scholarly journals Social selectivity and social motivation in voles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annaliese K Beery ◽  
Sarah A Lopez ◽  
Katrina L Blandino ◽  
Nicole S Lee ◽  
Natalie S Bourdon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Variation ◽  
Social Preference ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Oxytocin Receptor ◽  
Social Reward ◽  
Social Monogamy ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Meadow Voles

Selective relationships are fundamental to humans and many other animals, but relationships between mates, family members, or peers may be mediated differently. We examined connections between social reward and social selectivity, aggression, and oxytocin receptor signaling pathways in rodents that naturally form enduring, selective relationships with mates and peers (prairie voles) or peers (meadow voles). Female prairie and meadow voles worked harder to access familiar vs. unfamiliar individuals, regardless of sex, and huddled extensively with familiar subjects. Male prairie voles also displayed strongly selective huddling preferences for familiar animals, but worked hardest to repeatedly access females vs. males, with no difference in effort by familiarity. This demonstrates a fundamental disconnect between motivation and social selectivity in males, and reveals a striking sex difference in pathways underlying social monogamy. Meadow voles exhibited social preferences but low social motivation, consistent with tolerance rather than reward supporting social groups in this species. Natural variation in oxytocin receptor genotype was associated with oxytocin receptor density, and both genotype and receptor binding predicted individual variation in prosocial and aggressive behaviors. These results provide a basis for understanding species, sex, and individual differences in the mechanisms underlying the role of social reward in social preference.

scholarly journals Social selectivity and social motivation in voles

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annaliese K Beery ◽  
Sarah A Lopez ◽  
Katrina L Blandino ◽  
Nicole S Lee ◽  
Natalie S Bourdon
Keyword(s):  
Social Preference ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Preference Test ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Oxytocin Receptor ◽  
Social Reward ◽  
Social Monogamy ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Meadow Voles

Selective relationships are fundamental to humans and many other animals, but relationships between mates, family members, or peers may be mediated differently. We examined connections between social reward and social selectivity, aggression, and oxytocin receptor signaling pathways in rodents that naturally form enduring, selective relationships with mates and peers (monogamous prairie voles) or peers (group-living meadow voles). Female prairie and meadow voles worked harder to access familiar vs. unfamiliar individuals, regardless of sex, and huddled extensively with familiar subjects. Male prairie voles displayed strongly selective huddling preferences for familiar animals, but only worked harder to repeatedly access females vs. males, with no difference in effort by familiarity. This reveals a striking sex difference in pathways underlying social monogamy, and demonstrates a fundamental disconnect between motivation and social selectivity in males-a distinction not detected by the partner preference test. Meadow voles exhibited social preferences but low social motivation, consistent with tolerance rather than reward supporting social groups in this species. Natural variation in oxytocin receptor binding predicted individual variation in prosocial and aggressive behaviors. These results provide a basis for understanding species, sex, and individual differences in the mechanisms underlying the role of social reward in social preference.

Familiarity and gender influence social preferences in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster)

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Courtney DeVries ◽  
Camron L. Johnson ◽  
C. Sue Carter
Keyword(s):  
Social Preference ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Group Cohesion ◽  
Gonadal Hormones ◽  
Microtus Ochrogaster ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Sex Preferences ◽  
Opposite Sex

The physiological mechanisms influencing group cohesion and social preferences are largely unstudied in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). In nature, prairie vole family groups usually consist of an adult male and female breeding pair, one or more litters of their offspring, and occasionally unrelated adults. Pair bonds, defined by heterosexual preferences, develop in male and female prairie voles following cohabitation or mating. However, social preferences between members of the same sex also may be important to the maintenance of communal groups. In the present study we compared the development of social preferences for conspecific strangers of the same sex versus preferences for the opposite sex, and examined the effect of the gonadal status of the stimulus animal on initial social preference. The present study revealed that reproductively naive males, but not females, showed initial preferences for partners of the opposite sex. In both sexes preferences for the opposite sex were not influenced by the presence or absence of gonadal hormones. Heterosexual and same-sex preferences for a familiar individual formed following 24 h of nonsexual cohabitation in both males and females. Male and female same-sex preferences, however, were no longer stable when the stranger in the preference test was of the opposite sex to the experimental animal. The development of same-sex preferences may help to maintain group cohesion, but same-sex preferences formed by cohabitation do not withstand the challenge of an opposite-sex stranger.

Role of steroid hormones in Trichinella spiralis infection among voles

1999 ◽  
Vol 277 (5) ◽  
pp. R1362-R1367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabra L. Klein ◽  
H. Ray Gamble ◽  
Randy J. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Immune Function ◽  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Trichinella Spiralis ◽  
Parasite Burden ◽  
Parasite Infection ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Functional Explanations

Males are generally more susceptible to parasite infection than females. This sex difference may reflect the suppressive effects of testosterone and enhancing effects of estradiol on immune function. This study characterized the role of circulating steroid hormones in sex differences after infection with the nematode Trichinella spiralis. Because testosterone suppresses immune function and because polygynous males have higher circulating testosterone concentrations than monogamous males, sex differences in parasite burden were hypothesized to be exaggerated among polygynous meadow voles compared with monogamous prairie voles. As predicted, sex differences in response to T. spiralis infection were increased among meadow voles; males had higher worm numbers than females. Male and female prairie voles had equivalent parasite burden. Overall, prairie voles had higher worm numbers than meadow voles. Contrary to our initial prediction, differences in circulating estradiol concentrations in females, testosterone concentrations in males, and corticosterone concentrations in both sexes were not related to the observed variation in T. spiralisinfection. Taken together, these data suggest that not all sex differences in parasite infection are mediated by circulating steroid hormones and that adaptive-functional explanations may provide new insight into the causes of variation in parasite infection.

scholarly journals Sex differences in the reward value of familiar mates in prairie voles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M Vahaba ◽  
Emily R Halstead ◽  
Zoe Donaldson ◽  
Todd H Ahern ◽  
Annaliese K Beery
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Preference ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Relationship Formation ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Partner Preferences ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Operant Task

The rewarding properties of social interactions facilitate relationship formation and maintenance. Prairie voles are one of the few laboratory species that form selective relationships, manifested as "partner preferences" for familiar partners versus strangers. While both sexes exhibit strong partner preferences, this similarity in outward behavior likely results from sex-specific neurobiological mechanisms. We recently used operant conditioning to demonstrate that females work harder for access to a familiar versus unfamiliar conspecific of either sex, while males worked equally hard for access to any female, indicating a key sex difference in social motivation. As tests were performed with one social target at a time, males might have experienced a ceiling effect, and familiar females might be more relatively rewarding in a choice scenario. Here we performed a social choice operant task in which voles could repeatedly lever-press to gain temporary access to either the chamber containing their mate or one containing a novel opposite-sex vole. Females worked hardest to access their mate, while males pressed at similar rates for either female. Individual male behavior was heterogeneous, congruent with multiple mating strategies in the wild. Voles exhibited preferences for favorable over unfavorable environments in a non-social operant task, indicating that lack of social preference does not reflect lack of discrimination between chambers. Oxytocin receptor genotype at the intronic SNP NT213739 replicated a prior association with stranger-directed aggression within the test. These findings suggest that convergent preference behavior in male and female voles results from sex-divergent pathways, particularly in the realm of social motivation.

The Effect of Social Preferences on Sales and Operations Planning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Papier ◽  
Ulrich W. Thonemann
Keyword(s):  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Social Preference ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Inequality Aversion ◽  
Monetary Incentives ◽  
Competitive Pressure ◽  
Operations Planning ◽  
Demand Planning ◽  
Planning Processes

Sales and operations planning processes are used to align production quantities and customer demand. Two key activities of these processes are demand planning and production planning, which are often assigned to individuals in different departments. In “The Effect of Social Preferences on Sales and Operations Planning,” Papier and Thonemann analyze the role of social preferences (altruism, inequality aversion, and competitive pressure) and monetary incentives in motivating demand planners to invest effort in forecasting that benefits the production planners. Their results indicate that social preferences can be used to incentivize demand planners to invest effort and that this effect is anticipated by production planners. The resulting more accurate demand forecasts and adapted production quantities result in higher company profit. They also provide an optimization model for optimally allocating investments to financial incentives and social preference building.

scholarly journals Comparative Assessment of Familiarity/Novelty Preferences in Rodents

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annaliese K. Beery ◽  
Katharine L. Shambaugh
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Preference ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Male And Female Rats ◽  
High Degree

Sociality—i.e., life in social groups—has evolved many times in rodents, and there is considerable variation in the nature of these groups. While many species-typical behaviors have been described in field settings, the use of consistent behavioral assays in the laboratory provides key data for comparisons across species. The preference for interaction with familiar or novel individuals is an important dimension of social behavior. Familiarity preference, in particular, may be associated with more closed, less flexible social groups. The dimension from selectivity to gregariousness has been used as a factor in classification of social group types. Laboratory tests of social choice range from brief (10 minutes) to extended (e.g., 3 hours). As familiarity preferences typically need long testing intervals to manifest, we used 3-hour peer partner preference tests to test for the presence of familiarity preferences in same-sex cage-mates and strangers in rats. We then conducted an aggregated analysis of familiarity preferences across multiple rodent species (adult male and female rats, mice, prairie voles, meadow voles, and female degus) tested with the same protocol. We found a high degree of consistency within species across data sets, supporting the existence of strong, species-typical familiarity preferences in prairie voles and meadow voles, and a lack of familiarity preferences in other species tested. Sociability, or total time spent near conspecifics, was unrelated to selectivity in social preference. These findings provide important background for interpreting the neurobiological mechanisms involved in social behavior in these species.

Classical social reward signatures in infants with later ASD

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teodora Gliga ◽  
Mayada Elsabbagh
Keyword(s):  
Early Development ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Social Reward ◽  
Socially Motivated

Abstract Autistic individuals can be socially motivated. We disagree with the idea that self-report is sufficient to understand their social drive. Instead, we underscore evidence for typical non-verbal signatures of social reward during the early development of autistic individuals. Instead of focusing on whether or not social motivation is typical, research should investigate the factors that modulate social drives.

Regulation of the Oxytocin Receptor in Bovine Reproductive Tissues and the Role of Steroids

2000 ◽  
Vol 35 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 134-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Ivell ◽  
A-R Fuchs ◽  
R Bathgate ◽  
G Tillmann ◽  
T Kimura
Keyword(s):  
Oxytocin Receptor ◽  
Reproductive Tissues

Imaging the “social brain” in schizophrenia: A systematic review of neuroimaging studies of social reward and punishment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Mow ◽  
Arti Gandhi ◽  
Daniel Fulford
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Interaction Network ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Social Impairment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Reward ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Social Stimuli ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Reward And Punishment

Decreased social functioning and high levels of loneliness and social isolation are common in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD), contributing to reduced quality of life. One key contributor to social impairment is low social motivation, which may stem from aberrant neural processing of socially rewarding or punishing stimuli. To summarize research on the neurobiology of social motivation in SSD, we performed a systematic literature review of neuroimaging studies involving the presentation of social stimuli intended to elicit feelings of reward and/or punishment. Across 11 studies meeting criteria, people with SSD demonstrated weaker modulation of brain activity in regions within a proposed social interaction network, including prefrontal, cingulate, and striatal regions, as well as the amygdala and insula. Firm conclusions regarding neural differences in SSD in these regions, as well as connections within networks, are limited due to conceptual and methodological inconsistencies across the available studies. We conclude by making recommendations for the study of social reward and punishment processing in SSD in future research.

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