Variability in nervous systems is often taken to be merely "noise." Yet in some cases it may play a positive, active role in the production of behavior. The central pattern generator (CPG) that drives the consummatory feeding behaviors of Aplysia generates large, quasi-random variability in the parameters of the feeding motor programs from one cycle to the next; the variability then propagates ...

Research on biological mechanisms of eating behavior and related disorders, such as obesity and anorexia nervosa, has become a large field of research in the last 15 years. With the discovery of peptides related to hypothalamic control of food intake (e.g. leptin and ghrelin) the search for the biological 'master key' of feeding control was renewed. As a result, mid-20th century biological conc...

Dipteran larval morphology exhibits overwhelming variety, affected by their diverse feeding habits and habitat use. In particular, larval mouthpart morphology is associated with feeding behavior, providing key taxonomic traits. Despite most larval Brachycera being carnivorous, a basal brachyceran family, Rhagionidae, contains bryophyte-feeding taxa with multiple feeding habits. To elucidate the...

Background and Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the association between parental behavior and the dietary intake of Tehranian preschool children aged 2-6 years. Materials and Methods: In a cross-sectional study conducted on 310 children aged 2-6 years from the kindergartens of 22 districts of Tehran, a qualitative validated 85-item food frequency questionnaire was completed b...

We present a fuzzy logic based model for the simulation of bird foraging behavior. The core of the model is based on the fuzzy model for the computer simulation of bird flocking presented by Lebar Bajec et al. The later was extended in such way that allows the simulation of bird foraging. In order to upgrade the original model it was necessary to advance the artificial world and the synthetic b...

BACKGROUND Children with cleft lip and/or palate frequently experience feeding difficulties that may place them at risk of malnutrition. Parents' negative response to these problems is associated with development of problematic behaviors in the child. This study aimed to investigate feeding behavior in children with cleft lip and/or palate and parental responses to these problems. MATERIALS A...