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Wang Q, Francis G. Coming to the Caribbean: Eighty-five years of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) at Cayo Santiago-A rare nonhuman primate model for the studies of adaptation, diseases, genetics, natural disasters, and resilience. Am J Primatol 2024:e23659. [PMID: 38961812 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2024] [Accepted: 06/16/2024] [Indexed: 07/05/2024]
Abstract
The Cayo Santiago rhesus macaque colony represents one of the most important nonhuman primate resources since their introduction to the Caribbean area in 1938. The 85 years of continuing existence along with the comprehensive database of the rhesus colony and the derived skeletal collections have provided and will continue to provide a powerful tool to test hypotheses about adaptive and evolutionary mechanisms in both biology and medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Wang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University School of Dentistry, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - George Francis
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University School of Dentistry, Dallas, Texas, USA
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2
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Clive J, Flintham E, Savolainen V. Same-sex sociosexual behaviour is widespread and heritable in male rhesus macaques. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:1287-1301. [PMID: 37429903 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02111-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
Abstract
Numerous reports have documented the occurrence of same-sex sociosexual behaviour (SSB) across animal species. However, the distribution of the behaviour within a species needs to be studied to test hypotheses describing its evolution and maintenance, in particular whether the behaviour is heritable and can therefore evolve by natural selection. Here we collected detailed observations across 3 yr of social and mounting behaviour of 236 male semi-wild rhesus macaques, which we combined with a pedigree dating back to 1938, to show that SSB is both repeatable (19.35%) and heritable (6.4%). Demographic factors (age and group structure) explained SSB variation only marginally. Furthermore, we found a positive genetic correlation between same-sex mounter and mountee activities, indicating a common basis to different forms of SSB. Finally, we found no evidence of fitness costs to SSB, but show instead that the behaviour mediated coalitionary partnerships that have been linked to improved reproductive success. Together, our results demonstrate that SSB is frequent in rhesus macaques, can evolve, and is not costly, indicating that SSB may be a common feature of primate reproductive ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jackson Clive
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park Campus, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Ewan Flintham
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park Campus, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Vincent Savolainen
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park Campus, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK.
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3
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Video Conference Technology as a Tool for Pair Introduction in Rhesus Macaques. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12141783. [PMID: 35883330 PMCID: PMC9312239 DOI: 10.3390/ani12141783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2022] [Revised: 07/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary While pair housing macaques is known to improve welfare over single housing, the process by which animals are socialized can be stressful if the animals do not get along. To assess whether or not potential partners are compatible, they typically need to be located in visual contact with one another, which often involves moving one or both animals to a new location. Such relocations can cause stress for animals, particularly if the introduction attempt is not successful. In this study, we examined whether allowing rhesus macaques to interact via video conferencing technology (Zoom) could help us determine compatibility before they were relocated. We provided a Zoom session between partners for 42 pairs of monkeys and coded their behavior. We then examined whether these behaviors predicted future pair success. The monkeys in our study spent surprisingly little time attending to the screen, and attention did not predict pair success. However, the similarity of attention shown by individuals in the pair (e.g., amount displayed by the partners relative to one another) did. Pairs in which attention was primarily shown by one animal were more likely than others to be successful. While additional work is needed, video conferencing technology may help staff determine compatibility between potential partners. Abstract Pair housing is known to promote welfare for macaques in captivity. However, finding compatible partners can be challenging, particularly when animals are not located near one another. Because macaques show interest in videos of conspecifics, we examined the use of video conference technology (Zoom) as a potential tool to assess compatibility in 84 rhesus macaques (2–22 years old) prior to pair introduction. Monkeys involved in the pairs (12 female–female, 21 male–male, 9 female–male) were unfamiliar with each other. We set up a 10 min Zoom session between potential partners (on an iPad in front of the cage). We scored attention to the screen, anxiety, and prosocial behaviors and examined whether these behaviors predicted future pair success. Monkeys spent relatively little time attending to the tablet (median = 13.3%), and attention did not predict pair success (B = −0.06, NS). However, pairs in which attention was primarily shown by one animal had a higher chance of success than those in which both individuals showed similar levels (B = −4.66. p = 0.03). Neither prosocial (B = 0.89, NS) nor anxiety (B = −1.95, p = 0.07) behavior correlated with pair success. While preliminary, our data suggest that video conferencing technology may be useful as a tool for introducing unfamiliar partners prior to a socialization attempt.
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4
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Bonnet T, Morrissey MB, de Villemereuil P, Alberts SC, Arcese P, Bailey LD, Boutin S, Brekke P, Brent LJN, Camenisch G, Charmantier A, Clutton-Brock TH, Cockburn A, Coltman DW, Courtiol A, Davidian E, Evans SR, Ewen JG, Festa-Bianchet M, de Franceschi C, Gustafsson L, Höner OP, Houslay TM, Keller LF, Manser M, McAdam AG, McLean E, Nietlisbach P, Osmond HL, Pemberton JM, Postma E, Reid JM, Rutschmann A, Santure AW, Sheldon BC, Slate J, Teplitsky C, Visser ME, Wachter B, Kruuk LEB. Genetic variance in fitness indicates rapid contemporary adaptive evolution in wild animals. Science 2022; 376:1012-1016. [PMID: 35617403 DOI: 10.1126/science.abk0853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The rate of adaptive evolution, the contribution of selection to genetic changes that increase mean fitness, is determined by the additive genetic variance in individual relative fitness. To date, there are few robust estimates of this parameter for natural populations, and it is therefore unclear whether adaptive evolution can play a meaningful role in short-term population dynamics. We developed and applied quantitative genetic methods to long-term datasets from 19 wild bird and mammal populations and found that, while estimates vary between populations, additive genetic variance in relative fitness is often substantial and, on average, twice that of previous estimates. We show that these rates of contemporary adaptive evolution can affect population dynamics and hence that natural selection has the potential to partly mitigate effects of current environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothée Bonnet
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | | | - Pierre de Villemereuil
- Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), École Pratique des Hautes Études, PSL, MNHN, CNRS, SU, UA, Paris, France.,School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Susan C Alberts
- Departments of Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Peter Arcese
- Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Liam D Bailey
- Departments of Evolutionary Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Stan Boutin
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Patricia Brekke
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London, UK
| | - Lauren J N Brent
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Glauco Camenisch
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Anne Charmantier
- Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Tim H Clutton-Brock
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Andrew Cockburn
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - David W Coltman
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Alexandre Courtiol
- Departments of Evolutionary Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Eve Davidian
- Departments of Evolutionary Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Simon R Evans
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - John G Ewen
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London, UK
| | | | - Christophe de Franceschi
- Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Lars Gustafsson
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Oliver P Höner
- Departments of Evolutionary Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Thomas M Houslay
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Lukas F Keller
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Zoological Museum, University of Zurich,, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Marta Manser
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Andrew G McAdam
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Emily McLean
- Biology Department, Oxford College, Emory University, Oxford, GA, USA
| | - Pirmin Nietlisbach
- School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, USA
| | - Helen L Osmond
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | | | - Erik Postma
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Jane M Reid
- Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.,School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - Alexis Rutschmann
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Anna W Santure
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Ben C Sheldon
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jon Slate
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Céline Teplitsky
- Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Marcel E Visser
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Bettina Wachter
- Departments of Evolutionary Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Loeske E B Kruuk
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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5
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Loyant L, Waller BM, Micheletta J, Joly M. Heterogeneity of performances in several inhibitory control tasks: male rhesus macaques are more easily distracted than females. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:211564. [PMID: 34849250 PMCID: PMC8611350 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Inhibitory control, the ability to override a dominant response, is crucial in many aspects of everyday life. In animal studies, striking individual variations are often largely ignored and their causes rarely considered. Hence, our aims were to systematically investigate individual variability in inhibitory control, to replicate the most common causes of individual variation (age, sex and rank) and to determine if these factors had a consistent effect on three main components of inhibitory control (inhibition of a distraction, inhibition of an action, inhibition of a cognitive set). We tested 21 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in a battery of validated touchscreen tasks. We first found individual variations in all inhibitory control performances. We then demonstrated that males had poorer performances to inhibit a distraction and that middle-aged individuals exhibited poorer performance in the inhibition of a cognitive set. Hence, the factors of age and sex were not consistently associated with the main components of inhibitory control, suggesting a multi-faceted structure. The rank of the subjects did not influence any inhibitory control performances. This study adopts a novel approach for animal behaviour studies and gives new insight into the individual variability of inhibitory control which is crucial to understand its evolutionary underpinnings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise Loyant
- Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, King Henry Building, Portsmouth PO1 2DY, UK
| | - Bridget M. Waller
- Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
| | - Jérôme Micheletta
- Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, King Henry Building, Portsmouth PO1 2DY, UK
| | - Marine Joly
- Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, King Henry Building, Portsmouth PO1 2DY, UK
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6
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Iki S, Kutsukake N. Japanese macaques relax vigilance when surrounded by kin. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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7
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8
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Face-to-face configuration in Japanese macaques functions as a platform to establish mutual engagement in social play. Anim Cogn 2021; 24:1179-1189. [PMID: 33779867 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01508-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Revised: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
A face-to-face configuration and eye-to-eye contact are considered a basis for intersubjectivity, as they create a situation in which interactants are mutually attentive. Studies in humans have shown that the face-to-face configuration establishes active engagement by interactants in subsequent interactions, but it is not clear whether a similar function exists in non-human animals. Using data from a group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), this study compared dyadic play fighting sessions preceded and not preceded by a face-to-face configuration. During play fighting, players compete to gain an advantage over their playmates by attacking them unilaterally (i.e., attacking them without being attacked or pinning them to the ground). Defining the inter-player asymmetry of active engagement in play in terms of the difference in the duration of each individual's advantage over the other, we found that asymmetry was lower in play bouts with a face-to-face beginning than in play bouts without one. Additionally, in play bouts not preceded by a face-to-face configuration, individuals who faced their partner at the onset of play unilaterally attacked their partner for a significantly longer duration than did those who did not face their partner at the onset of play. Conversely, in play bouts preceded by a face-to-face configuration, there was no difference in the duration of unilateral attacks. Overall, our results indicated that the face-to-face configuration in Japanese macaques functions as a platform to establish mutual engagement by interactors and enhances symmetry within play interaction.
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9
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LaBarge LR, Allan ATL, Berman CM, Hill RA, Margulis SW. Extent of threat detection depends on predator type and behavioral context in wild samango monkey groups. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02959-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
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10
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Most CA, Strum SC. Bringing up baby: Maternal responsiveness, secondary attachments, and the development of infant social competence in wild olive baboons (Papio anubis). Dev Psychobiol 2020; 62:963-978. [PMID: 32374036 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Revised: 02/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Caregiver responsiveness and presence of secondary attachments play a crucial role in children's socio-cognitive and emotional development, but little is known of their effect on the development of non-human primates. Here we present the results of a 16-month behavioral study conducted on 22 wild infant olive baboons (Papio anubis) at the Uaso Ngiro Baboon Project, Kenya. This is the first study to examine the effects of maternal responsiveness and secondary attachments on the development of infant social behavior in a wild primate species that does not breed cooperatively. The data track maternal responsiveness and the rates of two behavioral indicators of infant social competence-orienting toward interactions and social play-over the course of the first year of life. Maternal responsiveness decreased as infants grew older, while infant orientation toward interactions and play behavior increased. Infants with poorly responsive mothers were more likely to have secondary attachments, and infants with secondary attachments to siblings oriented more frequently to social interactions than those with secondary attachments to adult/subadult males or with no secondary attachments. These findings indicate that variation in maternal responsiveness and presence of secondary attachments can influence the development of social competence in olive baboon infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corinna A Most
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | - Shirley C Strum
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.,Uaso Ngiro Baboon Project, Nairobi, Kenya.,Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Nairobi, Kenya
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11
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Schino G, Scerbo M. Monitoring of group mates in relation to their behavior in mandrills. Am J Primatol 2020; 82:e23129. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Revised: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/19/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Schino
- Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle RicercheRome Italy
| | - Martina Scerbo
- Dipartimento di Biologia AmbientaleSapienza Università di RomaRoma Italy
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12
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Weinberg-Wolf H, Chang SWC. Differences in how macaques monitor others: Does serotonin play a central role? WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2019; 10:e1494. [PMID: 30775852 PMCID: PMC6570566 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Revised: 01/11/2019] [Accepted: 01/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Primates must balance the need to monitor other conspecifics to gain social information while not losing other resource opportunities. We consolidate evidence across the fields of primatology, psychology, and neuroscience to examine individual, population, and species differences in how primates, particularly macaques, monitor conspecifics. We particularly consider the role of serotonin in mediating social competency via social attention, aggression, and dominance behaviors. Finally, we consider how the evolution of variation in social tolerance, aggression, and social monitoring might be explained by differences in serotonergic function in macaques. This article is categorized under: Economics > Interactive Decision-Making Psychology > Comparative Psychology Neuroscience > Behavior Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Steve W C Chang
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
- Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
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13
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Madrid JE, Mandalaywala TM, Coyne SP, Ahloy-Dallaire J, Garner JP, Barr CS, Maestripieri D, Parker KJ. Adaptive developmental plasticity in rhesus macaques: the serotonin transporter gene interacts with maternal care to affect juvenile social behaviour. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2018.0541. [PMID: 29925616 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2018] [Accepted: 05/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Research has increasingly highlighted the role that developmental plasticity-the ability of a particular genotype to produce variable phenotypes in response to different early environments-plays as an adaptive mechanism. One of the most widely studied genetic contributors to developmental plasticity in humans and rhesus macaques is a serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR), which determines transcriptional efficiency of the serotonin transporter gene in vitro and modifies the availability of synaptic serotonin in these species. A majority of studies to date have shown that carriers of a loss-of-function variant of the 5-HTTLPR, the short (s) allele, develop a stress-reactive phenotype in response to adverse early environments compared with long (l) allele homozygotes, leading to the prevalent conceptualization of the s-allele as a vulnerability allele. However, this framework fails to address the independent evolution of these loss-of-function mutations in both humans and macaques as well as the high population prevalence of s-alleles in both species. Here we show in free-ranging rhesus macaques that s-allele carriers benefit more from supportive early social environments than l-allele homozygotes, such that s-allele carriers which receive higher levels of maternal protection during infancy demonstrate greater social competence later in life. These findings provide, to our knowledge, the first empirical support for the assertion that the s-allele grants high undirected biological sensitivity to context in primates and suggest a mechanism through which the 5-HTTLPR s-allele is maintained in primate populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesus E Madrid
- Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA .,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Tara M Mandalaywala
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Sean P Coyne
- Department of Psychology, Notre Dame of Maryland University, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
| | - Jamie Ahloy-Dallaire
- Department of Comparative Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Joseph P Garner
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.,Department of Comparative Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Christina S Barr
- National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Dario Maestripieri
- Department of Comparative Human Development, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.,Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Karen J Parker
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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14
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Developing individual differences in primate behavior: the role of genes, environment, and their interplay. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2633-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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15
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Pearson JM, Law JR, Skene JAG, Beskind DH, Vidmar N, Ball DA, Malekpour A, Carter RM, Skene JHP. Modelling the effects of crime type and evidence on judgments about guilt. Nat Hum Behav 2018; 2:856-866. [PMID: 30931399 PMCID: PMC6436087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Concerns over wrongful convictions have spurred an increased focus on understanding criminal justice decision-making. This study describes an experimental approach that complements conventional mock-juror experiments and case studies by providing a rapid, high-throughput screen for identifying preconceptions and biases that can influence how jurors and lawyers evaluate evidence in criminal cases. The approach combines an experimental decision task derived from marketing research with statistical modeling to explore how subjects evaluate the strength of the case against a defendant. The results show that, in the absence of explicit information about potential error rates or objective reliability, subjects tend to overweight widely used types of forensic evidence, but give much less weight than expected to a defendant's criminal history. Notably, for mock jurors, the type of crime also biases their confidence in guilt independent of the evidence. This bias is positively correlated with the seriousness of the crime. For practicing prosecutors and other lawyers, the crime-type bias is much smaller, yet still correlates with the seriousness of the crime.
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Affiliation(s)
- John M Pearson
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
- Department of Neurobiology, 311 Research Dr., Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
- Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
| | - Jonathan R Law
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
- Department of Neurobiology, 311 Research Dr., Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
| | - Jesse A G Skene
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
- Department of Neurobiology, 311 Research Dr., Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
| | - Donald H Beskind
- Duke University School of Law, 210 Science Dr., Durham, NC 27708
| | - Neil Vidmar
- Duke University School of Law, 210 Science Dr., Durham, NC 27708
| | - David A Ball
- Malekpour & Ball Litigation Consulting, Durham, NC
| | | | - R McKell Carter
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
| | - J H Pate Skene
- Department of Neurobiology, 311 Research Dr., Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
- Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
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16
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Pearson JM, Law JR, Skene JAG, Beskind DH, Vidmar N, Ball DA, Malekpour A, Carter RM, Skene JHP. Modelling the effects of crime type and evidence on judgments about guilt. Nat Hum Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1038/s41562-018-0451-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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17
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18
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Brent LJN, Ruiz-Lambides A, Platt ML. Family network size and survival across the lifespan of female macaques. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2017.0515. [PMID: 28515205 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2017] [Accepted: 04/11/2017] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Two decades of research suggest social relationships have a common evolutionary basis in humans and other gregarious mammals. Critical to the support of this idea is growing evidence that mortality is influenced by social integration, but when these effects emerge and how long they last is mostly unknown. Here, we report in adult female macaques that the impact of number of close adult female relatives, a proxy for social integration, on survival is not experienced uniformly across the life course; prime-aged females with a greater number of relatives had better survival outcomes compared with prime-aged females with fewer relatives, whereas no such effect was found in older females. Group size and dominance rank did not influence this result. Older females were less frequent targets of aggression, suggesting enhanced experience navigating the social landscape may obviate the need for social relationships in old age. Only one study of humans has found age-based dependency in the association between social integration and survival. Using the largest dataset for any non-human animal to date, our study extends support for the idea that sociality promotes survival and suggests strategies employed across the life course change along with experience of the social world.
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Affiliation(s)
- L J N Brent
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - A Ruiz-Lambides
- Caribbean Primate Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico, USA
| | - M L Platt
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.,Department of Marketing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Allan AT, Hill RA. What have we been looking at? A call for consistency in studies of primate vigilance. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 165 Suppl 65:4-22. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2017] [Accepted: 12/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew T.L. Allan
- Department of Anthropology; Durham University; Dawson Building, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE United Kingdom
- Primate and Predator Project; Lajuma Research Centre; PO Box 522, Louis Trichardt 0920 South Africa
| | - Russell A. Hill
- Department of Anthropology; Durham University; Dawson Building, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE United Kingdom
- Primate and Predator Project; Lajuma Research Centre; PO Box 522, Louis Trichardt 0920 South Africa
- Department of Zoology; University of Venda; Private bag X5050, Thohoyandou 0950 South Africa
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Masataka N. Implications of the idea of neurodiversity for understanding the origins of developmental disorders. Phys Life Rev 2016; 20:85-108. [PMID: 27876343 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2016.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2016] [Accepted: 11/04/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Neurodiversity, a term initially used mostly by civil and human rights movements since the 1990s, refers to the notion that cognitive as well as emotional properties characteristic of developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are not necessarily deficits, but fall within normal behavioural variations exhibited by humans. The purpose of the present article is to examine the relevance of this notion to scientific research on ASD. On the assumption that one crucial survival advantage of intelligent activity is vigilance toward dangers in the external world, and such vigilance must work in the social domain as well as in the non-social domain, the author argues that the pattern of operation of an individual person's mind can be categorized according to the domain toward which that individual is more oriented. Individuals with ASD, overall, do not rely upon their social relationships but rather are predisposed to process perceived non-social objects in more depth, which manifests itself as hyper-sensation and hyper-attention to detail. It can be assumed that underconnectivity among cortical areas and subcortical areas underlies such mental operation neurologically. One of the main predictions based on this assumption is that all facets of psychological function are susceptible to disruption in ASD. Indeed, it has traditionally been thought that there are such general deficits in this disorder. However, contrary to the prevalent belief that people with ASD lack empathy, in fact people with ASD are capable of empathizing with the minds of others if those others are people with ASD. Thus, the neurological underconnectivity in ASD certainly leads some processing of information in the mind to work with less coordination, but has in fact contributed to providing Homo sapiens with behavioural variants. Finally, the clinical implications of the advantages of viewing ASD as a variation in neurodiversity are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nobuo Masataka
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan.
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Platt ML, Seyfarth RM, Cheney DL. Adaptations for social cognition in the primate brain. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 371:20150096. [PMID: 26729935 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Studies of the factors affecting reproductive success in group-living monkeys have traditionally focused on competitive traits, like the acquisition of high dominance rank. Recent research, however, indicates that the ability to form cooperative social bonds has an equally strong effect on fitness. Two implications follow. First, strong social bonds make individuals' fitness interdependent and the 'free-rider' problem disappears. Second, individuals must make adaptive choices that balance competition and cooperation-often with the same partners. The proximate mechanisms underlying these behaviours are only just beginning to be understood. Recent results from cognitive and systems neuroscience provide us some evidence that many social and non-social decisions are mediated ultimately by abstract, domain-general neural mechanisms. However, other populations of neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex, striatum, amygdala and parietal cortex specifically encode the type, importance and value of social information. Whether these specialized populations of neurons arise by selection or through developmental plasticity in response to the challenges of social life remains unknown. Many brain areas are homologous and show similar patterns of activity in human and non-human primates. In both groups, cortical activity is modulated by hormones like oxytocin and by the action of certain genes that may affect individual differences in behaviour. Taken together, results suggest that differences in cooperation between the two groups are a matter of degree rather than constituting a fundamental, qualitative distinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael L Platt
- Departments of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Marketing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Robert M Seyfarth
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Dorothy L Cheney
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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Tian MK, Schmidt EF, Lambe EK. Serotonergic Suppression of Mouse Prefrontal Circuits Implicated in Task Attention. eNeuro 2016; 3:ENEURO.0269-16.2016. [PMID: 27844060 PMCID: PMC5099606 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0269-16.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2016] [Revised: 10/21/2016] [Accepted: 10/21/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Serotonin (5-HT) regulates attention by neurobiological mechanisms that are not well understood. Layer 6 (L6) pyramidal neurons of prefrontal cortex play an important role in attention and express 5-HT receptors, but the serotonergic modulation of this layer and its excitatory output is not known. Here, we performed whole-cell recordings and pharmacological manipulations in acute brain slices from wild-type and transgenic mice expressing either eGFP or eGFP-channelrhodopsin in prefrontal L6 pyramidal neurons. Excitatory circuits between L6 pyramidal neurons and L5 GABAergic interneurons, including a population of interneurons essential for task attention, were investigated using optogenetic techniques. Our experiments show that prefrontal L6 pyramidal neurons are subject to strong serotonergic inhibition and demonstrate direct 5-HT-sensitive connections between prefrontal L6 pyramidal neurons and two classes of L5 interneurons. This work helps to build a neurobiological framework to appreciate serotonergic disruption of task attention and yields insight into the disruptions of attention observed in psychiatric disorders with altered 5-HT receptors and signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael K Tian
- Department of Physiology, University of Toronto , Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Eric F Schmidt
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Rockefeller University , New York, NY
| | - Evelyn K Lambe
- Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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