Resumen La agresión es un comportamiento que implica una activación simultánea de componentes fisiológicos, bioquímicos, neurológicos, conductuales y emocionales como la ansiedad y la rabia. En los humanos, los deportes pueden considerarse una forma de exhibición porque permiten que la agresión se exprese con una baja probabilidad de daño permanente a los sujetos. Las competiciones se han utilizado como modelos para evaluar la activación producida por las diferentes etapas de la competencia, como el resultado del combate. El judo ha sido utilizado como un modelo de agresión competitiva para evaluar las diferentes respuestas del cuerpo en comportamientos agonísticos en humanos, ya que ofrece un contexto similar a los estudiados en peleas de animales. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el efecto de ganar/perder en los niveles de rabia y ansiedad en luchadores de judo vinculados a la Federación de Judo de Pará, Brasil. Se utilizaron las escalas psicométricas STAXI y STAI, y sus resultados fueron usados en un análisis correlacional para conocer la interacción entre los componentes de las escalas con el número total de golpes, utilizando una evaluación pre/post lucha y la filmación de las peleas. Se encontraron diferencias entre ganadores y perdedores estadísticamente significativas (p< 0.05); los perdedores presentaron mayores niveles de rabia, mientras que la ansiedad fue mayor en los ganadores, debido a que el judo es un medio de competición en el que pueden expresarse de manera socialmente aceptada dichos comportamientos.

Abstract Aggression is a behavior that involves a simultaneous activation of physiological, biochemical, neurological, and behavioral components and emotions, such as anxiety and anger. In humans, sports can be considered as a form of display because they allow aggression to be expressed with a low probability of permanent damage to subjects. The competitions have been used as models to evaluate the activation produced by its different stages, such as the outcome of the combat. Judo has been used as a model of competitive aggression to evaluate the different body responses in agonistic behaviors in humans since it offers a context to those studied in animal fights. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of winning/losing in the levels of anger and anxiety in regional male judo fighters, linked to the Pará Federation of Judo, Brazil. The STAXI and STAI psychometric scales and their results were used in a correlation analysis to know the interaction between the components of the scales with the total number of strikes, using a pre/post fight evaluation and the filming of the fights. Significant statistical differences (p <0.05) were found between winners and losers. Losers had higher levels of anger, while anxiety was higher for the winners, being that judo is a mean of competition in which such behaviors can be expressed in a socially accepted way.

Resumo A agressão é um comportamento que implica uma ativação simultânea de componentes fisiológicos, bioquímicos, neurológicos, comportamentais e emocionais tais como a ansiedade e a raiva. Nos humanos, os esportes se podem considerar como uma forma de exibição porque permite que a agressão se expresse com uma baixa probabilidade de dano permanente aos sujeitos. As competições se têm empregado como modelos para avaliar a ativação produzida pelas diferentes etapas da concorrência como o resultado do combate. O Judô tem sido usado como um modelo de agressão competitiva para avaliar as diferentes respostas do corpo em comportamentos agonísticos em humanos, pois oferece um contexto similar aos estudados em brigas de animais. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito de ganhar/ perder nos níveis de raiva e ansiedade em lutadores de judô já vinculados à Federação de Judô de Pará, Brasil. Se utilizaram as escalas psicométricas STAXI e STAI e seus resultados foram usados em uma análise de correlação para conhecer a interação entre os componentes das escalas com o número total de golpes, utilizando uma avaliação pre/pós briga e a filmagem das lutas. Encontraram-se diferenças entre ganhadores e perdedores estatisticamente significativa (p< 0.05); perdedores apresentaram maiores níveis de raiva, enquanto a ansiedade foi maior para os ganhadores. Sendo que, o judô é um meio competição, onde podem expressar-se de forma socialmente aceitada, ditos comportamentos.

Methylmercury (MeHg) is present in the environment because of natural and anthropogenic causes. MeHg can reach the central nervous system (CNS) and cause neurological damage in humans and animals. Electric organ discharges (EODs) in the weak electric fish Gymnotus sylvius are produced by the electric organ and modulated by the CNS. These discharges are used for electrolocation and communication. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of dietary MeHg exposure on EOD rate in G. sylvius. An oscilloscope was used to record the EOD rate. Two treatments were investigated: chronic MeHg administration (4 µg/kg MeHg every 2 days, with a total of nine dietary exposures to MeHg) and acute MeHg administration (a single dose of 20 µg/kg MeHg). The control data for both treatments were collected every 2 days for 18 days, with a total of nine sessions (day 1 until day 18). Data of fish exposed to MeHg were collected every 2 days, totaling nine sessions (day 19 until day 36). Chronic treatment significantly increased the EOD rate in G. sylvius (p < .05), especially with the final treatment (day 32 until day 36). Acute treatment resulted in an initial increase in the EOD rate, which was maintained midway through the experiment (day 26 until day 30; p < .05). The present study provides the first insights into the effects of MeHg on EODs in weak electric fish. The EOD rate is a novel response of the fish to MeHg administration.

Conditioned suppression is an animal model of anxiety disorders that has been broadly used to investigate the behavioral effects of different drugs. However, various methodological variables (e.g., the type of aversive stimulus) that supposedly interfere with the acquisition of conditioned suppression may also contribute to conflicting results among the studied drugs. Additionally, few studies have sought to investigate the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The present study investigated the effect of subchronic 5-day administration of 5 mg/kg fluoxetine in the retention of conditioned suppression produced by a hot air blast (HAB). The subjects were 12 albino Wistar rats distributed into an Experimental Group (EG) and Control Group (CG). After sessions were conducted to pair two stimuli, a sound and HAB, fluoxetine (EG) or saline (CG) was administered. Twenty-four hours after the last injection, a test session was conducted. The results showed no difference between groups. Fluoxetine (5 mg/kg) did not exert anxiolytic effects in this model of conditioned suppression produced by a HAB.

In experimental psychopathology, construct validity is usually enhanced by addressing theories from other fields in its nomological network. In the field of anxiety research, this construct is related to antipredator behavior, conserved across phylogeny in its functions and neural basis, but not necessarily on its topography. Even though the relations between behavioral models of anxiety and statements from behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology are commonly made in anxiety research, these are rarely tested, at least explicitly. However, in order to increase construct validity in experimental anxiety, testing predictions from those theories is highly desirable. This article discusses these questions, suggesting a few ways in which behavioral ecological and evolutionary hypotheses of anxiety-like behavior may be tested.

In order to determine the modulation of anxiolytic and panicolytic-like effects of diazepam by the hormonal cycle of female rats, male and female rats - the latter divided per estrous cycle phase (estrus, diestrus, metaestrus and proestrus) - were tested in the elevated T-maze, a behavioral model of panic and anxiety. Diazepam (0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg) or saline solution was injected in individual animals that were submitted to one session in the elevated T-maze 25 min after drug/saline administration. The test consisted of three avoidance trials and one escape trial, separated by a 30 s interval, during which the animals were isolated in individual cages. The avoidance trials began with the animal being placed at the end of the maze's enclosed arm. The time necessary for the animal to leave the central square was considered as the response's latency. The trials that exceeded 300 s were considered as failures. Results demonstrate a decrease in the effects of diazepam in inhibitory avoidance (anxiety) trials in females in diestrus and proestrus, but no relation of gender or estrous cycle on diazepam effects on escape trials (fear). The results support the hypothesis that down-regulation of GABA A receptors by activation of nuclear estrogen receptors and induction of PKC-mediated GABA A receptor phosphorylation by activation of surface estrogen receptors in raphe neurons underlie the modulation of diazepam sensitivity by estrogen.

Este trabalho objetivou verificar o desempenho de homens e mulheres em uma tarefa de discriminação perceptiva de sons e o efeito de aprendizagem anterior sobre esta discriminação. O experimento foi realizado com 17 homens e 17 mulheres, submetidos individualmente a uma sessão de coleta de dados composta de questionário padronizado e de teste de discriminação com vinte tentativas gravadas em um CD-ROM. A análise estatística dos dados indicou diferenças de desempenho entre pessoas com e sem experiência musical prévia [F(1,33)=14,69, p<0,001]. Embora não significativo, as mulheres apresentaram melhor desempenho no grupo sem experiência prévia, e no grupo com experiência, os homens apresentaram melhor desempenho. Os dados indicam que, embora haja diferenças sexuais na percepção sonora, a experiência parece ser o fator mais importante neste tipo de discriminação.

The aim of this study was to verify the performances of men and women in a discriminative test of sound harmonics perception, and the effect of prior learning on this discrimination. The experiment was conducted using 17 men and 17 women, who were individually submitted to an experimental session with a standard questionnaire and a sound perception test comprising 20 attempts recorded on a CD-ROM. The statistical analysis of the data shows that subjects, both with and without experience of learning a musical instrument, have a difference in performance in the test [F(1.33) = 14.69, p<0.001]. Though not significant, women displayed a better performance in the group without learning, and in the group with experience, men showed better performance. The data show that, though there may be differences between the genders in terms of sound perception, previous experience is ostensibly the most important factor in this type of discrimination.

The present work aimed at studying the influence of the estrous cycle in the forced swim test, an animal model of depression. For this, 44 male and female Wistar rats were divided into five groups according to the hormonal state in the first day of the study: metaestrus (N = 12), diestrus (N = 8), proestrus (N = 7), estrous (N = 6) and males (N = 11). They were housed in groups of five, with water and food ad libitum under a 12/12 h light/dark cycle. Females were screened daily for the estrous cycle. The animals were subjected to two swimming sessions in a glass cylinder with water up to 15 cm at 28±2º C. The data of the first five minutes of a 15-min first session were compared to those of a 5-min second session 24 h later. The results indicate that the latency to the first immobility was substantially reduced in the second session and was longer for females in diestrus and proestrus in the first session. The results also indicate that females in diestrus and proestrus exhibited less immobility than males in the first session; females in diestrus also exhibited less immobility than females in metaestrus. Females in metaestrus and diestrus, as well as males, did not present the decrease in total immobility times in the second session. The present results are analyzed in terms of differential effects of progesterone and estrogen on a learning component and an affective component.

O objetivo deste artigo é mapear as relações do conceito de modelo e sua utilização na pesquisa cotidiana em psicopatologia experimental. Para isto, aproximamos o conceito de modelo com o de metáfora e seus elementos.

The subject of this paper is to mapping lhe relationships of lhe concept of model and its utilization of this to lhe current research in experimental psychopathology. For this, we make an approximation to lhe concept of metaphor and its elements.