scholarly journals The Impact of Early Amygdala Damage on Juvenile Rhesus Macaque Social Behavior

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 2124-2140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliza Bliss-Moreau ◽  
Gilda Moadab ◽  
Melissa D. Bauman ◽  
David G. Amaral
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Rhesus Macaque ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Ibotenic Acid ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Facial Displays ◽  
The Impact

The present experiments continue a longitudinal study of rhesus macaque social behavior following bilateral neonatal ibotenic acid lesions of the amygdala or hippocampus, or sham operations. Juvenile animals (approximately 1.5–2.5 years) were tested in four different social contexts—alone, while interacting with one familiar peer, while interacting with one unfamiliar peer, and in their permanent social groups. During infancy, the amygdala-lesioned animals displayed more interest in conspecifics (indexed by increased affiliative signaling) and paradoxically demonstrated more submission or fear (Bauman, Lavenex, Mason, Capitanio, & Amaral, 2004a, this journal). When these animals were assessed as juveniles, differences were less striking. Amygdala-lesioned animals generated fewer aggressive and affiliative signals (e.g., vocalizations, facial displays) and spent less time in social interactions with familiar peers. When animals were observed alone or with an unfamiliar peer, amygdala-lesioned animals, compared with other subjects, spent more time being inactive and physically explored the environment less. Despite the subtle, lesion-based differences in the frequency and duration of specific social behaviors, there were lesion-based differences in the organization of behavior such that lesion groups could be identified based on the patterning of social behaviors in a discriminant function analysis. The findings indicate that, although overall frequencies of many of the observed behaviors do not differ between groups, the general patterning of social behavior may distinguish the amygdala-lesioned animals.

scholarly journals Sex-Specific Social Behavior and Amygdala Proteomic Deficits in Foxp2+/− Mutant Mice

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Jesus Herrero ◽  
Li Wang ◽  
David Hernandez-Pineda ◽  
Payal Banerjee ◽  
Heidi Y. Matos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Neuronal Communication ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Encoding Gene ◽  
Dopamine Signaling

In humans, mutations in the transcription factor encoding gene, FOXP2, are associated with language and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), the latter characterized by deficits in social interactions. However, little is known regarding the function of Foxp2 in male or female social behavior. Our previous studies in mice revealed high expression of Foxp2 within the medial subnucleus of the amygdala (MeA), a limbic brain region highly implicated in innate social behaviors such as mating, aggression, and parental care. Here, using a comprehensive panel of behavioral tests in male and female Foxp2+/– heterozygous mice, we investigated the role Foxp2 plays in MeA-linked innate social behaviors. We reveal significant deficits in olfactory processing, social interaction, mating, aggressive, and parental behaviors. Interestingly, some of these deficits are displayed in a sex-specific manner. To examine the consequences of Foxp2 loss of function specifically in the MeA, we conducted a proteomic analysis of microdissected MeA tissue. This analyses revealed putative sex differences expression of a host of proteins implicated in neuronal communication, connectivity, and dopamine signaling. Consistent with this, we discovered that MeA Foxp2-lineage cells were responsive to dopamine with differences between males and females. Thus, our findings reveal a central and sex-specific role for Foxp2 in social behavior and MeA function.

scholarly journals Sex- and context-dependent effects of acute isolation on vocal and non-vocal social behaviors in mice

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0255640
Author(s):  
Xin Zhao ◽  
Patryk Ziobro ◽  
Nicole M. Pranic ◽  
Samantha Chu ◽  
Samantha Rabinovich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Female Mice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Brain And Behavior

Humans are extraordinarily social, and social isolation has profound effects on our behavior, ranging from increased social motivation following short periods of social isolation to increased anti-social behaviors following long-term social isolation. Mice are frequently used as a model to understand how social isolation impacts the brain and behavior. While the effects of chronic social isolation on mouse social behavior have been well studied, much less is known about how acute isolation impacts mouse social behavior and whether these effects vary according to the sex of the mouse and the behavioral context of the social encounter. To address these questions, we characterized the effects of acute (3-day) social isolation on the vocal and non-vocal social behaviors of male and female mice during same-sex and opposite-sex social interactions. Our experiments uncovered pronounced effects of acute isolation on social interactions between female mice, while revealing more subtle effects on the social behaviors of male mice during same-sex and opposite-sex interactions. Our findings advance the study of same-sex interactions between female mice as an attractive paradigm to investigate neural mechanisms through which acute isolation enhances social motivation and promotes social behavior.

scholarly journals Neural Circuits for Social Interactions: From Microcircuits to Input-Output Circuits

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sen Xu ◽  
Ming Jiang ◽  
Xia Liu ◽  
Yahan Sun ◽  
Liang Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Social Preference ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Social Cues ◽  
Input Output ◽  
Social Exploration ◽  
Pathological Development

Social behaviors entail responses to social information and requires the perception and integration of social cues through a complex cognition process that involves attention, memory, motivation, and emotion. Neurobiological and molecular mechanisms underlying social behavior are highly conserved across species, and inter- and intra-specific variability observed in social behavior can be explained to large extent by differential activity of a conserved neural network. However, neural microcircuits and precise networks involved in social behavior remain mysterious. In this review, we summarize the microcircuits and input-output circuits on the molecular, cellular, and network levels of different social interactions, such as social exploration, social hierarchy, social memory, and social preference. This review provides a broad view of how multiple microcircuits and input-output circuits converge on the medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala to regulate complex social behaviors, as well as a potential novel view for better control over pathological development.

scholarly journals Rat ultrasonic vocalizations and novelty-induced social and non-social investigation behavior in a seminatural environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Indrek Heinla ◽  
Xi Chu ◽  
Anders Agmo ◽  
Eelke Snoeren
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Ultrasonic Vocalizations ◽  
Sensory Cues ◽  
Social Investigation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Vocal Signals ◽  
Transfer Of Information

Although rats are known to emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), it remains unclear whether these calls serve an auditory communication purpose. For USVs to be part of communication, the vocal signals will need to be a transfer of information between two or more conspecifics, and with the possibility to induce changes in the behavior of the recipient. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the role of USVs in rats' social and non-social investigation strategies when introduced into a large novel environment with unfamiliar conspecifics. We quantified a wide range of social and non-social behaviors in the seminatural environment, which could be affected by subtle signals, including USVs. We found that during the first hour in the seminatural environment the ability to vocalize did not affect how quickly rats met each other, their overall social investigation behavior, their passive social behavior nor their aggressive behavior. Furthermore, the non-social exploratory behaviors and behaviors reflecting anxiety/stress-like states were also unaffected. These results demonstrated that a disability to vocalize did not result in significant disadvantages (or changes) compared to intact conspecifics regarding social and non-social behaviors. This suggests that other (multi)sensory cues are more relevant in social interactions than USVs.

Chemical communication in lizards and a potential role for vasotocin in modulating social interactions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie M Campos ◽  
Selma S Belkasim
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Chemical Communication ◽  
Chemical Signals ◽  
Arginine Vasotocin ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
Chemosensory Behavior ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Lizards use chemical communication to mediate many reproductive, competitive, and social behaviors, but the neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying chemical communication in lizards are not well understood and understudied. By implementing a neuroendocrine approach to the study of chemical communication in reptiles, we can address a major gap in our knowledge of the evolutionary mechanisms shaping chemical communication in vertebrates. The neuropeptide arginine vasotocin (AVT) and its mammalian homologue vasopressin are responsible for a broad spectrum of diversity in competitive and reproductive strategies in many vertebrates, mediating social behavior through the chemosensory modality. In this review, we posit that, though limited, the available data on AVT-mediated chemical communication in lizards reveals intriguing patterns that suggest AVT plays a more prominent role in lizard chemosensory behavior than previously appreciated. We argue that these results warrant more research into the mechanisms used by AVT to modify the performance of chemosensory behavior and responses to conspecific chemical signals. We first provide a broad overview of the known social functions of chemical signals in lizards, the glandular sources of chemical signal production in lizards (e.g., epidermal secretory glands), and the chemosensory detection methods and mechanisms used by lizards. Then, we review the locations of vasotocinergic populations and neuronal projections in lizard brains, as well as sites of peripheral receptors for AVT in lizards. Finally, we end with a case study in green anoles (Anolis carolinensis), discussing findings from recently published work on the impact of AVT in adult males on chemosensory communication during social interactions, adding new data from a similar study in which we tested the impact of AVT on chemosensory behavior of adult females. We offer concluding remarks on addressing several fundamental questions regarding the role of AVT in chemosensory communication and social behavior in lizards.

scholarly journals A social and physical stressor increases later punishment in healthy males

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yacila Isabela Deza-Araujo ◽  
Ulrike Rimmele ◽  
Lucien Gyger ◽  
Cora Aguirre ◽  
David Sander ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Cold Pressor Test ◽  
Cold Pressor ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Control Procedure ◽  
Water Test ◽  
Individual Variables ◽  
The Impact

Existing literature suggests that stress in early life can influence or trigger later aggressive and punishment behaviors during social interactions. However, only a few human studies have addressed this link in controlled experimental settings. Here, we assessed the impact of biological and behavioral markers of stress on economic and social interactions in healthy men using a between-group design. The Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test (i.e., supervised hand immersion into cold water) was applied to one group of participants (n = 19), while a second group underwent the Warm Water Test (n = 21). After the stressor or control procedure, all participants played the Inequality Game, a paradigm in which they could engage in punishment, cooperative, or aggressive behaviors towards a fair and an unfair counterpart player. Compared to the control condition, participants in the stress condition engaged in more punishment behaviors towards the unfair player and less cooperative behaviors towards both players. Critically, higher levels of cortisol in the stress group were associated with more punishment behaviors towards the unfair player. In contrast, aggressive behavior did not differ between participants in the stress vs. control condition. Overall, our findings showed that situationally induced stress might facilitate punishment behaviors in provoking situations. Further research should elucidate the role of inter-individual variables that may encourage or prevent stress-related punishment in social contexts.

scholarly journals Behavioral Attributes of Social Groups Determine the Strength and Direction of Selection on Neural Investment

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Caponera ◽  
Leticia Avilés ◽  
Meghan Barrett ◽  
Sean O’Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Neural Tissue ◽  
Cognitive Demands ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Cooperative Prey Capture ◽  
Selection For ◽  
The Impact

The evolution of social systems can place novel selective forces on investment in expensive neural tissue by changing cognitive demands. Previous hypotheses about the impact of sociality on neural investment have received equivocal support when tested across diverse taxonomic groups and social structures. We suggest previous models for social behavior-brain relationships have overlooked important variation in social groups. Social groups vary significantly in structure and function, and the specific attributes of a social group may be more relevant to setting cognitive demands than sociality in general. We have identified intragroup competition, relationship differentiation, information sharing, dominance hierarchies, and task specialization and redundancy as attributes of social behavior which may impact selection for neural investment, and outline how variation in these attributes can result in increased or decreased neural investment with transitions to sociality in different taxa. Finally, we test some of the predictions generated using this framework in a phylogenetic comparison of neural tissue investment in Anelosimus social spiders. Social Anelosimus spiders engage in cooperative prey capture and brood care, which allows for individual redundancy in the completion of these tasks. We hypothesized that in social spider species, the presence of redundancy would reduce selection for individual neural investment relative to subsocial species. We found that social species had significantly decreased investment in the arcuate body, the cognitive center of the spider brain, supporting our predictions. Future comparative tests of brain evolution in social species should account for the special behavioral characteristics that accompany social groups in the subject taxa.

Social Rewards: From Basic Social Building Blocks to Complex Social Behavior

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 700-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana I. Tamir ◽  
Brent L. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Social Goals ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Dual Approach ◽  
Complex Social Behavior ◽  
Social Act ◽  
Social Rewards

Humans are social creatures, engaging almost constantly in social behaviors that serve ultimate social goals, such as forming strong bonds with one another. However, most social behaviors provide only incremental progress toward an ultimate goal. Instead, the drive to engage in any individual social act may derive from its proximal value rather than its ultimate goal. Thus, this proximal value forms the foundation on which the complexities of human sociality are built. We describe two complementary approaches for using proximal social rewards to understand social behaviors and their ultimate goals: (a) decontextualizing social rewards—paring down complex social interactions can help identify which basic building blocks remain valuable even in minimalistic contexts—and (b) recontextualizing social rewards—reintroducing motivational and contextual factors into the study of social experience can help identify how proximal rewards serve their ultimate function. We discuss how this dual-approach framework can inform future research by bridging basic social building blocks and real-world social goals.

PSXVI-18 Heifers are from Venus, steers are from mars: Sex differences in social behaviors in drylot housed brahman cattle exposed to a cattle brush

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 223-224
Author(s):  
Claudia C Lozada ◽  
Gustavo Toro ◽  
Courtney L Daigle
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Total Duration ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
T Test ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Bout Duration ◽  
Brahman Cattle ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Sex differences in cattle productivity and efficiency have been established, yet an empirical examination of how sex influences cattle social behavior in dry lots is absent. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of sex on the performance of social behaviors and brush use in drylot-housed Brahman yearling steers (n = 2 pens; 19 steers/pen) and heifers (n = 2 pens; 15 heifers/pen). Cattle were video recorded from 8:00 to 20:00 for 71 d, and to date, d 1 has been decoded using continuous observations. Video was decoded for social behavior for 15 minutes of every 30 minutes using continuous observations. Average bout duration (sec), total duration per day (sec), and bout frequency of allogrooming, bar licking, tongue rolling, and brush utilization were recorded for each pen. Frequency was recorded for headbutting and mounting. Data were normalized, and the differences between sexes for each behavior were evaluated with a t-test (PROC TTEST). Average bout duration, bout frequency, and total duration for allogrooming (P > 0.15), bar licking (P > 0.63), and brush use (P > 0.78) and bout frequency for brush displacement (P > 0.78) and headbutt (P > 0.76) did not differ between sexes. Heifers tended (P = 0.09) to perform more bunk displacements than steers (heifers: 94.5 ± 64.5 count/pen/d; steers: 29 ± 3 count/pen/d). Steers performed more mounts than heifers (P < 0.0001; steers: 2.5 ± 0.5 mounts/pen/d; heifers: 0 ± 0 mounts/pen/d). This preliminary evaluation suggests that sexes may differ in the prevalence and type of social behaviors performed while housed in drylots, yet inclusion of more data will confirm these early observations.

scholarly journals Sex- and context-dependent effects of acute isolation on vocal and non-vocal social behaviors in mice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Zhao ◽  
Patryk Ziobro ◽  
Nicole M. Pranic ◽  
Samantha Chu ◽  
Samantha Rabinovich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Female Mice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Brain And Behavior

Humans are extraordinarily social, and social isolation has profound effects on our behavior, ranging from increased social motivation following short periods of social isolation to increased anti-social behaviors following long-term social isolation. Mice are frequently used as a model to understand how social isolation impacts the brain and behavior. While the effects of chronic social isolation on mouse social behavior have been well studied, much less is known about how acute isolation impacts mouse social behavior and whether these effects vary according to the sex of the mouse and the behavioral context of the social encounter. To address these questions, we characterized the effects of acute (3-day) social isolation on the vocal and non-vocal social behaviors of male and female mice during same-sex and opposite-sex social interactions. Our experiments uncovered pronounced effects of acute isolation on social interactions between female mice, while revealing more subtle effects on the social behaviors of male mice during same-sex and opposite-sex interactions. Our findings advance the study of same-sex interactions between female mice as an attractive paradigm to investigate neural mechanisms through which acute isolation enhances social motivation and promotes social behavior.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document