1
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Houston AI, Rosenström TH. A critical review of risk-sensitive foraging. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:478-495. [PMID: 37987237 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
Foraging is risk sensitive if choices depend on the variability of returns from the options as well as their mean return. Risk-sensitive foraging is important in behavioural ecology, psychology and neurophysiology. It has been explained both in terms of mechanisms and in terms of evolutionary advantage. We provide a critical review, evaluating both mechanistic and evolutionary accounts. Some derivations of risk sensitivity from mechanistic models based on psychophysics are not convincing because they depend on an inappropriate use of Jensen's inequality. Attempts have been made to link risk sensitivity to the ecology of a species, but again these are not convincing. The field of risk-sensitive foraging has provided a focus for theoretical and empirical work and has yielded important insights, but we lack a simple and empirically defendable general account of it in either mechanistic or evolutionary terms. However, empirical analysis of choice sequences under theoretically motivated experimental designs and environmental settings appears a promising avenue for mapping the scope and relative merits of existing theories. Simply put, the devil is in the sequence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alasdair I Houston
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Tom H Rosenström
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, PL 21 (Haartmaninkatu 3), 00014, Helsinki, Finland
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2
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Ciacci F, Mayerhoff S, De Petrillo F, Gastaldi S, Brosnan SF, Addessi E. State-dependent risky choices in primates: Variation in energy budget does not affect tufted capuchin monkeys' (Sapajus spp.) risky choices. Am J Primatol 2023; 85:e23542. [PMID: 37545247 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
Economic models predict that rational decision makers' choices between a constant, "safe" option and a variable, "risky" option leading, on average, to the same payoff, should be random. However, a wealth of research has revealed that, when faced with risky decisions, both human and nonhuman animals deviate from economic rationality. According to the risk-sensitivity theory, individuals should prefer a safe option when they are in a positive energy state and a risky option when they are in a negative energy state. The abundance/risk hypothesis proposes that individuals should prefer risky options when diet quality exceeds their nutritional requirements. We tested how energy budget affects decision making under risk by presenting 22 capuchins belonging to two colonies (IT: N = 12, US: N = 10) with a risky choice task. Capuchins had to choose between a constant option (always four food items) and a variable option (one or seven food items with a 50% probability) in two conditions. In the Low-energy condition capuchins were tested before their main meal, whereas in the High-energy condition they were tested following a high-caloric meal. In neither colony did we find a significant difference between conditions, suggesting that the energy budget did not affect risk preferences. However, we found differences between colonies in their general response to risky choices: US capuchins were more risk-prone after selecting a safe option than a risky option and after selecting a bad (one food item) than a good (seven food items) risky option, whereas this did not hold true in IT capuchins. Furthermore, in the IT colony, males were more risk-prone under the High-energy condition compared to the Low-energy condition. Subtle differences in individual characteristics, management conditions, or stochastic founder effects may be implied, with relevant consequences for the outcomes of research on risky decision-making across laboratories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filippo Ciacci
- Unit of Cognitive Primatology and Primate Center, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, CNR, Rome, Italy
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali (BiGeA), Università di Bologna "Alma Mater Studiorum", Bologna, Italy
| | - Stella Mayerhoff
- Department of Psychology & Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Francesca De Petrillo
- School of Psychology & Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Serena Gastaldi
- Unit of Cognitive Primatology and Primate Center, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, CNR, Rome, Italy
| | - Sarah Frances Brosnan
- Department of Psychology & Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Neuroscience Institute and Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Elsa Addessi
- Unit of Cognitive Primatology and Primate Center, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, CNR, Rome, Italy
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3
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Zoratto F, Oddi G, Pillitteri S, Festucci F, Puzzo C, Curcio G, Laviola G, Paglieri F, Adriani W, Addessi E. The presence of a potential competitor modulates risk preferences in rats. Behav Processes 2022; 196:104602. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Revised: 11/20/2021] [Accepted: 02/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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4
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Chiodi V, Domenici MR, Biagini T, De Simone R, Tartaglione AM, Di Rosa M, Lo Re O, Mazza T, Micale V, Vinciguerra M. Systemic depletion of histone macroH2A1.1 boosts hippocampal synaptic plasticity and social behavior in mice. FASEB J 2021; 35:e21793. [PMID: 34320234 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202100569r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2021] [Revised: 06/12/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Gene expression and epigenetic processes in several brain regions regulate physiological processes such as cognitive functions and social behavior. MacroH2A1.1 is a ubiquitous variant of histone H2A that regulates cell stemness and differentiation in various organs. Whether macroH2A1.1 has a modulatory role in emotional behavior is unknown. Here, we employed macroH2A1.1 knock-out (-/- ) mice to perform a comprehensive battery of behavioral tests, and an assessment of hippocampal synaptic plasticity (long-term potentiation) accompanied by whole hippocampus RNA sequencing. MacroH2A1.1-/- mice exhibit a stunningly enhancement both of sociability and of active stress-coping behavior, reflected by the increased social behavior in social activity tests and higher mobility time in the forced swim test, respectively. They also display an increased hippocampal synaptic plasticity, accompanied by significant neurotransmission transcriptional networks changes. These results suggest that systemic depletion of histone macroH2A1.1 supports an epigenetic control necessary for hippocampal function and social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Chiodi
- National Centre for Drug Research and Evaluation, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Rosaria Domenici
- National Centre for Drug Research and Evaluation, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Tommaso Biagini
- IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, Bioinformatics Unit, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
| | - Roberta De Simone
- National Centre for Drug Research and Evaluation, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Anna Maria Tartaglione
- Centre for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Michelino Di Rosa
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Oriana Lo Re
- International Clinical Research Center, St Anne's University Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Tommaso Mazza
- IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, Bioinformatics Unit, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Micale
- National Centre for Drug Research and Evaluation, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.,Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Manlio Vinciguerra
- International Clinical Research Center, St Anne's University Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic.,ERA Chair in Translational Stem Cell Biology, Medical University-Varna, Varna, Bulgaria.,Division of Medicine, University College London (UCL), London, UK
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5
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Keupp S, Grueneisen S, Ludvig EA, Warneken F, Melis AP. Reduced risk-seeking in chimpanzees in a zero-outcome game. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20190673. [PMID: 33423631 PMCID: PMC7815432 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
A key component of economic decisions is the integration of information about reward outcomes and probabilities in selecting between competing options. In many species, risky choice is influenced by the magnitude of available outcomes, probability of success and the possibility of extreme outcomes. Chimpanzees are generally regarded to be risk-seeking. In this study, we examined two aspects of chimpanzees' risk preferences: first, whether setting the value of the non-preferred outcome of a risky option to zero changes chimpanzees’ risk preferences, and second, whether individual risk preferences are stable across two different measures. Across two experiments, we found chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes, n = 23) as a group to be risk-neutral to risk-avoidant with highly stable individual risk preferences. We discuss how the possibility of going empty-handed might reduce chimpanzees' risk-seeking relative to previous studies. This malleability in risk preferences as a function of experimental parameters and individual differences raises interesting questions about whether it is appropriate or helpful to categorize a species as a whole as risk-seeking or risk-avoidant. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Existence and prevalence of economic behaviours among non-human primates’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Keupp
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, University Road, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.,Experimental Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AP, UK
| | - Sebastian Grueneisen
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043, USA.,Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Elliot A Ludvig
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, University Road, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Felix Warneken
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043, USA
| | - Alicia P Melis
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AP, UK
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De Petrillo F, Rosati AG. Variation in primate decision-making under uncertainty and the roots of human economic behaviour. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20190671. [PMID: 33423637 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Uncertainty is a ubiquitous component of human economic behaviour, yet people can vary in their preferences for risk across populations, individuals and different points in time. As uncertainty also characterizes many aspects of animal decision-making, comparative research can help evaluate different potential mechanisms that generate this variation, including the role of biological differences or maturational change versus cultural learning, as well as identify human-unique components of economic decision-making. Here, we examine decision-making under risk across non-human primates, our closest relatives. We first review theoretical approaches and current methods for understanding decision-making in animals. We then assess the current evidence for variation in animal preferences between species and populations, between individuals based on personality, sex and age, and finally, between different contexts and individual states. We then use these primate data to evaluate the processes that can shape human decision-making strategies and identify the primate foundations of human economic behaviour. This article is part of the theme issue 'Existence and prevalence of economic behaviours among non-human primates'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca De Petrillo
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse, Occitanie, France.,Unità di Primatologia Cognitiva e Centro Primati, Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma, Lazio, Italy.,Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Alexandra G Rosati
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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7
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Exploring dopaminergic transmission in gambling addiction: A systematic translational review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 119:481-511. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.09.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Revised: 08/16/2020] [Accepted: 09/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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8
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Festucci F, Buccheri C, Cerniglia L, Paciello M, Cimino S, Curcio G, Adriani W. A new paradigm for Prosocial Behavior and Reciprocity, assessed in WT and HET rats for the DAT gene. Behav Brain Res 2020; 393:112746. [PMID: 32502514 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2020] [Revised: 04/06/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Most behavioral studies on animals focus on observation of individual subjects. Current paradigms of sociability set aside the social-operant dimension, i.e. acting in favor of another conspecific. We focused on prosocial behavior and reciprocity of male, adult Wild-Type (WT) and Heterozygous (HET) rats for the dopamine-transporter (DAT) gene. METHOD: The experiment consisted of 24 rats, of WT (n = 12) and HET (n = 12) genotypes. During training, rats were daily introduced, individually, into an apparatus hosting a suspended syringe, which they learnt to push in order to obtain food therein. Then, twice daily along several weeks, we introduced two rats separated by a grid in the same structure: by syringe-pushing, each subject had the opportunity to donate and receive donations of food. We tested pairs with similar versus different genotype. Eventually, we replaced food reward with polystyrene pieces, to understand if they pushed for actual reward or like a habit. RESULTS: In general, WT rats had better performance, regardless of reward type, than HET ones. When we crossed partner rats' genotype (WT-HET pairs), WT rats pushed at peak levels, regardless of food pellet received back (in fact, HET companions pushed less). Couples of WT rats achieved better results than HET ones even when polystyrene, instead of food, was used. Thus,WT rats seem to be a better model for altruistic behavior than HET ones. For this reason, HET rats could represent a model for studies on altered prosocial behavior, to understand the role of DAT gene for impaired social mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabiana Festucci
- Center for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome, Italy; Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Piazzale Salvatore Tommasi 1, L'Aquila, Italy.
| | - Clelia Buccheri
- Center for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome, Italy; Department of Biological Sciences, Tor Vergata University, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, Rome, Italy.
| | - Luca Cerniglia
- Faculty of Psychology, International Telematic University Uninettuno, Rome, Italy.
| | - Marinella Paciello
- Faculty of Psychology, International Telematic University Uninettuno, Rome, Italy
| | - Silvia Cimino
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
| | - Giuseppe Curcio
- Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Piazzale Salvatore Tommasi 1, L'Aquila, Italy.
| | - Walter Adriani
- Center for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome, Italy; Faculty of Psychology, International Telematic University Uninettuno, Rome, Italy.
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9
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Addessi E, Beran MJ, Bourgeois-Gironde S, Brosnan SF, Leca JB. Are the roots of human economic systems shared with non-human primates? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 109:1-15. [PMID: 31874185 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.12.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2019] [Revised: 11/14/2019] [Accepted: 12/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
We review and analyze evidence for an evolutionary rooting of human economic behaviors and organization in non-human primates. Rather than focusing on the direct application of economic models that a priori account for animal decision behavior, we adopt an inductive definition of economic behavior in terms of the contribution of individual cognitive capacities to the provision of resources within an exchange structure. We spell out to what extent non-human primates' individual and strategic decision behaviors are shared with humans. We focus on the ability to trade, through barter or token-mediated exchanges, as a landmark of an economic system among members of the same species. It is an open question why only humans have reached a high level of economic sophistication. While primates have many of the necessary cognitive abilities (symbolic and computational) in isolation, one plausible issue we identify is the limits in exerting cognitive control to combine several sources of information. The difference between human and non-human primates' economies might well then be in degree rather than kind.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elsa Addessi
- ISTC-CNR, Via Ulisse Aldrovandi 16/b, 00197, Rome, Italy
| | - Michael J Beran
- Department of Psychology Georgia State University P.O. Box 5010 Atlanta, GA 30302-5010, USA; Language Research Center, The Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, PO Box 5010, Atlanta, GA 30302-5010, USA
| | - Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde
- Institut Jean Nicod, Département d'études cognitives, ENS, EHESS, CNRS, PSL University, UMR 8129, 29 rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France.
| | - Sarah F Brosnan
- Department of Psychology Georgia State University P.O. Box 5010 Atlanta, GA 30302-5010, USA; Language Research Center, The Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, PO Box 5010, Atlanta, GA 30302-5010, USA; The Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jean-Baptiste Leca
- Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge Lethbridge, Alberta, T1K 3M4, Canada
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10
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De Petrillo F, Rosati AG. Ecological rationality: Convergent decision-making in apes and capuchins. Behav Processes 2019; 164:201-213. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2018] [Revised: 05/02/2019] [Accepted: 05/08/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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