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Kriengwatana BP, Marshall CJ, Stevenson T, Monaghan P. Early life conditions reduce similarity between reproductive partners in HPA axis response to stress. Horm Behav 2024; 162:105508. [PMID: 38513527 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
Social environments modulate endocrine function, yet it is unclear whether individuals can become like their social partners in how they physiologically respond to stressors. This social transmission of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity could have long-term consequences for health and lifespan of individuals if their social partners react to stressors with an exaggerated HPA axis response. We tested whether glucocorticoid levels in response to stress of breeding partners changes after breeding depending on whether partners had similar or dissimilar postnatal conditions. We manipulated postnatal conditions by mimicking early life stress in zebra finch chicks (Taeniopygia guttata) via postnatal corticosterone exposure. When they reached adulthood, we created breeding pairs where the female and male had experienced either the same or different early life hormonal treatment (corticosterone or control). Before and after breeding, we obtained blood samples within 3 min and after 10 min or 30 min of restraint stress (baseline, cort10, cort30). We found that corticosterone levels of individuals in response to restraint were affected by their own and their partner's early life conditions, but did not change after breeding. However, across all pairs, partners became more similar in cort30 levels after breeding, although differences between partners in cort10 remained greater in pairs with a corticosterone-treated female. Thus, we show that HPA axis response to stressors in adulthood can be modulated by reproductive partners and that similarity between partners is reduced when females are postnatally exposed to elevated glucocorticoids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Buddhamas P Kriengwatana
- Institute for Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
| | - Christopher J Marshall
- Institute for Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
| | - Tyler Stevenson
- Institute for Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
| | - Pat Monaghan
- Institute for Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
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2
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Rose A, Tschapka M, Knörnschild M. Social information facilitates learning about novel food sources in adult flower-visiting bats. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:1635-1642. [PMID: 37421496 PMCID: PMC10442281 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01807-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023]
Abstract
Incorporating novel food sources into their diet is crucial for animals in changing environments. Although the utilization of novel food sources can be learned individually, learning socially from experienced conspecifics may facilitate this task and enable a transmission of foraging-related innovations across a population. In anthropogenically modified habitats, bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) frequently adapt their feeding strategy to novel food sources, and corresponding social learning processes have been experimentally demonstrated in frugivorous and animalivorous species. However, comparable experiments are lacking for nectarivorous flower-visiting bats, even though their utilization of novel food sources in anthropogenically altered habitats is often observed and even discussed as the reason why bats are able to live in some areas. In the present study, we investigated whether adult flower-visiting bats may benefit from social information when learning about a novel food source. We conducted a demonstrator-observer dyad with wild Pallas' long-tongued bats (Glossophaga soricina; Phyllostomidae: Glossophaginae) and hypothesized that naïve individuals would learn to exploit a novel food source faster when accompanied by an experienced demonstrator bat. Our results support this hypothesis and demonstrate flower-visiting bats to be capable of using social information to expand their dietary repertoire.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Rose
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Building 401 Tupper, Luis Clement Avenue, Balboa Ancon, Panama, Republic of Panama
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Building 401 Tupper, Luis Clement Avenue, Balboa Ancon, Panama, Republic of Panama
- Museum für Naturkunde-Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany
- Institute for Biology, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Invalidenstr. 42, 10115, Berlin, Germany
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3
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Tan W, Pickup B, Faasse K, Colagiuri B, Barnes K. Peer-to-peer: The Social Transmission of Symptoms Online. Ann Behav Med 2023; 57:551-560. [PMID: 37036880 PMCID: PMC10312298 DOI: 10.1093/abm/kaac081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/11/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social learning can be highly adaptive-for example, avoiding a hotplate your friend just burnt themselves on-but it has also been implicated in symptom transmission. Social learning is particularly pertinent given the rapid increase in the use of online mediums for social interaction. Yet, little is known about the social transmission of symptoms online or social chains extending further than a single model-observer interaction. PURPOSE To explore whether socially induced symptoms could be propagated through a three-generation social transmission chain in an online setting. METHODS We explored the social transmission of cybersickness following a virtual reality (VR) experience through online webcam interactions. One hundred and seventy-seven adults viewed a VR video in one of four links along a social transmission chain, after: viewing an actor model cybersickness to the VR video (First-Generation); viewing the First-Generation participant undergo VR (Second-Generation); viewing the Second-Generation participant undergo VR (Third-Generation); or naïve (Control). RESULTS Cybersickness was strongest in First-Generation participants, indicating social transmission from the model. This was mediated by expectancy and anxiety. Whether or not subsequent generations experienced cybersickness depended on what the observed participant verbally reported, which is consistent with social transmission. CONCLUSIONS Results demonstrate that symptoms can be readily transmitted online, and that expectancy and anxiety are involved. Although it is inconclusive as to whether symptoms can propagate along a social transmission chain, there is some evidence of protection from symptoms when a model who does not report any symptoms is observed. As such, this research highlights the role of social transmission in the modulation of symptoms through virtual mediums.
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Affiliation(s)
- Winston Tan
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Brydee Pickup
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Kate Faasse
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia
| | - Ben Colagiuri
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Kirsten Barnes
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
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4
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Maraci Ö, Antonatou-Papaioannou A, Jünemann S, Engel K, Castillo-Gutiérrez O, Busche T, Kalinowski J, Caspers BA. Timing matters: age-dependent impacts of the social environment and host selection on the avian gut microbiota. Microbiome 2022; 10:202. [PMID: 36434663 PMCID: PMC9700942 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-022-01401-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The establishment of the gut microbiota in early life is a critical process that influences the development and fitness of vertebrates. However, the relative influence of transmission from the early social environment and host selection throughout host ontogeny remains understudied, particularly in avian species. We conducted conspecific and heterospecific cross-fostering experiments in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) and Bengalese finches (Lonchura striata domestica) under controlled conditions and repeatedly sampled the faecal microbiota of these birds over the first 3 months of life. We thus documented the development of the gut microbiota and characterised the relative impacts of the early social environment and host selection due to species-specific characteristics and individual genetic backgrounds across ontogeny by using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. RESULTS The taxonomic composition and community structure of the gut microbiota changed across ontogenetic stages; juvenile zebra finches exhibited higher alpha diversity than adults at the post-breeding stage. Furthermore, in early development, the microbial communities of juveniles raised by conspecific and heterospecific foster parents resembled those of their foster family, emphasising the importance of the social environment. In later stages, the social environment continued to influence the gut microbiota, but host selection increased in importance. CONCLUSIONS We provided a baseline description of the developmental succession of gut microbiota in zebra finches and Bengalese finches, which is a necessary first step for understanding the impact of the early gut microbiota on host fitness. Furthermore, for the first time in avian species, we showed that the relative strengths of the two forces that shape the establishment and maintenance of the gut microbiota (i.e. host selection and dispersal from the social environment) change during development, with host selection increasing in importance. This finding should be considered when experimentally manipulating the early-life gut microbiota. Our findings also provide new insights into the mechanisms of host selection. Video Abstract.
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Affiliation(s)
- Öncü Maraci
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
| | - Anna Antonatou-Papaioannou
- Evolutionary Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- Institute of Biology-Zoology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sebastian Jünemann
- Institute for Bio- and Geosciences, Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Faculty of Technology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Kathrin Engel
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Omar Castillo-Gutiérrez
- Faculty of Technology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Tobias Busche
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Jörn Kalinowski
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Barbara A Caspers
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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5
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Sadoughi B, Schneider D, Daniel R, Schülke O, Ostner J. Aging gut microbiota of wild macaques are equally diverse, less stable, but progressively personalized. Microbiome 2022; 10:95. [PMID: 35718778 PMCID: PMC9206754 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-022-01283-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pronounced heterogeneity of age trajectories has been identified as a hallmark of the gut microbiota in humans and has been explained by marked changes in lifestyle and health condition. Comparatively, age-related personalization of microbiota is understudied in natural systems limiting our comprehension of patterns observed in humans from ecological and evolutionary perspectives. RESULTS Here, we tested age-related changes in the diversity, stability, and composition of the gut bacterial community using 16S rRNA gene sequencing with dense repeated sampling over three seasons in a cross-sectional age sample of adult female Assamese macaques (Macaca assamensis) living in their natural forest habitat. Gut bacterial composition exhibited a personal signature which became less stable as individuals aged. This lack of stability was not explained by differences in microbiota diversity but rather linked to an increase in the relative abundance of rare bacterial taxa. The lack of age-related changes in core taxa or convergence with age to a common state of the community hampered predicting gut bacterial composition of aged individuals. On the contrary, we found increasing personalization of the gut bacterial composition with age, indicating that composition in older individuals was increasingly divergent from the rest of the population. Reduced direct transmission of bacteria resulting from decreasing social activity may contribute to, but not be sufficient to explain, increasing personalization with age. CONCLUSIONS Together, our results challenge the assumption of a constant microbiota through adult life in a wild primate. Within the limits of this study, the fact that increasing personalization of the aging microbiota is not restricted to humans suggests the underlying process to be evolved instead of provoked only by modern lifestyle of and health care for the elderly. Video abstract.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baptiste Sadoughi
- Department of Behavioral Ecology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany.
- Research Group Primate Social Evolution, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany.
- Genomic and Applied Microbiology and Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
- Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany.
| | - Dominik Schneider
- Genomic and Applied Microbiology and Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Rolf Daniel
- Genomic and Applied Microbiology and Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Oliver Schülke
- Department of Behavioral Ecology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Research Group Primate Social Evolution, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Julia Ostner
- Department of Behavioral Ecology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Research Group Primate Social Evolution, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany
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Péter H, Zuberbühler K, Hobaiter C. Well-digging in a community of forest-living wild East African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). Primates 2022; 63:355-364. [PMID: 35662388 PMCID: PMC9273564 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-022-00992-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
Access to resources shapes species' physiology and behaviour. Water is not typically considered a limiting resource for rainforest-living chimpanzees; however, several savannah and savannah-woodland communities show behavioural adaptations to limited water. Here, we provide a first report of habitual well-digging in a rainforest-living group of East African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) and suggest that it may have been imported into the community's behavioural repertoire by an immigrant female. We describe the presence and frequency of well-digging and related behaviour, and suggest that its subsequent spread in the group may have involved some degree of social learning. We highlight that subsurface water is a concealed resource, and that the limited spread of well-digging in the group may highlight the cognitive, rather than physical, challenges it presents in a rainforest environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hella Péter
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.,School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Klaus Zuberbühler
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.,Department of Comparative Cognition, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.,Budongo Conservation Field Station, PO Box 362, Masindi, Uganda
| | - Catherine Hobaiter
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK. .,Budongo Conservation Field Station, PO Box 362, Masindi, Uganda.
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7
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Fay N, Walker B, Kashima Y, Perfors A. Socially Situated Transmission: The Bias to Transmit Negative Information is Moderated by the Social Context. Cogn Sci 2021; 45:e13033. [PMID: 34490917 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Revised: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Cultural evolutionary theory has identified a range of cognitive biases that guide human social learning. Naturalistic and experimental studies indicate transmission biases favoring negative and positive information. To address these conflicting findings, the present study takes a socially situated view of information transmission, which predicts that bias expression will depend on the social context. We report a large-scale experiment (N = 425) that manipulated the social context and examined its effect on the transmission of the positive and negative information contained in a narrative text. In each social context, information was progressively lost as it was transmitted from person to person, but negative information survived better than positive information, supporting a negative transmission bias. Importantly, the negative transmission bias was moderated by the social context: Higher social connectivity weakened the bias to transmit negative information, supporting a socially situated account of information transmission. Our findings indicate that our evolved cognitive preferences can be moderated by our social goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Fay
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia
| | - Bradley Walker
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia
| | | | - Andrew Perfors
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne
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8
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Abstract
Social cognitive skills play a crucial role in human life, and have allowed us to reach a unique level of behavioral and cultural complexity. However, many nonhuman species also show a complex understanding of the social world. Building on theories of human social development, we will follow the emergence of cultural learning skills across taxa, discussing similarities and differences between humans and other species. We will first review literature on social learning, including enhancement, emulation and imitation. Then, we will discuss existing studies on the evolution of teaching, and finally, we will critically review literature on the social transmission of skills and knowledge across generations. By adopting a comparative perspective, we will be able to identify the unique characteristics of social transmission in humans, and the social skills that are instead shared with other species, to gain a deeper understanding of the role of cultural learning in social cognitive development.
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9
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Osiurak F, Cretel C, Duhau-Marmon N, Fournier I, Marignier L, De Oliveira E, Navarro J, Reynaud E. The Pedagogue, the Engineer, and the Friend : From Whom Do We Learn? Hum Nat 2020; 31:462-482. [PMID: 33420606 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-020-09379-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Humans can follow different social learning strategies, sometimes oriented toward the models' characteristics (i.e., who-strategies). The goal of the present study was to explore which who-strategy is preferentially followed in the technological context based on the models' psychological characteristics. We identified three potential who-strategies: Copy the pedagogue (a model with high theory-of-mind skills), copy the engineer (a model with high technical-reasoning skills), and copy the friend (a model with high level of prosocialness). We developed a closed-group micro-society paradigm in which participants had to build the highest possible towers. Participants began with an individual building phase. Then, they were gathered to discuss the best solutions to increase tower height. After this discussion phase, they had to make a new building attempt, followed by another discussion phase, and so forth for a total of six building phases and five discussion rounds. This methodology allowed us to create an attraction score for each participant (the more an individual was copied in a group, the greater the attraction score). We also assessed participants' theory-of-mind skills, technical-reasoning skills, and prosocialness to predict participants' attraction scores based on these measures. Results show that we learn from engineers (high technical-reasoning skills) because they are the most successful. Their attraction power is not immediate, but after they have been identified as attractors, their technique is copied irrespective of their pedagogy (theory-of-mind skills) or friendliness (prosocialness). These findings open avenues for the study of the cognitive bases of human technological culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- François Osiurak
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, 5, avenue Pierre Mendès-France, 69676, Bron Cedex, France.
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France.
| | - Caroline Cretel
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, 5, avenue Pierre Mendès-France, 69676, Bron Cedex, France
| | - Naomi Duhau-Marmon
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, 5, avenue Pierre Mendès-France, 69676, Bron Cedex, France
| | - Isabelle Fournier
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, 5, avenue Pierre Mendès-France, 69676, Bron Cedex, France
| | - Lucie Marignier
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, 5, avenue Pierre Mendès-France, 69676, Bron Cedex, France
| | - Emmanuel De Oliveira
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, 5, avenue Pierre Mendès-France, 69676, Bron Cedex, France
| | - Jordan Navarro
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, 5, avenue Pierre Mendès-France, 69676, Bron Cedex, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | - Emanuelle Reynaud
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, 5, avenue Pierre Mendès-France, 69676, Bron Cedex, France
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10
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiao-Jiao Wang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, Hainan 571158, China
| | - Lai-Kun Ma
- Department of Biology and Food Science, Hebei Normal University for Nationalities, Chengde, Hebei 067000, China
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, Hainan 571158, China
| | - Can-Chao Yang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, Hainan 571158, China. E-mail:
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11
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Brand CM, Marchant LF. Social hair plucking is a grooming convention in a group of captive bonobos (Pan paniscus). Primates 2019; 60:487-91. [PMID: 31571101 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-019-00764-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2019] [Accepted: 09/21/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Hair plucking is observed in many captive primate species and is often characterized as an abnormal behavior. However, this behavior may be both self-directed and social and may have different etiologies. Early research in captive macaques (Macaca mulatta) described the aggressive nature of social hair plucking while more recent observations did not find an association with aggression or grooming, but the behavior was initiated most frequently by individuals with more secure dominance rank. Here, we investigate patterns of social hair plucking in a group of captive bonobos at the Columbus Zoo. We tested the hypothesis that social plucking reflects the dominance hierarchy by examining the association between social plucking and grooming, dominance, and kinship. We collected 128 h of grooming data on 16 captive bonobos using all-occurrence sampling. We ran three Mantel tests between a directed grooming matrix and (1) a plucking matrix, (2) a matrix reflecting dominance, and (3) matrix of relatedness. Grooming and hair plucking were significantly correlated (r = 0.25, p < 0.01), however, there was no association between plucking and dominance (r = - 0.04, p = 0.67), or plucking and relatedness (r = 0.07, p = 0.24). These results support the hypothesis that social plucking in bonobos is a grooming convention and is unrelated to dominance.
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12
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Burgos-Robles A, Gothard KM, Monfils MH, Morozov A, Vicentic A. Conserved features of anterior cingulate networks support observational learning across species. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 107:215-228. [PMID: 31509768 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2019] [Revised: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 09/06/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The ability to observe, interpret, and learn behaviors and emotions from conspecifics is crucial for survival, as it bypasses direct experience to avoid potential dangers and maximize rewards and benefits. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and its extended neural connections are emerging as important networks for the detection, encoding, and interpretation of social signals during observational learning. Evidence from rodents and primates (including humans) suggests that the social interactions that occur while individuals are exposed to important information in their environment lead to transfer of information across individuals that promotes adaptive behaviors in the form of either social affiliation, alertness, or avoidance. In this review, we first showcase anatomical and functional connections of the ACC in primates and rodents that contribute to the perception of social signals. We then discuss species-specific cognitive and social functions of the ACC and differentiate between neural activity related to 'self' and 'other', extending into the difference between social signals received and processed by the self, versus observing social interactions among others. We next describe behavioral and neural events that contribute to social learning via observation. Finally, we discuss some of the neural mechanisms underlying observational learning within the ACC and its extended network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony Burgos-Robles
- Department of Biology, Neuroscience Institute, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | - Katalin M Gothard
- Department of Physiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA
| | - Marie H Monfils
- Department of Psychology, Institute for Mental Health Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Alexei Morozov
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Roanoke, VA 24016, USA
| | - Aleksandra Vicentic
- Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science, National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
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13
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Kendler KS, Ohlsson H, Sundquist J, Sundquist K. Contagion models for the transmission of drug abuse among propinquity-of-rearing defined acquaintances: A Swedish national study. Drug Alcohol Depend 2019; 201:94-100. [PMID: 31203149 PMCID: PMC6754117 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.03.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2019] [Revised: 03/24/2019] [Accepted: 03/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Can we validate a contagion model for drug abuse (DA) in Propinquity-of-Rearing Defined Acquaintances (PRDAs)? METHODS PRDAs were defined as pairs of same-age males born 1975-1990 who grew up within 2 km of each other, one of whom (PRDA1) being first registered for DA in national registries. Using adult residential location, we predicted, using regression splines, proximity-dependent risk for DA first registration in a second PRDA (PRDA2) within 3 years of PRDA1's registration. RESULTS In 181,743 PRDA pairs, the best-fit model, controlling for age and PRDA2 community risk, included 2 slopes of proximity-risk relationships in childhood and three in adulthood. Risk for DA in PRDA2 was strongly predicted by childhood proximity to PRDA1: 0 to 0.5 km - Hazard ratio (HR) per kilometer 0.52 and 0.6-2 km 0.78. HRs for PRDA2 as a function of adult proximity to PRDA1 were: 0-1 km 0.887, 1-75 km 0.996 and >75 km 0.9997. Proximity-dependent PRDA2 risk was moderated by age, familial risk and educational attainment, attenuated by increasing PRDA1-PRDA2 age differences and stronger for older to younger versus younger to older pairs. CONCLUSIONS Transmission of DA risk between acquaintances growing up together was attenuated by increasing distance in adulthood. Strength of the acquaintance, indexed by childhood propinquity and age difference, modified transmission strength. The impact of adult proximity on transmission was reduced in acquaintances with higher resistance to DA due to older age, higher educational attainment or lower familial risk. Our results support the validity of DA contagion models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth S. Kendler
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond VA, USA
| | - Henrik Ohlsson
- Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
| | - Jan Sundquist
- Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden; Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA; Center for Community-based Healthcare Research and Education (CoHRE), Department of Functional Pathology, School of Medicine, Shimane University, Japan.
| | - Kristina Sundquist
- Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden; Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA; Center for Community-based Healthcare Research and Education (CoHRE), Department of Functional Pathology, School of Medicine, Shimane University, Japan.
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Pargeter J, Khreisheh N, Stout D. Understanding stone tool-making skill acquisition: Experimental methods and evolutionary implications. J Hum Evol 2019; 133:146-166. [PMID: 31358178 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2019] [Revised: 05/22/2019] [Accepted: 05/22/2019] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Despite its theoretical importance, the process of stone tool-making skill acquisition remains understudied and poorly understood. The challenges and costs of skill learning constitute an oft-neglected factor in the evaluation of alternative adaptive strategies and a potential source of bias in cultural transmission. Similarly, theory and data indicate that the most salient neural and cognitive demands of stone tool-making should occur during learning rather than expert performance. Unfortunately, the behavioral complexity and extensive learning requirements that make stone knapping skill acquisition an interesting object of study are the very features that make it so challenging to investigate experimentally. Here we present results from a multidisciplinary study of Late Acheulean handaxe-making skill acquisition involving twenty-six naïve participants and up to 90 hours training over several months, accompanied by a battery of psychometric, behavioral, and neuroimaging assessments. In this initial report, we derive a robust quantitative skill metric for the experimental handaxes using machine learning algorithms, reconstruct a group-level learning curve, and explore sources of individual variation in learning outcomes. Results identify particular cognitive targets of selection on the efficiency or reliability of tool-making skill acquisition, quantify learning costs, highlight the likely importance of social support, motivation, persistence, and self-control in knapping skill acquisition, and illustrate methods for reliably reconstructing ancient learning processes from archaeological evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Pargeter
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Rock Art Research Institute, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
| | | | - Dietrich Stout
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
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15
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Ross CT, Strimling P, Ericksen KP, Lindenfors P, Mulder MB. The Origins and Maintenance of Female Genital Modification across Africa : Bayesian Phylogenetic Modeling of Cultural Evolution under the Influence of Selection. Hum Nat 2017; 27:173-200. [PMID: 26846688 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-015-9244-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
We present formal evolutionary models for the origins and persistence of the practice of Female Genital Modification (FGMo). We then test the implications of these models using normative cross-cultural data on FGMo in Africa and Bayesian phylogenetic methods that explicitly model adaptive evolution. Empirical evidence provides some support for the findings of our evolutionary models that the de novo origins of the FGMo practice should be associated with social stratification, and that social stratification should place selective pressures on the adoption of FGMo; these results, however, are tempered by the finding that FGMo has arisen in many cultures that have no social stratification, and that forces operating orthogonally to stratification appear to play a more important role in the cross-cultural distribution of FGMo. To explain these cases, one must consider cultural evolutionary explanations in conjunction with behavioral ecological ones. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our study for policies designed to end the practice of FGMo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cody T Ross
- Behavioral Sciences Program, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA
| | - Pontus Strimling
- Centre for Studies of Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Patrik Lindenfors
- Centre for Studies of Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
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16
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Ross CT, Campiño PJ, Winterhalder B. Frequency-Dependent Social Transmission and the Interethnic Transfer of Female Genital Modification in the African Diaspora and Indigenous Populations of Colombia. Hum Nat 2016; 26:351-77. [PMID: 26471377 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-015-9234-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
We present a quantitative account based on ethnographic and documentary research of the prevalence of female genital modification (FGMo) in the African diaspora and indigenous populations of Colombia. We use these data to test hypotheses concerning the cultural evolutionary drivers of costly trait persistence, attenuation, and intergroup transmission. The uptake of FGMo by indigenous populations in Colombia is consistent with frequency-dependent hypotheses for the social transmission of the FGMo trait from the African diaspora population in the period following the era of slavery in Colombia. The prevalence and severity of practices related to FGMo decline with level of sociocultural integration into mainstream Colombian culture. Our results provide empirical support for the cultural evolutionary models proposed by Ross et al. (2015) to describe the transmission dynamics of FGMo and other costly traits. Analysis of costly trait dynamics contributes knowledge useful to applied anthropology and may be of interest in policy design and human rights monitoring in Colombia and elsewhere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cody T Ross
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
| | | | - Bruce Winterhalder
- Department of Anthropology and Graduate Group in Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
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17
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Rose A, Kolar M, Tschapka M, Knörnschild M. Learning where to feed: the use of social information in flower-visiting Pallas' long-tongued bats (Glossophaga soricina). Anim Cogn 2015; 19:251-62. [PMID: 26497984 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-015-0930-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2015] [Revised: 10/07/2015] [Accepted: 10/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Social learning is a widespread phenomenon among vertebrates that influences various patterns of behaviour and is often reported with respect to foraging behaviour. The use of social information by foraging bats was documented in insectivorous, carnivorous and frugivorous species, but there are little data whether flower-visiting nectarivorous bats (Phyllostomidae: Glossophaginae) can acquire information about food from other individuals. In this study, we conducted an experiment with a demonstrator-observer paradigm to investigate whether flower-visiting Pallas' long-tongued bats (Glossophaga soricina) are able to socially learn novel flower positions via observation of, or interaction with, knowledgeable conspecifics. The results demonstrate that flower-visiting G. soricina are able to use social information for the location of novel flower positions and can thereby reduce energy-costly search efforts. This social transmission is explainable as a result of local enhancement; learning bats might rely on both visual and echo-acoustical perception and are likely to eavesdrop on auditory cues that are emitted by feeding conspecifics. We additionally tested the spatial memory capacity of former demonstrator bats when retrieving a learned flower position, and the results indicate that flower-visiting bats remember a learned flower position after several weeks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Rose
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstr. 10/1, 89069, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Miriam Kolar
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstr. 10/1, 89069, Ulm, Germany
| | - Marco Tschapka
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstr. 10/1, 89069, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Roosevelt Avenida, Tupper Building 401, Balboa, Panama
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstr. 10/1, 89069, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Roosevelt Avenida, Tupper Building 401, Balboa, Panama
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18
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Christensen JW. Early-life object exposure with a habituated mother reduces fear reactions in foals. Anim Cogn 2015; 19:171-9. [PMID: 26395986 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-015-0924-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2015] [Revised: 09/04/2015] [Accepted: 09/14/2015] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Fear reactions in horses are a major cause of horse-human accidents, and identification of effective pathways for reduction in fearfulness can help decreasing the frequency of accidents. For a young mammal, the mother is one of the most salient aspects of its environment, and she can have a strong influence on her offspring's behaviour. This study investigated whether fearfulness in foals can be reduced through weekly exposure to usually frightening objects with a habituated mother during the first 8 weeks of life. Prior to foaling, mares (N = 22) were habituated to five initially fear-eliciting situations, including exposure to novel stationary and moving objects. At birth, the foals were randomly assigned to either a Demonstration group (N = 11) or a Control group (N = 11). Demonstration mares demonstrated habituation towards the objects to their foals once per week in weeks 1-8 post-partum. Control mares were inside the empty test arena with their foals for the same amount of time. The foals were tested at 8 weeks and 5 months of age in four standardised fear tests. Demonstration foals showed significantly reduced fear responses (behaviour and heart rate) and increased exploratory behaviour at both 8 weeks and 5 months of age. The effect was likely achieved through a combination of maternal transmission and individual learning. It is concluded that fearfulness in foals may be reduced through exposure to frightening objects together with their habituated mother during the first 8 weeks of life.
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Little AC, Caldwell CA, Jones BC, DeBruine LM. Observer age and the social transmission of attractiveness in humans: Younger women are more influenced by the choices of popular others than older women. Br J Psychol 2014; 106:397-413. [PMID: 25314951 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2013] [Revised: 08/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Being paired with an attractive partner increases perceptual judgements of attractiveness in humans. We tested experimentally for prestige bias, whereby individuals follow the choices of prestigious others. Women rated the attractiveness of photographs of target males which were paired with either popular or less popular model female partners. We found that pairing a photo of a man with a woman presented as his partner positively influenced the attractiveness of the man when the woman was presented as more popular (Experiment 1). Further, this effect was stronger in younger participants compared to older participants (Experiment 1). Reversing the target and model such that women were asked to rate women paired with popular and less popular men revealed no effect of model popularity and this effect was unrelated to participant age (Experiment 2). An additional experiment confirmed that participant age and not stimulus age primarily influenced the tendency to follow others' preferences in Experiment 1 (Experiment 3). We also confirmed that our manipulations of popularity lead to variation in rated prestige (Experiment 4). These results suggest a sophisticated model-based bias in social learning whereby individuals are most influenced by the choices of those who have high popularity/prestige. Furthermore, older individuals moderate their use of such social information and so this form of social learning appears strongest in younger women.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Benedict C Jones
- Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK
| | - Lisa M DeBruine
- Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK
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