Embryonic Anoxia Alters Exploratory Behavior in Juvenile Geckos
Presentation Type
Poster
Full Name of Faculty Mentor
Ryan Yoder, Psychology
Major
Psychology
Presentation Abstract
Environmental changes, such as temporary anoxia, during the embryonic stage can impair brain development in leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius). We therefore tested whether this early brain damage produces persistent behavioral deficits. The organization and kinematic properties of non-visual exploration between normal (n = 5) and anoxia (n = 4) geckos were compared. Geckos were individually placed on a circular table (diam=91cm) and allowed to explore dark conditions for 60 min while being recorded. The gecko’s coordinates were calculated at 3 frames/second. Movement properties within each trial were evaluated across five 10 min epochs. Total distance, peak speed, movement scaling (correlation between path length and peak speed), distance ratio, heading error, total stop time, mean stop time, number of stops, number of progressions, and progression distance were compared between groups and across epochs with a mixed Group X Epoch ANOVA. We found that total stop time and overall number of stops were significantly lower in anoxia geckos. These results could indicate that brain damage caused by early anoxia causes geckos to be able to process less information, which would lead to less overall stops and decreased stop length. Geckos retain the ability to move normally and accurately estimate distance. Thus, the reduced stops are not caused by a general movement deficit. These preliminary results suggest that embryonic anoxia persistently alters exploratory behavior. This on-going study will continue to evaluate exploratory movement, and data will be added to the presentation as they become available.
Start Date
12-4-2023 4:00 PM
End Date
12-4-2023 6:00 PM
Disciplines
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Cook, Anna, "Embryonic Anoxia Alters Exploratory Behavior in Juvenile Geckos" (2023). Undergraduate Research Competition. 78.
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/ugrc/2023/fullconference/78
Embryonic Anoxia Alters Exploratory Behavior in Juvenile Geckos
Environmental changes, such as temporary anoxia, during the embryonic stage can impair brain development in leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius). We therefore tested whether this early brain damage produces persistent behavioral deficits. The organization and kinematic properties of non-visual exploration between normal (n = 5) and anoxia (n = 4) geckos were compared. Geckos were individually placed on a circular table (diam=91cm) and allowed to explore dark conditions for 60 min while being recorded. The gecko’s coordinates were calculated at 3 frames/second. Movement properties within each trial were evaluated across five 10 min epochs. Total distance, peak speed, movement scaling (correlation between path length and peak speed), distance ratio, heading error, total stop time, mean stop time, number of stops, number of progressions, and progression distance were compared between groups and across epochs with a mixed Group X Epoch ANOVA. We found that total stop time and overall number of stops were significantly lower in anoxia geckos. These results could indicate that brain damage caused by early anoxia causes geckos to be able to process less information, which would lead to less overall stops and decreased stop length. Geckos retain the ability to move normally and accurately estimate distance. Thus, the reduced stops are not caused by a general movement deficit. These preliminary results suggest that embryonic anoxia persistently alters exploratory behavior. This on-going study will continue to evaluate exploratory movement, and data will be added to the presentation as they become available.