scholarly journals Lack of social touch increases anxiety and alters social behaviors in mice

Author(s):  
Yu-Kai Ma ◽  
Pei-Yun Zeng ◽  
Yu-Hsin Chu ◽  
Chih-Lin Lee ◽  
Ching-Chuan Cheng ◽  
...  

Abstract The importance of social interactions has been reported in different animal species. During the pandemic, although people can communicate through other sensory cues, social touch is mostly prohibited under different levels of social distance policies, which inspired us to explore the necessity of physical contact in mouse social interaction. In this study, we first conducted a long-term observation showing that pair-housed mice in a standard laboratory cage spent nearly half the day in direct physical contact with each other. Furthermore, isolation experiments demonstrated that, even with access to other sensations, prevention of social touch for one month significantly induced anxiety levels, changed social behaviors and increased interleukin-6 cytokine in the hippocampus and the serum of mice. Our study demonstrated the necessity of social touch for the maintenance of mental health in mice. This information could have important implications for human social interactions, especially the social policies during a pandemic crisis.

Author(s):  
Gulbarshyn Chepurko ◽  
Valerii Pylypenko

The paper examines and compares how the major sociological theories treat axiological issues. Value-driven topics are analysed in view of their relevance to society in times of crisis, when both societal life and the very structure of society undergo dramatic change. Nowadays, social scientists around the world are also witnessing such a change due to the emergence of alternative schools of sociological thought (non-classical, interpretive, postmodern, etc.) and, subsequently, the necessity to revise the paradigms that have been existed in sociology so far. Since the above-mentioned approaches are often used to address value-related issues, building a solid theoretical framework for these studies takes on considerable significance. Furthermore, the paradigm revision has been prompted by technological advances changing all areas of people’s lives, especially social interactions. The global human community, integral in nature, is being formed, and production of human values now matters more than production of things; hence the “expansion” of value-focused perspectives in contemporary sociology. The authors give special attention to collectivities which are higher-order units of the social system. These units are described as well-organised action systems where each individual performs his/her specific role. Just as the role of an individual is distinct from that of the collectivity (because the individual and the collectivity are different as units), so too a distinction is drawn between the value and the norm — because they represent different levels of social relationships. Values are the main connecting element between the society’s cultural system and the social sphere while norms, for the most part, belong to the social system. Values serve primarily to maintain the pattern according to which the society is functioning at a given time; norms are essential to social integration. Apart from being the means of regulating social processes and relationships, norms embody the “principles” that can be applied beyond a particular social system. The authors underline that it is important for Ukrainian sociology to keep abreast of the latest developments in the field of axiology and make good use of those ideas because this is a prerequisite for its successful integration into the global sociological community.


Behaviour ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 37 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Valone

Abstract1. The relation between the social behavior and the electrical emissions of Gymnotus carapo is examined. 2. Members of the species Gymnotus carapo approach certain sources of electrical stimuli and, in a statistically significant number of instances, assume a stance parallel to the plane from which the stimuli originate. 3. The approach and postural responses elicited by electrical cues resemble those observed when two fish, placed in the same tank, interact socially. 4. Electrical cues therefore appear to facilitate certain social interactions in Gymnotus carapo. 5. The character of electrical emission in Gymnotus carapo appears to change as a function of certain social interaction: a. Interaction resembling aggression is accompanied by brief increases in the frequency of emission. b. The increases in frequency appear to be linked to thrusting movements. c. Fish interacting with one another appear to lock into a common frequency more often than fish that are not in physical contact with one another. d. During social interaction, one of the two fish is occasionally observed to halt emissions altogether. 6. The exact significance of the social behavior observed in the context of the life history of Gymnotus carapo is unknown.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin T. Górecki ◽  
Natalia Dziwińska

Abstract The aim of this study was to recognize features determining social hierarchy in Wrzosówka Polska ewes kept indoors as well as to investigate their resting place and companionship preferences. Observations (156 hours in total) were carried out in a group of 22 ewes. The social rank of sheep was determined by their age, body weight and length of horns. Social position was positively correlated with aggressive behaviour performed and negatively with aggressive behaviour received. Use of space while resting was influenced by ewe social behaviour; aggressive individuals lied more often in attractive places, namely against walls and fodder troughs compared to other animals. In general, the ewes rested by having physical contact with animals of similar rank and aggressiveness. Kinship appeared not to be important in neighbour preference. As can be concluded, social interactions influenced the use of space and neighbourhood in ewes


2022 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 0-0

The COVID-19 epidemic has triggered unmatched impairment to businesses globally. There are unmeasurable financial influences in the short-term and long-term and have causes intangible destruction within businesses. This study investigates the adoption and utilization of e-business during COVID-19 by both organizations and the general populaces. The study used a questionnaire-based survey to collect data from top managers of business organizations and their clients. SPSS was used to analyze the adoption factors. The outcomes presented that embracing e-business can assist to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and can reduce the physical ways of doing business. The findings of this study will help strategy makers, companies, and officials in making better decisions on the implementation of e-business. This will reduce the rapid spread of community transmission since ordering goods and services can easily be done virtually without physical contact, which goes in line with the social distance policy and in return boost the country’s economy


Author(s):  
Courtney G. Flint

The essays in this volume are analyzed to assess the degree to which they portray scientific and beyond-science interactions. The Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program represents a scientific or intellectual movement based on articulation of the program’s highly respected founders, resource allocation for individual and collective pursuits, use of LTER sites for recruitment, and commonly held themes or foci for research. Interdisciplinary scientific interactions within the LTER program have influenced researchers’ ideas, networks, and productivity but have also presented challenges, particularly for junior participants. Interactions beyond the scientific community focus on one-dimensional flows of information as well as on collaborative, multidirectional partnerships with a variety of stakeholders. This analytical chapter explores social interactions catalyzed by experiences of scientists associated with the LTER program. I analyze the essays by LTER scientists in this volume using a broad, three- tiered structure: (1) the degree to which insights from the essays suggest that the LTER program represents a scientific or intellectual movement within environmental sciences examining ecological dynamics; (2) the extent of interdisciplinary interactions with scientists across broader fields of study, including associated reactions and challenges; and (3) interactions with others beyond science. Findings are examined across different career stages of respondents. Direct quotations are used to illustrate findings and to provide evidence for conclusions based on the LTER scientists’ own words. The LTER program was initiated 34 years ago (Waide [Chapter 2]; Gholz, Marinelli, and Taylor [Chapter 3]). Given the growth of the LTER program, in terms of the number and geographic distribution of sites, as well as the contributions of engaged scientists and students, there is no doubt of the influence of the LTER program on the science of ecology and general understanding of ecosystems around the world (Robertson et al. 2012). In this chapter, I examine the social interactions of scientists in the LTER program through the lenses provided by their essays in this volume to explore three dimensions—interactions within the environmental sciences focused on ecological dynamics, broader interdisciplinary interactions, and interactions with stakeholders beyond science.


2003 ◽  
Vol 06 (04) ◽  
pp. 565-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
PABLO M. GLEISER ◽  
LEON DANON

Using a database of jazz recordings we study the collaboration network of jazz musicians. We define the network at two different levels. First we study the collaboration network between individuals, where two musicians are connected if they have played in the same band. Then we consider the collaboration between bands, where two bands are connected if they have a musician in common. The community structure analysis reveals that these constructions capture essential ingredients of the social interactions between jazz musicians. We observe correlations between recording locations, racial segregation and the community structure. A quantitative analysis of the community size distribution reveals a surprising similarity with an e-mail based social network recently studied.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0255640
Author(s):  
Xin Zhao ◽  
Patryk Ziobro ◽  
Nicole M. Pranic ◽  
Samantha Chu ◽  
Samantha Rabinovich ◽  
...  

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.


Author(s):  
Heather M. Hill ◽  
Stephanie Artz ◽  
Melanie Lopez

To navigate through a social world, animals may form temporary or long-term associations with others, recognize kin and discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics, protect themselves and their resources, fight and compete for the best mates, and produce offspring that require various forms of care. The purpose of the current paper was to summarize the publication trends of research investigating animal social interactions over the last 20 years. We selected 8 journals for their diverse representation of animal taxa and examined the number of published articles representing research on affiliative, agonistic, and sexual social interactions. Out of 18,993 published articles, social interactions (N = 4,273) were studied 5.5% to 30.8% of the published articles per journal between 1993-2013. Agonistic social interactions (43%) were the most frequently published topic with affiliative social interactions representing less than a third (30%) of the articles and sexual social interactions accounting for the remaining articles (27%). Mammalian social interactions were investigated the most (38.5%) with invertebrate (22%) and avian (21%) social interactions following closely behind. Observational research and experimental research designs were divided almost equally across different social interactions except for affiliative interactions. Social interactions were studied most often in laboratory settings (45%), then semi-natural field settings (32.5%), and less often in natural habitats (19%). Interestingly, the rates of the different types of social interactions, certain taxa, type of research study, and research setting remained relatively consistent across the 20 year period. Some fluctuations occurred in the frequency of specific topics and taxa within various years; however, research on mate choice, parental care, environmental influences, and group composition was consistently conducted across the years. While many aspects of social interactions in a broad range of taxa have been studied, there are many areas that are still sparse and in need of additional research.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 924
Author(s):  
Agathe Serres ◽  
Yujiang Hao ◽  
Ding Wang

Research on the welfare of captive odontocetes has increased in recent years, but has been mostly focused on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Few studies investigated potential welfare indicators using quantitative data linked to a range of conditions or stimuli that are thought to impact the animals’ emotional state. Since odontocetes are social animals that engage in various social interactions, these interactions might inform us on their welfare state. We investigated pectoral contact laterality and the effect of the context on several social behaviors in three groups of captive odontocetes (Yangtze finless porpoises, YFPs: Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis; East-Asian finless porpoises, EAFPs: N. a. sunameri, and bottlenose dolphins, BDs). Animals exhibited patterns depending on the time of the day for most of the social behaviors we analyzed; social separation was associated with lower rates of social behaviors for the two analyzed groups (YFPs and BDs), the accessibility to several pools was associated with higher rates of social behaviors for BDs. The effect of enrichment, disturbances and public presence was less clear and strongly depended on the group, the type of enrichment and disturbance. Our results confirm that captive odontocetes’ social behaviors are influenced by the context, and that, depending on the group, some of them, such as pectoral contacts, other body contacts, agonistic interactions or social play exhibit consistent patterns across contexts. Monitoring these behaviors might be useful to adapt the captive management to each species and group. The different responses among the three studied groups confirm that species and groups react differently to a stimulus and therefore, management decisions should be species/group specific. We recommend that more studies should be conducted to validate our findings in other groups of odontocetes under human care.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 645-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Hautaniemi Leonard ◽  
Christopher Robinson ◽  
Douglas L. Anderton

This article explores the social interactions of immigration, occupation, and wealth in two urban industrial cities of nineteenth-century New England that were largely built upon, and shaped by, immigration: the very rapidly growing factory town of Holyoke, Massachusetts, and a more mixed-market and steadily growing nearby community of Northampton, Massachusetts. Both communities were emergent, rapidly industrializing, inland cities, providing a quite distinct immigration context than large established cities of the East Coast. Both were destinations for the same general ethnic immigration waves over the late nineteenth century, but with very different, and differently impacted, social spaces into which immigrants arrived. Contrasting and considering both these emergent cities allows us to ascertain the extent to which the occupational distribution and accumulation of wealth by immigrant groups supports the broad pattern of nineteenth-century assimilation, and reveals ways in which other migration processes may have been at odds, or intertwined, with the long-term historical assimilation of immigrants in such communities. Our findings support a traditional assimilationist perspective in emergent urban-industrial centers. However, they also reveal the role of universal immiseration in an industrial city dual-labor market in facilitating or forcing assimilation, the temporal advantages for ethnic groups of arriving early in growing settlements, and the more individualistic nature of economic enclaves in gaining advantages over time that did not manifest across broad immigrant or occupational groups.


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