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ENVIRONMENT, WELL-BEING, AND BEHAVIOR |
,2
* Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Cátedra de Química Biológica and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina; and Applied Animal Biotechnology Laboratories, School of Animal Sciences, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge 70803
2 Corresponding address: dsatterlee{at}agctr.lsu.edu or rmarin{at}efn.uncor.edu
Japanese quail selected for a low-stress (LS), rather than a high-stress (HS), plasma corticosterone response to brief restraint have been shown to possess lower fearfulness and a nonspecific reduction in stress responsiveness. Detrended fluctuation analysis provides information on the organization and complexity of temporal patterns of behavior. The present study evaluated the temporal pattern of ambulation of LS and HS quail in an open field that represented a novel environment. Time series of 4,200 data points were collected for each bird by registering the distance ambulated every 0.5 s during a 35-min test period. Consistent with their known reduced fearfulness, the LS quail initiated ambulation significantly sooner (P < 0.02) and tended to ambulate more (P < 0.09) than did their HS counterparts. Detrended fluctuation analyses showed a monofractal series (i.e., a series with similar complexity at different temporal scales) in 72% of the birds. These birds initiated their ambulatory activity in less than 600 s. Among these birds, a lower (P < 0.03) autosimilarity coefficient (
) was found in the LS quail than in their HS counterparts ( = 0.76 ± 0.03 and 0.87 ± 0.03, respectively), suggesting a more complex (less regular) ambulatory pattern in the LS quail. However, when the patterns of ambulation were reexamined by considering only the active period of the time series (i.e., after the birds had initiated their ambulatory activity), monofractal patterns were observed in 97% of the birds, and no differences were found between the lines. Collectively, the results suggest that during the active period of open-field testing, during which fear responses are likely less strong and other motivations are the driving forces of ambulation, the LS and HS lines have similar ambulatory organization.
Key Words: detrended fluctuation analysis • fractal • open-field behavior • corticosterone • Japanese quail
1 Approved for publication by the director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station as manuscript number 2008-230-1504.
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