspecific song. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to a behaviorally relevant auditory stimulus rapidly induces CA activity, which may play a role in auditory responses.
    Keywords Medicine ; R ; Science ; Q
    Subject code 150
    Language English
    Publishing date 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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