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Bjelica V, Golubović A. Synergistic effects of musking and autohaemorrhaging on the duration of death feigning in dice snakes ( Natrix tessellata). Biol Lett 2024; 20:20240058. [PMID: 38715463 PMCID: PMC11135363 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2024.0058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2024] [Revised: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024] Open
Abstract
Predation exerts a significant selection pressure on prey, shaping a multitude of traits that serve as antipredator defences. In turn, natural selection could favour combinations of antipredator defences with synergistic effects that enhance prey survival. An especially interesting antipredator defence is death feigning (DF), present in a wide variety of taxa and usually characterized by the prey lying motionless often along with defaecation, musking and autohaemorrhaging (AH). All these aspects of the DF display should work in conjunction with one another, intensifying the overall effect of the display and in turn facilitating quicker escape. To confirm this hypothesis, we tested 263 dice snakes (Natrix tessellata) directly in the field. We noted the occurrence of smearing faeces, musk and AH, and we measured the duration of DF, expecting to see a negative association between the occurrence of these behaviours and the duration of DF. Our results affirm our hypothesis: dice snakes that smeared themselves in musk and faeces prior to DF and had AH during DF spent significantly less time in DF. Our results highlight the functional integration of antipredator behaviours across different phases of predator-prey interactions, emphasizing the need for future research to prioritize studying the sequential display of behaviours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vukašin Bjelica
- Faculty of Biology, Institute of Zoology, University of Belgrade, , Belgrade, 11000 , Serbia
| | - Ana Golubović
- Faculty of Biology, Institute of Zoology, University of Belgrade, , Belgrade, 11000 , Serbia
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2
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Coliță CI, Olaru DG, Coliță D, Hermann DM, Coliță E, Glavan D, Popa-Wagner A. Induced Coma, Death, and Organ Transplantation: A Physiologic, Genetic, and Theological Perspective. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24065744. [PMID: 36982814 PMCID: PMC10059721 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24065744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023] Open
Abstract
In the clinic, the death certificate is issued if brain electrical activity is no longer detectable. However, recent research has shown that in model organisms and humans, gene activity continues for at least 96 h postmortem. The discovery that many genes are still working up to 48 h after death questions our definition of death and has implications for organ transplants and forensics. If genes can be active up to 48 h after death, is the person technically still alive at that point? We discovered a very interesting parallel between genes that were upregulated in the brain after death and genes upregulated in the brains that were subjected to medically-induced coma, including transcripts involved in neurotransmission, proteasomal degradation, apoptosis, inflammation, and most interestingly, cancer. Since these genes are involved in cellular proliferation, their activation after death could represent the cellular reaction to escape mortality and raises the question of organ viability and genetics used for transplantation after death. One factor limiting the organ availability for transplantation is religious belief. However, more recently, organ donation for the benefit of humans in need has been seen as “posthumous giving of organs and tissues can be a manifestation of love spreading also to the other side of death”.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cezar-Ivan Coliță
- Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, 020276 Bucharest, Romania; (C.-I.C.)
| | - Denissa-Greta Olaru
- Department of Psychiatry, University for Medicine and Pharmacy Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania;
| | - Daniela Coliță
- Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, 020276 Bucharest, Romania; (C.-I.C.)
| | - Dirk M. Hermann
- Chair of Vascular Neurology, Dementia and Ageing, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
| | - Eugen Coliță
- Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, 020276 Bucharest, Romania; (C.-I.C.)
| | - Daniela Glavan
- Department of Psychiatry, University for Medicine and Pharmacy Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania;
- Correspondence: (D.G.); (A.P.-W.)
| | - Aurel Popa-Wagner
- Department of Psychiatry, University for Medicine and Pharmacy Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania;
- Chair of Vascular Neurology, Dementia and Ageing, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
- Correspondence: (D.G.); (A.P.-W.)
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3
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Schultz J, Frith CD. Animacy and the prediction of behaviour. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 140:104766. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2022] [Revised: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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4
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Lalonde R, Strazielle C. Neurochemical anatomy of dorsal and tonic immobility responses. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2022; 213:173334. [PMID: 35026175 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2022.173334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Revised: 12/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The dorsal immobility response (DIR) and the tonic immobility response (TIR) are cutaneo-motor reflexes typically triggered when a prey is seized. The neurochemical basis of the DIR appears to pass through the basal ganglia via dopaminergic fibers, while the neurochemical basis of the TIR appears to include a circuit comprising the amygdala, the periaqueductal gray (PAG), the dorsal raphe, and the nucleus magnus raphe (NMR) via glutamatergic, serotonergic, cholinergic, GABAergic, and opioid fibers. For the DIR, the basal ganglia also seem to be involved in regard to estradiol, while for the TIR, the HPA axis appears involved at the level of the amygdala and the oral pontine reticular nucleus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Lalonde
- Laboratory of Stress, Immunity, Pathogens (EA7300), Medical School, University of Lorraine, Vandœuvre-les-Nancy, France; EA7475, Department of Psychology, University of Rouen-Normandie, Mont-Saint-Aignan, France
| | - Catherine Strazielle
- Laboratory of Stress, Immunity, Pathogens (EA7300), Medical School, University of Lorraine, Vandœuvre-les-Nancy, France; CHRU Nancy, Vandœuvre-les-Nancy, France.
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Carli G, Farabollini F. Tonic immobility as a survival, adaptive response and as a recovery mechanism. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2022; 271:305-329. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2022.02.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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6
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Tan EJ, Elgar MA. Motion: enhancing signals and concealing cues. Biol Open 2021; 10:271863. [PMID: 34414408 PMCID: PMC8411570 DOI: 10.1242/bio.058762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/02/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Animal colour patterns remain a lively focus of evolutionary and behavioural ecology, despite the considerable conceptual and technical developments over the last four decades. Nevertheless, our current understanding of the function and efficacy of animal colour patterns remains largely shaped by a focus on stationary animals, typically in a static background. Yet, this rarely reflects the natural world: most animals are mobile in their search for food and mates, and their surrounding environment is usually dynamic. Thus, visual signalling involves not only animal colour patterns, but also the patterns of animal motion and behaviour, often in the context of a potentially dynamic background. While motion can reveal information about the signaller by attracting attention or revealing signaller attributes, motion can also be a means of concealing cues, by reducing the likelihood of detection (motion camouflage, motion masquerade and flicker-fusion effect) or the likelihood of capture following detection (motion dazzle and confusion effect). The interaction between the colour patterns of the animal and its local environment is further affected by the behaviour of the individual. Our review details how motion is intricately linked to signalling and suggests some avenues for future research. This Review has an associated Future Leader to Watch interview with the first author. Summary: While motion can reveal information about the signaller, motion can also be a means of concealing cues by reducing the likelihood of detection or the likelihood of capture following detection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eunice J Tan
- Division of Science, Yale-NUS College, Singapore 138527, Singapore
| | - Mark A Elgar
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
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Peinkhofer C, Martial C, Cassol H, Laureys S, Kondziella D. The evolutionary origin of near-death experiences: a systematic investigation. Brain Commun 2021; 3:fcab132. [PMID: 34240053 PMCID: PMC8260963 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcab132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2021] [Revised: 04/18/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Near-death experiences are known from all parts of the world, various times and
numerous cultural backgrounds. This universality suggests that near-death
experiences may have a biological origin and purpose. Adhering to a
preregistered protocol, we investigate the hypothesis that thanatosis, aka
death-feigning, a last-resort defense mechanism in animals, is the evolutionary
origin of near-death experiences. We first show that thanatosis is a highly
preserved survival strategy occurring at all major nodes in a cladogram ranging
from insects to humans. We then show that humans under attack by animal, human
and ‘modern’ predators can experience both thanatosis and
near-death experiences, and we further show that the phenomenology and the
effects of the two overlap. In summary, we build a line of evidence suggesting
that thanatosis is the evolutionary foundation of near-death experiences and
that their shared biological purpose is the benefit of survival. We propose that
the acquisition of language enabled humans to transform these events from
relatively stereotyped death-feigning under predatory attacks into the rich
perceptions that form near-death experiences and extend to non-predatory
situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Costanza Peinkhofer
- Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark
| | - Charlotte Martial
- Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Liège 4000, Belgium
| | - Helena Cassol
- Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Liège 4000, Belgium
| | - Steven Laureys
- Coma Science Group, GIGA-Consciousness, University of Liège, Liège 4000, Belgium
| | - Daniel Kondziella
- Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark
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Golubović A, Anđelković M, Tomović L, Arsovski D, Gvozdenović S, Šukalo G, Ajtić R, Bonnet X. Death‐feigning propensity varies within dice snake populations but not with sex or colour morph. J Zool (1987) 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- A. Golubović
- Institute of Zoology Faculty of Biology University of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia
| | - M. Anđelković
- Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković” National Institute of Republic of Serbia University of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia
| | - L. Tomović
- Institute of Zoology Faculty of Biology University of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia
| | - D. Arsovski
- Macedonian Ecological Society Skopje North Macedonia
| | | | - G. Šukalo
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics University of Banja Luka Banja Luka Bosnia and Herzegovina
| | - R. Ajtić
- Natural History Museum in Belgrade Belgrade Serbia
| | - X. Bonnet
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé Villiers‐en‐Bois France
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Monsó S, Osuna-Mascaró AJ. Death is common, so is understanding it: the concept of death in other species. SYNTHESE 2020; 199:2251-2275. [PMID: 34866663 PMCID: PMC8602129 DOI: 10.1007/s11229-020-02882-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Comparative thanatologists study the responses to the dead and the dying in nonhuman animals. Despite the wide variety of thanatological behaviours that have been documented in several different species, comparative thanatologists assume that the concept of death (CoD) is very difficult to acquire and will be a rare cognitive feat once we move past the human species. In this paper, we argue that this assumption is based on two forms of anthropocentrism: (1) an intellectual anthropocentrism, which leads to an over-intellectualisation of the CoD, and (2) an emotional anthropocentrism, which yields an excessive focus on grief as a reaction to death. Contrary to what these two forms of anthropocentrism suggest, we argue that the CoD requires relatively little cognitive complexity and that it can emerge independently from mourning behaviour. Moreover, if we turn towards the natural world, we can see that the minimal cognitive requirements for a CoD are in fact met by many nonhuman species and there are multiple learning pathways and opportunities for animals in the wild to develop a CoD. This allows us to conclude that the CoD will be relatively easy to acquire and, so, we can expect it to be fairly common in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susana Monsó
- Unit of Ethics and Human-Animal Studies, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Antonio J. Osuna-Mascaró
- Unit of Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
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Kondziella D. The Neurology of Death and the Dying Brain: A Pictorial Essay. Front Neurol 2020; 11:736. [PMID: 32793105 PMCID: PMC7385288 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
As neurologists earn their living with the preservation and restoration of brain function, they are also well-positioned to address the science behind the transition from life to death. This essay in pictures highlights areas of neurological expertise needed for brain death determination; shows pitfalls to avoid during the clinical examination and interpretation of confirmatory laboratory tests in brain death protocols; illustrates the great variability of brain death legislations around the world; discusses arguments for the implementation of donation after circulatory death (DCD); points to unresolved questions related to DCD and the time between cardiac standstill and organ procurement (“hands-off period”); provides an overview of the epidemiology and semiology of near-death experiences, including their importance for religion, literature, and the visual arts; suggests biological mechanisms for near-death experiences such as dysfunction of temporoparietal cortex, N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonism, migraine aura, and rapid eye movement sleep; hypothesizes that thanatosis (aka. death-feigning, a common behavioral trait in the animal kingdom) represents the evolutionary origin of near-death experiences; and speculates about the future implications of recent attempts of brain resuscitation in an animal model. The aim is to provide the reader with a thorough understanding that the boundaries within the neurology of death and the dying brain are being pushed just like everywhere else in the clinical neurosciences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Kondziella
- Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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11
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Sendova-Franks AB, Worley A, Franks NR. Post-contact immobility and half-lives that save lives. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200881. [PMID: 32635872 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
A wide variety of animals become completely immobile after initial contact with a potential predator. This behaviour is considered to be a last-ditch escape strategy. Here, we test the hypothesis that such immobility should have an extremely unpredictable duration. We find that it spans more than three orders of magnitude in antlion larvae. We also analyse the second period of immobility that follows the first bout of immobility, and consider the distributions of both first and second immobility periods within the context of the intermittence that characterizes the movement of most organisms. Both immobility durations were fitted best by exponential distributions. Therefore, both were characterized by high variability and hence, unpredictability. The immobility half-life, its mean duration and standard deviation were greater for the first than the second immobility. Furthermore, individual consistency was weak or absent in repeated measures of the first immobility and between the first and second immobilities. Our quantitative approach can be replicated across taxa and would help link an understanding of immobility after an initial predator contact in both vertebrates and invertebrates. To facilitate this, we contend that the terminology should be simplified, and we advocate the use of the term post-contact immobility (PCI).
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana B Sendova-Franks
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Alan Worley
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Nigel R Franks
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
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