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Willcox K, Vernouillet A, Lens L, Verbruggen F. Early-life group size influences response inhibition, but not the learning of it, in Japanese quails. Learn Behav 2024:10.3758/s13420-024-00643-2. [PMID: 39299982 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-024-00643-2] [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] [Accepted: 08/22/2024] [Indexed: 09/22/2024]
Abstract
In complex social environments, animals benefit from suppressing inappropriate responses (known as Response Inhibition) to avoid conflicts and maintain group cohesion. Recent research suggests that an individual's early-life social environment can shape their response inhibition. However, these findings have mostly been correlational, and results vary across species. Furthermore, the role of learning is often overlooked when measuring response inhibition, despite its potential importance to understanding group differences. We investigated the effect of early-life group size, a key determinant of social complexity, on response inhibition in Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica), whilst taking the role of learning into account. Quails (n = 120) were raised in either small groups of five or large groups of 15 individuals. Response inhibition was assessed using the cylinder task. Up to ten trials were administered to assess whether the birds' responses changed with increasing experience of the task. Among the quails that completed ten trials, we found that those raised in large groups consistently spent less time pecking the cylinder than those raised in small groups. The quails' responses were also influenced by their body condition, food motivation and sex. Importantly, the quails learned to inhibit their responses - successful trials increased, and time spent pecking the cylinder decreased, across ten trials. However, learning rates did not differ between the treatment groups. These findings suggest that early-life social group size promotes the development of response inhibition in quails, but not their learning of it, during the cylinder task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn Willcox
- Centre for Research on Ecology, Cognition and Behaviour of Birds, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Alizée Vernouillet
- Centre for Research on Ecology, Cognition and Behaviour of Birds, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Luc Lens
- Centre for Research on Ecology, Cognition and Behaviour of Birds, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Frederick Verbruggen
- Centre for Research on Ecology, Cognition and Behaviour of Birds, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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2
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Kong E, Lee KH, Do J, Kim P, Lee D. Dynamic and stable hippocampal representations of social identity and reward expectation support associative social memory in male mice. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2597. [PMID: 37147388 PMCID: PMC10163237 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38338-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Recognizing an individual and retrieving and updating the value information assigned to the individual are fundamental abilities for establishing social relationships. To understand the neural mechanisms underlying the association between social identity and reward value, we developed Go-NoGo social discrimination paradigms that required male subject mice to distinguish between familiar mice based on their individually unique characteristics and associate them with reward availability. We found that mice could discriminate individual conspecifics through a brief nose-to-nose investigation, and this ability depended on the dorsal hippocampus. Two-photon calcium imaging revealed that dorsal CA1 hippocampal neurons represented reward expectation during social, but not non-social tasks, and these activities were maintained over days regardless of the identity of the associated mouse. Furthermore, a dynamically changing subset of hippocampal CA1 neurons discriminated between individual mice with high accuracy. Our findings suggest that the neuronal activities in CA1 provide possible neural substrates for associative social memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eunji Kong
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, 34126, Republic of Korea
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
- KI for Health Science and Technology (KIHST), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyu-Hee Lee
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, 34126, Republic of Korea
| | - Jongrok Do
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, 34126, Republic of Korea
- Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Pilhan Kim
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.
- KI for Health Science and Technology (KIHST), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.
| | - Doyun Lee
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, 34126, Republic of Korea.
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Heuristics Facilitates the Evolution of Transitive Inference and Social Hierarchy in a Large Group. Acta Biotheor 2023; 71:8. [PMID: 36867273 PMCID: PMC9984311 DOI: 10.1007/s10441-023-09459-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/04/2023]
Abstract
Transitive inference (TI) refers to social cognition that facilitates the discernment of unknown relationships between individuals using known relationships. It is extensively reported that TI evolves in animals living in a large group because TI could assess relative rank without deducing all dyadic relationships, which averts costly fights. The relationships in a large group become so complex that social cognition may not be developed adequately to handle such complexity. If members apply TI to all possible members in the group, TI requires extremely highly developed cognitive abilities especially in a large group. Instead of developing cognitive abilities significantly, animals may apply simplified TI we call reference TI in this study as heuristic approaches. The reference TI allows members to recognize and remember social interactions only among a set of reference members rather than all potential members. Our study assumes that information processes in the reference TI comprises (1) the number of reference members based on which individuals infer transitively, (2) the number of reference members shared by the same strategists, and (3) memory capacity. We examined how information processes evolve in a large group using evolutionary simulations in the hawk-dove game. Information processes with almost any numbers of reference members could evolve in a large group as long as the numbers of shared reference member are high because information from the others' experiences is shared. TI dominates immediate inference, which assesses relative rank on direct interactions, because TI could establish social hierarchy more rapidly applying information from others' experiences.
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Daisley JN, Vallortigara G, Regolin L. Low-rank Gallus gallus domesticus chicks are better at transitive inference reasoning. Commun Biol 2021; 4:1344. [PMID: 34887506 PMCID: PMC8660828 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02855-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
A form of deductive reasoning, transitive inference, is thought to allow animals to infer relationships between members of a social group without having to remember all the interactions that occur. Such an ability means that animals can avoid direct confrontations which could be costly. Here we show that chicks perform a transitive inference task differently according to sex and rank. In female chicks, low-ranking birds performed better than did the highest ranked. Male chicks, however, showed an inverted U-shape of ability across rank, with the middle ranked chicks best able to perform the task. These results are explained according to the roles the sexes take within the group. This research directly links the abilities of transitive inference learning and social hierarchy formation and prompts further investigation into the role of both sex and rank within the dynamics of group living.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Lucia Regolin
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
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Lambert CT, Guillette LM. The impact of environmental and social factors on learning abilities: a meta-analysis. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 96:2871-2889. [PMID: 34342125 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Revised: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Since the 1950s, researchers have examined how differences in the social and asocial environment affect learning in rats, mice, and, more recently, a variety of other species. Despite this large body of research, little has been done to synthesize these findings and to examine if social and asocial environmental factors have consistent effects on cognitive abilities, and if so, what aspects of these factors have greater or lesser impact. Here, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis examining how different external environmental features, including the social environment, impact learning (both speed of acquisition and performance). Using 531 mean-differences from 176 published articles across 27 species (with studies on rats and mice being most prominent) we conducted phylogenetically corrected mixed-effects models that reveal: (i) an average absolute effect size |d| = 0.55 and directional effect size d = 0.34; (ii) interventions manipulating the asocial environment result in larger effects than social interventions alone; and (iii) the length of the intervention is a significant predictor of effect size, with longer interventions resulting in larger effects. Additionally, much of the variation in effect size remained unexplained, possibly suggesting that species differ widely in how they are affected by environmental interventions due to varying ecological and evolutionary histories. Overall our results suggest that social and asocial environmental factors do significantly affect learning, but these effects are highly variable and perhaps not always as predicted. Most notably, the type (social or asocial) and length of interventions are important in determining the strength of the effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Connor T Lambert
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, P217 Biological Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2R3, Canada
| | - Lauren M Guillette
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, P217 Biological Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2R3, Canada
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Culbert BM, Tsui N, Balshine S. Learning performance is associated with social preferences in a group-living fish. Behav Processes 2021; 191:104464. [PMID: 34329728 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2021] [Revised: 06/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Many animals live in groups yet grouping tendencies and preferences for groups of different sizes vary considerably between individuals. This variation reflects, at least in part, differences in how individuals evaluate and perceive their physical surroundings and their social environment. While such differences are likely related to individual variation in cognition, there have been few studies that have directly investigated how cognitive abilities are linked to individual grouping decisions. Therefore, in this study we assessed whether performance on a foraging-based reversal learning task is related to grouping preferences (a group of three fish versus a single fish) in a group-living cichlid fish, Neolamprologus pulcher. While most fish preferred to associate with the group over a single fish, individuals that completed the reversal learning task the quickest were the least interested in the group under elevated predation risk. In addition, fish that quickly completed the reversal learning task also adjusted their grouping preferences the most when predation risk increased. This result suggests that the observed relationship between learning performance and grouping decisions may be linked to individual differences in behavioural flexibility. Overall, our results offer valuable insight into the potential factors that underlie inter-individual variation in grouping decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brett M Culbert
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
| | - Nicholas Tsui
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Sigal Balshine
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Calvo Martín M, Eeckhout M, Deneubourg JL, Nicolis SC. Consensus driven by a minority in heterogenous groups of the cockroach Periplaneta american a. iScience 2021; 24:102723. [PMID: 34258556 PMCID: PMC8254023 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Many social species are able to perform collective decisions and reach consensus. However, how the interplay between social interactions, the diversity of preferences among the group members and the group size affects these dynamics is usually overlooked. The collective choice between odourous and odorless shelters is tested for the following three groups of social cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) which are solitary foragers: naive (individuals preferring the odorous shelter), conditioned (individuals without preference), and mixed (combining, unevenly, conditioned, and naive individuals). The robustness of the consensus is not affected by the naive individuals' proportion, but the rate and the frequency of selection of the odorous shelter are correlated to this proportion. In mixed groups, the naive individuals act as influencers. Simulations based on the mechanisms highlighted in our experiments predict that the consensus emerges only for intermediate group sizes. The universality of these mechanisms suggests that such phenomena are widely present in social systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariano Calvo Martín
- Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems (Cenoli), Université libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine, Boulevard du Triomphe 155, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
- Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Department de Biologie des Organismes, Université libre de Bruxelles, Campus Solbosch, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Max Eeckhout
- Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems (Cenoli), Université libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine, Boulevard du Triomphe 155, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
- Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Department de Biologie des Organismes, Université libre de Bruxelles, Campus Solbosch, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Jean-Louis Deneubourg
- Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems (Cenoli), Université libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine, Boulevard du Triomphe 155, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Stamatios C Nicolis
- Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems (Cenoli), Université libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine, Boulevard du Triomphe 155, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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DNA methylation variation in the brain of laying hens in relation to differential behavioral patterns. COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY D-GENOMICS & PROTEOMICS 2020; 35:100700. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cbd.2020.100700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2020] [Revised: 04/27/2020] [Accepted: 05/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Miranda-de la Lama GC, Pascual-Alonso M, Aguayo-Ulloa L, Sepúlveda WS, Villarroel M, María GA. Social personality in sheep: Can social strategies predict individual differences in cognitive abilities, morphology features, and reproductive success? J Vet Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2019.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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Toyoshima M, Yamada K, Sugita M, Ichitani Y. Social enrichment improves social recognition memory in male rats. Anim Cogn 2018; 21:345-351. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-018-1171-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2017] [Revised: 01/25/2018] [Accepted: 02/22/2018] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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van Nieuwamerongen SE, Mendl M, Held S, Soede NM, Bolhuis JE. Post-weaning social and cognitive performance of piglets raised pre-weaning either in a complex multi-suckling group housing system or in a conventional system with a crated sow. Anim Cogn 2017; 20:907-921. [PMID: 28681226 PMCID: PMC5559564 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-017-1110-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2017] [Revised: 06/23/2017] [Accepted: 06/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
We studied the social and cognitive performance of piglets raised pre-weaning either in a conventional system with a sow in a farrowing crate (FC) or in a multi-suckling (MS) system in which 5 sows and their piglets could interact in a more physically enriched and spacious environment. After weaning at 4 weeks of age, 8 groups of 4 litter-mates per pre-weaning housing treatment were studied under equal and enriched post-weaning housing conditions. From each pen, one pair consisting of a dominant and a submissive pig was selected, based on a feed competition test (FCT) 2 weeks post-weaning. This pair was used in an informed forager test (IFT) which measured aspects of spatial learning and foraging strategies in a competitive context. During individual training, submissive (informed) pigs learned to remember a bait location in a testing arena with 8 buckets (the same bucket was baited in a search visit and a subsequent relocation visit), whereas dominant (non-informed) pigs always found the bait in a random bucket (search visits only). After learning their task, the informed pigs' individual search visit was followed by a pairwise relocation visit in which they were accompanied by the non-informed pig. Effects of pre-weaning housing treatment were not distinctly present regarding the occurrence of aggression in the FCT and the learning performance during individual training in the IFT. During paired visits, informed and non-informed pigs changed their behaviour in response to being tested pairwise instead of individually, but MS and FC pigs showed few distinct behavioural differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- S E van Nieuwamerongen
- Adaptation Physiology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, PO Box 338, 6700 AH, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - M Mendl
- Animal Welfare and Behaviour Group, School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - S Held
- Animal Welfare and Behaviour Group, School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - N M Soede
- Adaptation Physiology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, PO Box 338, 6700 AH, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - J E Bolhuis
- Adaptation Physiology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, PO Box 338, 6700 AH, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
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Stephenson MB, Bailey DW, Jensen D. Association patterns of visually-observed cattle on Montana, USA foothill rangelands. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2016.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Mirville MO, Kelley JL, Ridley AR. Group size and associative learning in the Australian magpie (Cracticus tibicen dorsalis). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-016-2062-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Meagher RK, Daros RR, Costa JHC, von Keyserlingk MAG, Hötzel MJ, Weary DM. Effects of Degree and Timing of Social Housing on Reversal Learning and Response to Novel Objects in Dairy Calves. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0132828. [PMID: 26274583 PMCID: PMC4537137 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0132828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2014] [Accepted: 06/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Rodents and primates deprived of early social contact exhibit deficits in learning and behavioural flexibility. They often also exhibit apparent signs of elevated anxiety, although the relationship between these effects has not been studied. To investigate whether dairy calves are similarly affected, we first compared calves housed in standard individual pens (n = 7) to those housed in a dynamic group with access to their mothers (n = 8). All calves learned to approach the correct stimulus in a visual discrimination task. Only one individually housed calf was able to re-learn the task when the stimuli were reversed, compared to all but one calf from the group. A second experiment investigated whether this effect might be explained by anxiety in individually housed animals interfering with their learning, and tested varying degrees of social contact in addition to the complex group: pair housing beginning early (approximately 6 days old) and late (6 weeks old). Again, fewer individually reared calves learned the reversal task (2 of 10 or 20%) compared to early paired and grouped calves (16 of 21 or 76% of calves). Late paired calves had intermediate success. Individually housed calves were slower to touch novel objects, but the magnitude of the fear response did not correlate with reversal performance. We conclude that individually housed calves have learning deficits, but these deficits were not likely associated with increased anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca K. Meagher
- Animal Welfare Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Rolnei R. Daros
- Animal Welfare Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - João H. C. Costa
- Animal Welfare Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Marina A. G. von Keyserlingk
- Animal Welfare Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Maria J. Hötzel
- Departamento de Zootecnia e Desenvolvimento Rural, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Daniel M. Weary
- Animal Welfare Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Sewall KB. Social Complexity as a Driver of Communication and Cognition. Integr Comp Biol 2015; 55:384-95. [PMID: 26078368 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icv064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Cognition and communication both can be essential for effectively navigating the social environment and thus, social dynamics could select for enhanced abilities for communication and superior cognition. Additionally, social experience can influence both the ability to communicate effectively and performance in cognitive tasks within an individual's lifetime, consistent with phenotypic plasticity in these traits. Historically, research in animal cognition and animal communication has often addressed these traits independently, despite potential commonalities in social function and underlying mechanisms of the brain. Integrating research on animal communication and cognition will provide a more comprehensive understanding of how the social environment may shape behavior and specializations of the brain for sociality through both evolutionary and developmental processes. This selective review of research on the impacts of social dynamics on cognition and communication in animals aims to highlight areas for future research at both the ultimate and proximate levels. In particular, additional work on the effects of the social environment on cognitive performance over an individual's lifetime, and comparative studies of specialized abilities for communication, should be pursued.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kendra B Sewall
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, 1405 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
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Schausberger P. Taking care of group size and heterogeneity in social recognition systems. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-014-1763-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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de Haas EN, Bolhuis JE, Kemp B, Groothuis TGG, Rodenburg TB. Parents and early life environment affect behavioral development of laying hen chickens. PLoS One 2014; 9:e90577. [PMID: 24603500 PMCID: PMC3948370 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2013] [Accepted: 02/03/2014] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe feather pecking (SFP) in commercial laying hens is a maladaptive behavior which is associated with anxiety traits. Many experimental studies have shown that stress in the parents can affect anxiety in the offspring, but until now these effects have been neglected in addressing the problem of SFP in commercially kept laying hens. We therefore studied whether parental stock (PS) affected the development of SFP and anxiety in their offspring. We used flocks from a brown and white genetic hybrid because genetic background can affect SFP and anxiety. As SFP can also be influenced by housing conditions on the rearing farm, we included effects of housing system and litter availability in the analysis. Forty-seven rearing flocks, originating from ten PS flocks were followed. Behavioral and physiological parameters related to anxiety and SFP were studied in the PS at 40 weeks of age and in the rearing flocks at one, five, ten and fifteen weeks of age. We found that PS had an effect on SFP at one week of age and on anxiety at one and five weeks of age. In the white hybrid, but not in the brown hybrid, high levels of maternal corticosterone, maternal feather damage and maternal whole-blood serotonin levels showed positive relations with offsprings' SFP at one week and offsprings' anxiety at one and five weeks of age. Disruption and limitation of litter supply at an early age on the rearing farms increased SFP, feather damage and fearfulness. These effects were most prominent in the brown hybrid. It appeared that hens from a brown hybrid are more affected by environmental conditions, while hens from a white hybrid were more strongly affected by parental effects. These results are important for designing measures to prevent the development of SFP, which may require a different approach in brown and white flocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elske N. de Haas
- Adaptation Physiology Group, Department of Animal Science, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - J. Elizabeth Bolhuis
- Adaptation Physiology Group, Department of Animal Science, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Bas Kemp
- Adaptation Physiology Group, Department of Animal Science, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ton G. G. Groothuis
- Behavioural Biology, Centre for Behaviour and Neuroscience, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - T. Bas Rodenburg
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Pascual-Alonso M, María G, Sepúlveda W, Villarroel M, Aguayo-Ulloa L, Galindo F, Miranda-de la Lama G. Identity profiles based on social strategies, morphology, physiology, and cognitive abilities in goats. J Vet Behav 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2013.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Frommen JG, Zala SM, Raveh S, Schaedelin FC, Wernisch B, Hettyey A. Investigating the Effect of Familiarity on Kin Recognition of Three-Spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Ethology 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Sarah M. Zala
- Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution; Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology; University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna; Vienna; Austria
| | | | - Franziska C. Schaedelin
- Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution; Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology; University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna; Vienna; Austria
| | - Bettina Wernisch
- Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution; Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology; University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna; Vienna; Austria
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Zheng H, Wang XT, Zhu L. Framing effects: behavioral dynamics and neural basis. Neuropsychologia 2010; 48:3198-204. [PMID: 20600178 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.06.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2009] [Revised: 06/23/2010] [Accepted: 06/23/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
This study examined the neural basis of framing effects using life-death decision problems framed either positively in terms of lives saved or negatively in terms of lives lost in large group and small group contexts. Using functional MRI we found differential brain activations to the verbal and social cues embedded in the choice problems. In large group contexts, framing effects were significant where participants were more risk seeking under the negative (loss) framing than under the positive (gain) framing. This behavioral difference in risk preference was mainly regulated by the activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus, including the homologue of the Broca's area. In contrast, framing effects diminished in small group contexts while the insula and parietal lobe in the right hemisphere were distinctively activated, suggesting an important role of emotion in switching choice preference from an indecisive mode to a more consistent risk-taking inclination, governed by a kith-and-kin decision rationality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongming Zheng
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Daisley JN, Vallortigara G, Regolin L. Logic in an asymmetrical (social) brain: Transitive inference in the young domestic chick. Soc Neurosci 2010; 5:309-19. [DOI: 10.1080/17470910903529795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Individualistic herds: Individual variation in herbivore foraging behavior and application to rangeland management. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2009.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Molina Y, Harris RM, O'Donnell S. Brain organization mirrors caste differences, colony founding and nest architecture in paper wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Proc Biol Sci 2009; 276:3345-51. [PMID: 19553252 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.0817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The cognitive challenges that social animals face depend on species differences in social organization and may affect mosaic brain evolution. We asked whether the relative size of functionally distinct brain regions corresponds to species differences in social behaviour among paper wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). We measured the volumes of targeted brain regions in eight species of paper wasps. We found species variation in functionally distinct brain regions, which was especially strong in queens. Queens from species with open-comb nests had larger central processing regions dedicated to vision (mushroom body (MB) calyx collars) than those with enclosed nests. Queens from advanced eusocial species (swarm founders), who rely on pheromones in several contexts, had larger antennal lobes than primitively eusocial independent founders. Queens from species with morphologically distinct castes had augmented central processing regions dedicated to antennal input (MB lips) relative to caste monomorphic species. Intraspecific caste differences also varied with mode of colony founding. Independent-founding queens had larger MB collars than their workers. Conversely, workers in swarm-founding species with decentralized colony regulation had larger MB calyx collars and optic lobes than their queens. Our results suggest that brain organization is affected by evolutionary transitions in social interactions and is related to the environmental stimuli group members face.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Molina
- Animal Behavior Program, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
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Jennings DJ, Carlin CM, Gammell MP. A winner effect supports third-party intervention behaviour during fallow deer, Dama dama, fights. Anim Behav 2009. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Jørgensen GHM, Andersen IL, Berg S, Bøe KE. Feeding, resting and social behaviour in ewes housed in two different group sizes. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2009. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2008.08.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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