Частота встречаемости клубных пар большой конюги (Aethia cristatella) при высокой и резко снизившейся численности птиц в колонии.

The crested auklet is a medium-sized planktivorous seabird of the Alcidae family with complex social behavior, one of the interesting forms of which is the formation of club pairs in addition to existing breeding pairs. The occurrence of club pairs in this species was studied on the Talan Island (Sea of Okhotsk) in 1988-1989, when the colony was in a good condition, and in 2008-2015, when its population decreased several times. The research showed that the proportion of individuals with club partners is higher in a high-population period (35 %) and lower in a low-population period (18 %); the differences, however, are not significant. In both study periods, from 73% (1988-1989) to 80 % (2008-2015) individuals were consistent in following the chosen strategy of forming or not forming club pairs for at least two seasons. The presence of club pairs seems to facilitate the change of mate in the next breeding season, but club mates then become partners relatively seldom.

Частота встречаемости клубных пар большой конюги (Aethia cristatella) при высокой и резко снизившейся численности птиц в колонии.

The crested auklet is a medium-sized planktivorous seabird of the Alcidae family with complex social behavior, one of the interesting forms of which is the formation of club pairs in addition to existing breeding pairs. The occurrence of club pairs in this species was studied on the Talan Island (Sea of Okhotsk) in 1988-1989, when the colony was in a good condition, and in 2008-2015, when its population decreased several times. The research showed that the proportion of individuals with club partners is higher in a high-population period (35 %) and lower in a low-population period (18 %); the differences, however, are not significant. In both study periods, from 73% (1988-1989) to 80 % (2008-2015) individuals were consistent in following the chosen strategy of forming or not forming club pairs for at least two seasons. The presence of club pairs seems to facilitate the change of mate in the next breeding season, but club mates then become partners relatively seldom.

Variability of neuronal responses in the posterior superior temporal sulcus predicts choice behavior during social interactions

Recent studies have shown that neural activity in a well-defined patch in the posterior superior temporal sulcus (the "gaze following patch", GFP) of the primate brain is strongly modulated when the other´s gaze attracts the observer's attention to locations/objects, the other is looking at. Changes of the mean discharge rate of neurons in the monkey GFP indicate that they are involved in two distinct computations: the allocation of spatial attention guided by the other´s gaze vector and the suppression of gaze following if inappropriate in a given situation. Here we asked if and how the discharge variability of neurons in the GFP is related to the task and, furthermore, if it carries information on behavioral performance. To this end, we calculated the Fano factor as a measure of across-trial discharge variability as a function of time. Our results show that all neurons exhibiting a task-related discharge-rate modulation also exhibit a stimulus onset-dependent drop in the Fano factor. Furthermore, the amplitude of the Fano factor reduction is modulated by task condition and the neuron's selectivity in this regard. We found that these effects are directly related to the monkeys' behavioral performance in that the Fano factor is predictive about upcoming correct or wrong decisions. Our results indicate that neuronal discharge variability as gauged by the Fano-factor, hitherto primarily studied in the context of visual perception or motor control, is an informative measure also in studies of the neural underpinnings of complex social behavior.

American Religion in the Era of Increasing Polarization

Americans are increasingly polarized by a variety of metrics. The dimensions, extent, causes, and consequences of that polarization have been the subject of much debate. Yet despite the centrality of religion to early discussions, the analytical focus on America’s divides has largely shifted toward partisan identity, political ideology, race, and class interests. I show that religion remains powerfully implicated in all dimensions of American polarization, and sociologists must once again make religion more central to their analyses. After outlining research on American polarization, focusing on the role of religion, I survey findings within the burgeoning literatures on cultural transformation processes, (white) Christian nationalism, complex religion, and Americans’ attitudes toward science in order to underscore the centrality of ethno-religious identities, religious demography, and religious institutions for both shaping and exacerbating various forms of polarization. Lastly, I propose an agenda for elucidating religion’s ongoing role in understanding polarization beyond public opinion research at the macro-, meso-, and micro-levels. Though polarization research has been dominated by political scientists, leveraging religion in our analyses—not merely as a sui generis “variable,” but as a “site” of complex social behavior—facilitates novel sociological contributions to these literatures via our relative attention to multiple levels of analysis, theoretical eclecticism, and methodological fluidity.

Detection and Model of Thermal Traces Left after Aggressive Behavior of Laboratory Rodents

Automation of complex social behavior analysis of experimental animals would allow for faster, more accurate and reliable research results in many biological, pharmacological, and medical fields. However, there are behaviors that are not only difficult to detect for the computer, but also for the human observer. Here, we present an analysis of the method for identifying aggressive behavior in thermal images by detecting traces of saliva left on the animals’ fur after a bite, nape attack, or grooming. We have checked the detection capabilities using simulations of social test conditions inspired by real observations and measurements. Detection of simulated traces different in size and temperature on single original frame revealed the dependence of the parameters of commonly used corner detectors (R score, ranking) on the parameters of the traces. We have also simulated temperature of saliva changes in time and proved that the detection time does not affect the correctness of the approximation of the observed process. Furthermore, tracking the dynamics of temperature changes of these traces allows to conclude about the exact moment of the aggressive action. In conclusion, the proposed algorithm together with thermal imaging provides additional data necessary to automate the analysis of social behavior in rodents.

Heterarchy Reveals Social Organization of a Smooth Stingray (Bathytoshia brevicaudata) Population in a Provisioned Food Context

The advent of new technologies and statistical analyses has provided valuable insights into chondrichthyan social behavior. It has become apparent that sharks and rays lead more complex social lives than previously believed. Heterarchy combines hierarchy and social network theory and although it is not a new concept, it is rarely applied to animal social interactions. Here, we applied heterarchy to a case study involving smooth stingrays foraging for fish scraps at boat ramp in Jervis Bay, NSW Australia. We took advantage of their attraction to this site to examine their social behavior during agonistic interactions over the provisioned resource. We observed a stable, relatively linear but shallow dominance hierarchy that was highly transitive dominated by a single individual. Social network analysis revealed a non-random social network centered on the dominant individual. Contrary to previous research, size did not predict dominance, but it was correlated with network centrality. The factors determining dominance of lower ranks were difficult to discern, which is characteristic of despotic societies. This study provides the first heterarchical assessment of stingray sociality, and suggests this species is capable of complex social behavior. Given higher dominance and centrality relate to greater access to the provisioned resource, the observed social structure likely has fitness implications.

The Divider Assay is a high-throughput pipeline for aggression analysis in Drosophila

Aggression is a complex social behavior that remains poorly understood. Drosophila has become a powerful model system to study the underlying biology of aggression but lack of high throughput screening and analysis continues to be a barrier for comprehensive mutant and circuit discovery. Here we developed the Divider Assay, a simplified experimental procedure to make aggression analysis in Drosophila fast and accurate. In contrast to existing methods, we can analyze aggression over long time intervals and in complete darkness. While aggression is reduced in the dark, flies are capable of intense fighting without seeing their opponent. Twenty-four-hour behavioral analysis showed a peak in fighting during the middle of the day, a drastic drop at night, followed by re-engagement with a further increase in aggression in anticipation of the next day. Our pipeline is easy to implement and will facilitate high throughput screening for mechanistic dissection of aggression.

The Neuroproteomic Basis of Enhanced Perception and Processing of Brood Signals That Trigger Increased Reproductive Investment in Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Workers

The neuronal basis of complex social behavior is still poorly understood. In honeybees, reproductive investment decisions are made at the colony-level. Queens develop from female-destined larvae that receive alloparental care from nurse bees in the form of ad-libitum royal jelly (RJ) secretions. Typically, the number of raised new queens is limited but genetic breeding of “royal jelly bees” (RJBs) for enhanced RJ production over decades has led to a dramatic increase of reproductive investment in queens. Here, we compare RJBs to unselected Italian bees (ITBs) to investigate how their cognitive processing of larval signals in the mushroom bodies (MBs) and antennal lobes (ALs) may contribute to their behavioral differences. A cross-fostering experiment confirms that the RJB syndrome is mainly due to a shift in nurse bee alloparental care behavior. Using olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension reflex, we show that the RJB nurses spontaneously respond more often to larval odors compared with ITB nurses but their subsequent learning occurs at similar rates. These phenotypic findings are corroborated by our demonstration that the proteome of the brain, particularly of the ALs differs between RJBs and ITBs. Notably, in the ALs of RJB newly emerged bees and nurses compared with ITBs, processes of energy and nutrient metabolism, signal transduction are up-regulated, priming the ALs for receiving and processing the brood signals from the antennae. Moreover, highly abundant major royal jelly proteins and hexamerins in RJBs compared with ITBs during early life when the nervous system still develops suggest crucial new neurobiological roles for these well-characterized proteins. Altogether, our findings reveal that RJBs have evolved a strong olfactory response to larvae, enabled by numerous neurophysiological adaptations that increase the nurse bees' alloparental care behavior.

Brain-wide electrical dynamics encode an appetitive socioemotional state

Many cortical and subcortical regions contribute to complex social behavior; nevertheless, the network level architecture whereby the brain integrates this information to encode appetitive socioemotional behavior remains unknown. Here we measure electrical activity from eight brain regions as mice engage in a social preference assay. We then use machine learning to discover an explainable brain network that encodes the extent to which mice chose to engage another mouse. This socioemotional network is organized by theta oscillations leading from prelimbic cortex and amygdala that converge on ventral tegmental area, and network activity is synchronized with brain-wide cellular firing. The network generalizes, on a mouse-by-mouse basis, to encode socioemotional behaviors in healthy animals, but fails to encode an appetitive socioemotional state in a ‘high confidence’ genetic mouse model of autism. Thus, our findings reveal the architecture whereby the brain integrates spatially distributed activity across timescales to encode an appetitive socioemotional brain state in health and disease.