scholarly journals Prenatal Androgen Effects as a Proximate Mechanism Underpinning Variation in Social Behavior Among Female Nonhuman Primates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Howlett ◽  
Brandon C. Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Female Dominance ◽  
Small Female ◽  
Proximate Mechanism ◽  
Cooperative Behaviors ◽  
Androgen Effects ◽  
Prenatal Androgen

AbstractWhile the role of ecological factors in shaping primate social systems has been a central focus for decades, less attention has been given to phylogenetic relationships and the potential role of underlying proximate mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between one such proximate mechanism, prenatal androgen effects (PAEs), and aspects of social behavior in female nonhuman primates using the 2D:4D ratio as a proxy for PAEs and phylogenetically controlled methods. In general, female 2D:4D ratios were highest in monogamous species (low inferred PAEs) and lowest in polygynandrous and polygynous species (high inferred PAEs). 2D:4D ratios also varied with the form of polygyny/polygynandry, potentially with regard to the need for competitive over cooperative behaviors and the intensity of female reproductive competition. Species characterized by female dominance had lower 2D:4D ratios than species characterized by male dominance or codominance. There were no significant relationships between 2D:4D ratio and either degree of frugivory or group size. Relationships between 2D:4D ratios and the directional consistency index and 2D:4D ratios and rates of female–female agonism were also nonsignificant although sample sizes for both of these variables were small. Female social relationships are a manifestation of complex competitive and cooperative behaviors and the results suggest that PAEs may act as a proximate mechanism underlying the expression of certain aspects of behavior in female primates in ways that are adaptive to their social system.

The Role of Oxytocin and Vasopressin in the Neural Regulation of Social Behavior

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather K. Caldwell
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Extensive Study ◽  
Neural Regulation ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
Complex Information ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Cooperative Behaviors ◽  
Multiple Levels

Within the central nervous system, the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin are key regulators of social behavior. While their effects can be nuanced, data suggest that they can influence behavior at multiple levels, including an individual’s personality/temperament, their social interactions in smaller groups (or one-on-one interactions), and their behavior in larger groups. At a mechanistic level, oxytocin and vasopressin help to integrate complex information—including aspects of an animal’s external and internal state—in order to shape behavioral output. Oxytocin and vasopressin help to modulate behaviors that bring animals together (i.e., cooperative behaviors) as well as behaviors that keep animals apart (i.e., competitive behaviors), with the modulatory effects often being species-, sex-, and context-dependent. While there continues to be extensive study of the function of these nonapeptides within individual brain nuclei, over the last two decades behavioral neuroendocrinologists have also made great strides in exploring their roles within larger brain networks that help to regulate social behavior. Looking forward, work on oxytocin and vasopressin will continue to shed light on how the neural regulation of social behaviors are similar, and/or dissimilar, within and between species and sexes, as well as provide insights into the neural chemistry that underlies behavioral differences in neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals.

scholarly journals Developing individual differences in primate behavior: The role of genes, environment and their interplay

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Julian von Borell ◽  
Alexander Weiss ◽  
Lars Penke
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Behavior Genetics ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Stability And Change ◽  
Behavioral Stability

As is the case for humans, it has long been thought that nonhuman primates can be described in terms of their personality. Scientific observations that support this view include the presence of individual differences in social behavior and that they are relatively stable throughout life. Consequently, individuals are constrained in their behavioral flexibility when dealing with various environmental challenges. Still, the variation among individuals during development suggests that the environment influences how primates behave. Research in fields including psychology, behavior genetics, and behavioral ecology have tried to identify the mechanisms responsible for this interplay of behavioral stability and change. In this review we integrate theories and findings from research on humans and nonhuman primates that highlight how and to what extent genetic and environmental contributions shape the development of social behavior. To do so we first provide an overview and define what is meant by mean level and rank-order change of behavior. We then review explanations of behavioral stability and change, focusing on the role of genetic effects, how environmental circumstances influence behavioral variation throughout development, and how genetic and environmental influences may interact to produce this variation. Finally, we point to future research directions that could help us to further understand the development of social behavior in primates from within a behavior genetics framework.

Feed-forward and the evolution of social behavior

2000 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-266
Author(s):  
C. N. Slobodchikoff
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Pavlovian Conditioning ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Conditioned Stimuli ◽  
Feed Forward ◽  
Proximate Mechanism

Feed-forward Pavlovian conditioning can serve as a proximate mechanism for the evolution of social behavior. Feed-forward can provide the impetus for animals to associate other individuals' presence, and cooperation with them, with the acquisition of resources, whether or not the animals are genetically related. Other social behaviors such as play and grooming may develop as conditioned stimuli in feed-forward social systems.

Behavior of a Captive Population of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs

Behaviour ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 46 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 189-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon L. Smith ◽  
Elizabeth C. Oppenheimer ◽  
Jill G. De VILLA ◽  
W. John Smith ◽  
Frederick A. Ulmer
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Annual Cycle ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Prairie Dogs ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
The Social

Abstract(I) A colony of black-tailed prairie dogs in the Philadelphia zoo is being used for long term studies of various aspects of social behavior including pattern of social organization, stylized means of communicating, and the effects of individual behavioral differences on communication and social structure. (2) This report deals with the annual cycle of social behavior manifested by the colony during the first three years of study. In gross outline an annual cycle can be described as follows: during the summer most individuals have "friendly" inter-relationships, and little organization is apparent. During autumn the animals gradually band into coterie groups and each group begins to defend a common territory, primarily through a highly ritualized procedure of "challenging" neighbors across a common boundary. By midwinter the adult males are very aggressive. With the advent of the winter breeding season, the females too become aggressive, and some establish territories that may subdivide coterie territories. In spring males and then females gradually become less aggressive, so that by about the time the pups emerge onto the surface the relaxed social relationships typical of summer are developing generally. (3) The shifting pattern of social organization is based on the division of individuals into classes on the basis of sex, age, dominance, and coterie and other bonds, and modified by the considerable inter-individual differencees in what may loosely be called "temperament." (4) Comparisons of the patterns of social organization shown by the zoo prairie dogs with those thus far described in the literature for wild populations show fundamental similarities, although the very high density and lack of opportunity for emigration in the zoo colony have lead to some modifications which are described and discussed. (5) The complexity of the social; organization of the black-tailed prairie dog is unusual for a rodent, and a model is proposed to account for its evolution from more widespread patterns of rodent social behavior. As the model emphasizes the role of the very open grassland habitat of the species in intensifying the natural selection potentially responsible for the evolution of this socal complexity, it suggests that habitat similarities may underlie evolutionary convergences in the social systems of black-tailed prairie dogs and savanna-dwelling primates.

Role of Man in Production and Social Systems Based on Digital Technologies

2020 ◽  
pp. 6-13
Author(s):  
V. K. Potemkin
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Study ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Changing Role ◽  
Consistent Approach ◽  
Social Improvement

The article presents the results of a theoretical study of the influence processes of the developed digital technologies and the activities of enterprises and organizations on the changing role of man in labor and their social improvement. The necessity of a balanced and consistent approach to create conditions for the use of digital technologies in practical activities and determining the con- sequences not only in enterprises and organizations, but also in the conscious behavior and social realities of all workers, without exception, is substantiated. The main directions of the development of digital technologies are determined, involving the wide participation of workers in their use in enterprises and organizations.

The role of hormones

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Frederik Nijhout ◽  
Emily Laub
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Juvenile Hormone ◽  
Reproductive Behavior ◽  
Hormonal Control ◽  
Plastic Trait

Many behaviors of insects are stimulated, modified, or modulated by hormones. The principal hormones involved are the same as the ones that control moulting, metamorphosis, and other aspects of development, principally ecdysone and juvenile hormone. In addition, a small handful of neurosecretory hormones are involved in the control of specific behaviors. Because behavior is a plastic trait, this chapter begins by outlining the biology and hormonal control of phenotypic plasticity in insects, and how the hormonal control of behavior fits in with other aspects of the control of phenotypic plasticity. The rest of the chapter is organized around the diversity of behaviors that are known to be controlled by or affected by hormones. These include eclosion and moulting behavior, the synthesis and release of pheromones, migration, parental care, dominance, reproductive behavior, and social behavior.

scholarly journals Extended parenting and the evolution of cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1803) ◽  
pp. 20190495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Uomini ◽  
Joanna Fairlie ◽  
Russell D. Gray ◽  
Michael Griesser
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cultural Learning

Traditional attempts to understand the evolution of human cognition compare humans with other primates. This research showed that relative brain size covaries with cognitive skills, while adaptations that buffer the developmental and energetic costs of large brains (e.g. allomaternal care), and ecological or social benefits of cognitive abilities, are critical for their evolution. To understand the drivers of cognitive adaptations, it is profitable to consider distant lineages with convergently evolved cognitions. Here, we examine the facilitators of cognitive evolution in corvid birds, where some species display cultural learning, with an emphasis on family life. We propose that extended parenting (protracted parent–offspring association) is pivotal in the evolution of cognition: it combines critical life-history, social and ecological conditions allowing for the development and maintenance of cognitive skillsets that confer fitness benefits to individuals. This novel hypothesis complements the extended childhood idea by considering the parents' role in juvenile development. Using phylogenetic comparative analyses, we show that corvids have larger body sizes, longer development times, extended parenting and larger relative brain sizes than other passerines. Case studies from two corvid species with different ecologies and social systems highlight the critical role of life-history features on juveniles’ cognitive development: extended parenting provides a safe haven, access to tolerant role models, reliable learning opportunities and food, resulting in higher survival. The benefits of extended juvenile learning periods, over evolutionary time, lead to selection for expanded cognitive skillsets. Similarly, in our ancestors, cooperative breeding and increased group sizes facilitated learning and teaching. Our analyses highlight the critical role of life-history, ecological and social factors that underlie both extended parenting and expanded cognitive skillsets. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals’.

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