Animal Behaviour, Cognition and Welfare Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lincoln, Riseholme Park, Lincoln, LN2 2LG, UK.
Physiol Behav. 2012 Feb 1;105(3):676-82. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.09.019. Epub 2011 Oct 1.
Impulsivity is a trait related to inhibitory control which is expressed in a range of behaviours. Impulsive individuals show a decreased ability to tolerate delay of reinforcement, and more impulsive behaviour has been linked to decreased levels of serotonin and dopamine in a number of species. In domestic dogs, impulsivity is implicated in problem behaviours that result from a lack of self control, but currently there are no published studies that assess behavioural and physiological measures of impulsivity in relation to this trait. Impulsivity scores were calculated for 41 dogs using an owner-report assessment, the Dog Impulsivity Assessment Scale (DIAS). Twenty-three of these subjects completed an operant choice task based on a delayed reward paradigm, to assess their tolerance to delay of reinforcement. High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with Fluorometric Detection was used to detect levels of the metabolites of serotonin (5-HIAA) and dopamine (HVA) in the urine of 17 of the subjects. Higher impulsivity scores were found to be significantly correlated with more impulsive behaviour (reduced tolerance to delay of reinforcement) in the behaviour tests and lower levels of urinary 5-HIAA and 5-HIAA/HVA ratio. The results demonstrate convergent validity between impulsivity (as assessed by the DIAS) and behavioural and physiological parameters.
冲动性是与抑制控制相关的一种特质，表现在一系列行为中。冲动的个体表现出延迟强化的能力下降，并且在许多物种中，冲动行为与血清素和多巴胺水平降低有关。在宠物犬中，冲动性与缺乏自我控制导致的问题行为有关，但目前尚无评估与该特征相关的冲动性行为和生理测量的已发表研究。使用主人报告评估（狗冲动性评估量表（DIAS））为 41 只狗计算了冲动性评分。其中 23 只狗完成了基于延迟奖励范式的操作性选择任务，以评估它们对延迟强化的耐受性。使用高效液相色谱法（HPLC）结合荧光检测法检测了 17 只犬尿液中血清素（5-HIAA）和多巴胺（HVA）代谢物的水平。研究发现，较高的冲动性评分与行为测试中更冲动的行为（延迟强化的耐受性降低）以及较低的尿液 5-HIAA 和 5-HIAA/HVA 比值显著相关。研究结果表明，DIAS 评估的冲动性与行为和生理参数之间存在一致性。
