scholarly journals Social environment influences the relationship between genotype and gene expression in wild baboons

2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1618) ◽  
pp. 20120345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Runcie ◽  
Ralph T. Wiedmann ◽  
Elizabeth A. Archie ◽  
Jeanne Altmann ◽  
Gregory A. Wray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Social Stressors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wild Baboons

Variation in the social environment can have profound effects on survival and reproduction in wild social mammals. However, we know little about the degree to which these effects are influenced by genetic differences among individuals, and conversely, the degree to which social environmental variation mediates genetic reaction norms. To better understand these relationships, we investigated the potential for dominance rank, social connectedness and group size to modify the effects of genetic variation on gene expression in the wild baboons of the Amboseli basin. We found evidence for a number of gene–environment interactions (GEIs) associated with variation in the social environment, encompassing social environments experienced in adulthood as well as persistent effects of early life social environment. Social connectedness, maternal dominance rank and group size all interacted with genotype to influence gene expression in at least one sex, and either in early life or in adulthood. These results suggest that social and behavioural variation, akin to other factors such as age and sex, can impact the genotype–phenotype relationship. We conclude that GEIs mediated by the social environment are important in the evolution and maintenance of individual differences in wild social mammals, including individual differences in responses to social stressors.

scholarly journals Distinct gene regulatory signatures of dominance rank and social bond strength in wild baboons

2022 ◽  
Vol 377 (1845) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan A. Anderson ◽  
Amanda J. Lea ◽  
Tawni N. Voyles ◽  
Mercy Y. Akinyi ◽  
Ruth Nyakundi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Regulation ◽  
Bond Strength ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Social Bond ◽  
Immune Gene ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
Change Response ◽  
Wild Baboons

The social environment is a major determinant of morbidity, mortality and Darwinian fitness in social animals. Recent studies have begun to uncover the molecular processes associated with these relationships, but the degree to which they vary across different dimensions of the social environment remains unclear. Here, we draw on a long-term field study of wild baboons to compare the signatures of affiliative and competitive aspects of the social environment in white blood cell gene regulation, under both immune-stimulated and non-stimulated conditions. We find that the effects of dominance rank on gene expression are directionally opposite in males versus females, such that high-ranking males resemble low-ranking females, and vice versa. Among females, rank and social bond strength are both reflected in the activity of cellular metabolism and proliferation genes. However, while we observe pronounced rank-related differences in baseline immune gene activity, only bond strength predicts the fold-change response to immune (lipopolysaccharide) stimulation. Together, our results indicate that the directionality and magnitude of social effects on gene regulation depend on the aspect of the social environment under study. This heterogeneity may help explain why social environmental effects on health and longevity can also vary between measures. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies’.

scholarly journals Distinct gene regulatory signatures of dominance rank and social bond strength in wild baboons

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Anderson ◽  
Amanda J Lea ◽  
Tawni Voyles ◽  
Mercy Akinyi ◽  
Ruth Nyakundi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Regulation ◽  
Bond Strength ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Social Bond ◽  
Immune Gene ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
Change Response ◽  
Wild Baboons

The social environment is a major determinant of morbidity, mortality, and Darwinian fitness in social animals. Recent studies have begun to uncover the molecular processes associated with these relationships, but the degree to which they vary across different dimensions of the social environment remains unclear. Here, we draw on a long-term field study of wild baboons to compare the signatures of affiliative and competitive aspects of the social environment in white blood cell gene regulation, under both immune stimulated and non-stimulated conditions. We find that the effects of dominance rank on gene expression are directionally opposite in males versus females, such that high-ranking males resemble low-ranking females, and vice-versa. Among females, rank and social bond strength are both reflected in the activity of cellular metabolism and proliferation genes. However, pronounced rank-related differences in baseline immune gene activity are near-absent for social bond strength, while only bond strength predicts the fold-change response to immune (lipopolysaccharide) stimulation. Together, our results indicate that the directionality and magnitude of social effects on gene regulation depend on the aspect of the social environment under study. This heterogeneity may help explain why social environmental effects on health and longevity can also vary between measures.

scholarly journals Studying individual differences in the social environment to better understand language learning and processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (s1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiri Lev-Ari
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Performance ◽  
The Social

AbstractPeople learn language from their social environment. Therefore, individual differences in the input that their social environment provides could influence their linguistic performance. Nevertheless, investigation of the role of individual differences in input on performance has been mostly restricted to first and second language acquisition. In this paper I argue that individual differences in input can influence linguistic performance even in adult native speakers. Specifically, differences in input can affect performance by influencing people’s knowledgebase, by modulating their processing manner, and by shaping expectations. Therefore, studying the role that individual differences in input play can improve our understanding of how language is learned, processed and represented.

scholarly journals The relationship between egg size and helper number in cooperative breeders: a meta-analysis across species

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e4028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanmay Dixit ◽  
Sinead English ◽  
Dieter Lukas
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Maternal Investment ◽  
Differential Allocation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
The Relationship

BackgroundLife history theory predicts that mothers should adjust reproductive investment depending on benefits of current reproduction and costs of reduced future reproductive success. These costs and benefits may in turn depend on the breeding female’s social environment. Cooperative breeders provide an ideal system to test whether changes in maternal investment are associated with the social conditions mothers experience. As alloparental helpers assist in offspring care, larger groups might reduce reproductive costs for mothers or alternatively indicate attractive conditions for reproduction. Thus, mothers may show reduced (load-lightening) or increased (differential allocation) reproductive investment in relation to group size. A growing number of studies have investigated how cooperatively breeding mothers adjust pre-natal investment depending on group size. Our aim was to survey these studies to assess, first, whether mothers consistently reduce or increase pre-natal investment when in larger groups and, second, whether these changes relate to variation in post-natal investment.MethodsWe extracted data on the relationship between helper number and maternal pre-natal investment (egg size) from 12 studies on 10 species of cooperatively breeding vertebrates. We performed meta-analyses to calculate the overall estimated relationship between egg size and helper number, and to quantify variation among species. We also tested whether these relationships are stronger in species in which the addition of helpers is associated with significant changes in maternal and helper post-natal investment.ResultsAcross studies, there is a significant negative relationship between helper number and egg size, suggesting that in most instances mothers show reduced reproductive investment in larger groups, in particular in species in which mothers also show a significant reduction in post-natal investment. However, even in this limited sample, substantial variation exists in the relationship between helper number and egg size, and the overall effect appears to be driven by a few well-studied species.DiscussionOur results, albeit based on a small sample of studies and species, indicate that cooperatively breeding females tend to produce smaller eggs in larger groups. These findings on prenatal investment accord with previous studies showing similar load-lightening reductions in postnatal parental effort (leading to concealed helper effects), but do not provide empirical support for differential allocation. However, the considerable variation in effect size across studies suggests that maternal investment is mitigated by additional factors. Our findings indicate that variation in the social environment may influence life-history strategies and suggest that future studies investigating within-individual changes in maternal investment in cooperative breeders offer a fruitful avenue to study the role of adaptive plasticity.

The psychological benefits of music-evoked nostalgia

2021 ◽  
pp. 030573562110646
Author(s):  
Constantine Sedikides ◽  
Joost Leunissen ◽  
Tim Wildschut
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Psychological Benefits ◽  
Social Domain ◽  
Physiological Functions ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
The Social

We provide a narrative review of the nascent literature on the psychological benefits of music-evoked nostalgia. Music is a prevalent and influential source of nostalgia. Music-evoked nostalgia confers approach-oriented psychological benefits in the social domain (by fostering social connectedness), self-oriented domain (by raising self-esteem, instilling a sense of youthfulness, elevating optimism, and enhancing inspiration), and existential domain (by strengthening meaning in life and augmenting self-continuity). Music-evoked nostalgia also confers psychological benefits indirectly. For example, it elevates optimisms by fostering sequentially social connectedness and self-esteem. Also, by fostering social connectedness, it enhances inspiration, strengthens meaning in life, and augments self-continuity. Furthermore, music-evoked nostalgia serves to buffer individuals against discomforting states, such as sadness. We conclude by discussing music-evoked nostalgia in people with dementia, contemplating the role of individual differences and context, considering the possibility that music-evoked nostalgia serves physiological functions, and asking whether familiarity with the music is necessary for the evocation of nostalgia and its ensuing benefits.

scholarly journals Group housing and social dominance hierarchy affect circadian activity patterns in mice

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 201985
Author(s):  
Yuri Robbers ◽  
Mayke M. H. Tersteeg ◽  
Johanna H. Meijer ◽  
Claudia P. Coomans
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Social Dominance ◽  
Dominance Hierarchy ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Dominant Male ◽  
Group Housing ◽  
Male Mice ◽  
Female Mice ◽  
The Social

In this study, we investigated the effect of social environment on circadian patterns in activity by group housing either six male or six female mice together in a cage, under regular light–dark cycles. Based on the interactions among the animals, the social dominance rank of individual mice was quantitatively established by calculating Elo ratings. Our results indicated that, during our experiment, the social dominance hierarchy was rapidly established, stable yet complex, often showing more than one dominant mouse and several subordinate mice. Moreover, we found that especially dominant male mice, but not female mice, displayed a significantly higher fraction of their activity during daytime. This resulted in reduced rhythm amplitude in dominant males. After division into separate cages, male mice showed an enhancement of their 24 h rhythm, due to lower daytime activity. Recordings of several physiological parameters showed no evidence for reduced health as a potential consequence of reduced rhythm amplitude. For female mice, transfer to individual housing did not affect their daily activity pattern. We conclude that 24 h rhythms under light–dark cycles are influenced by the social environment in males but not in females, and lead to a decrement in behavioural rhythm amplitude that is larger in dominant mice.

scholarly journals Financial strain and stressful social environment drive depressive symptoms, while FKBP5 variant intensifies the effect, in African Americans living in Tallahassee

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kia Fuller ◽  
Clarence C. Gravlee ◽  
Chris McCarty ◽  
Miaisha M. Mitchell ◽  
Connie J. Mulligan
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
The United States ◽  
Financial Strain ◽  
World Health ◽  
Social Stressors ◽  
The Social

AbstractThe World Health Organization estimates that almost 300 million people suffer from depression worldwide. Depression is the most common mental health disorder and shows racial disparities in disease prevalence, age of onset, severity of symptoms, frequency of diagnosis, and treatment utilization across the United States. Since depression has both social and genetic risk factors, we propose a conceptual model wherein social stressors are primary risk factors for depression, but genetic variants increase or decrease individual susceptibility to the effects of the social stressors. Our research strategy incorporates both social and genetic data to investigate variation in symptoms of depression (CES-D scores). We collected data on financial strain (difficulty paying bills) and personal social networks (a model of an individual’s social environment), and we genotyped genetic variants in five genes involved in stress reactivity (HTR1a, BDNF, GNB3, SLC6A4, and FKBP5) in 135 African Americans residing in Tallahassee, Florida. We found that high financial strain and a high percentage of people in one’s social network who are a source of stress or worry were significantly associated with higher CES-D scores and explained more variation in CES-D scores than did genetic factors. Only one genetic variant (rs1360780 in FKBP5) was significantly associated with CES-D scores and only when the social stressors were included in the model. Interestingly, the effect of FKPB5 appeared to be strongest in individuals with high financial strain such that participants with a T allele at rs1360780 in FKBP5 and high financial strain had the highest mean CES-D scores in our study population. These results suggest that material disadvantage and a stressful social environment increases the risk of depression, but that individual-level genetic variation may increase susceptibility to the adverse health consequences of social stressors.

The social environment and health

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Abel Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Socioeconomic Position ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Class A ◽  
Environment And Health ◽  
Causal Pathway ◽  
The Social ◽  
Life Circumstances ◽  
A Chain

This chapter explores three main issues related to the analyses of the social gradient in health: correlations, causations, and interventions. Observed correlations between indicators of socioeconomic position and health do not imply that there are causations. The usefulness of various indicators is discussed, such as education, income, occupation categories, and social class. A causal pathway is presented that suggests a chain from early life circumstances, via education, occupation, income, and perceived status onto health. The chapter ends with a discussion of various policy options to reduce inequalities in health that are caused by social determinants.

scholarly journals Persistent social interactions beget more pronounced personalities in a desert-dwelling social spider

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 20140419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas P. Modlmeier ◽  
Kate L. Laskowski ◽  
Alex E. DeMarco ◽  
Anna Coleman ◽  
Katherine Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Social Spider ◽  
Niche Specialization ◽  
The Social ◽  
Animal Personalities ◽  
Social Niche

The social niche specialization hypothesis predicts that repeated social interactions will generate social niches within groups, thereby promoting consistent individual differences in behaviour. Current support for this hypothesis is mixed, probably because the importance of social niches is dependent upon the ecology of the species. We test whether repeated interactions among group mates generate consistent individual differences in boldness in the social spider, Stegodyphus dumicola. In support of the social niche specialization hypothesis, we found that consistent individual differences in boldness increased with longer group tenure. Interestingly, these differences took longer to appear than in previous work suggesting this species needs more persistent social interactions to shape its behaviour. Recently disturbed colonies were shyer than older colonies, possibly reflecting differences in predation risk. Our study emphasizes the importance of the social environment in generating animal personalities, but also suggests that the pattern of personality development can depend on subtle differences in species' ecologies.

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