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Neuron Feb 2024Social animals compete for limited resources, resulting in a social hierarchy. Although different neuronal subpopulations in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which...
Social animals compete for limited resources, resulting in a social hierarchy. Although different neuronal subpopulations in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which has been mechanistically implicated in social dominance behavior, encode distinct social competition behaviors, their identities and associated molecular underpinnings have not yet been identified. In this study, we found that mPFC neurons projecting to the nucleus accumbens (mPFC-NAc) encode social winning behavior, whereas mPFC neurons projecting to the ventral tegmental area (mPFC-VTA) encode social losing behavior. High-throughput single-cell transcriptomic analysis and projection-specific genetic manipulation revealed that the expression level of POU domain, class 3, transcription factor 1 (Pou3f1) in mPFC-VTA neurons controls social hierarchy. Optogenetic activation of mPFC-VTA neurons increases Pou3f1 expression and lowers social rank. Together, these data demonstrate that discrete activity and gene expression in separate mPFC projections oppositely orchestrate social competition and hierarchy.
Topics: Animals; Ventral Tegmental Area; Nucleus Accumbens; Social Behavior; Prefrontal Cortex; Neurons
PubMed: 38086372
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.11.012 -
Human Nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.) Sep 2023This research provides evidence regarding the causal effect of group conformity on task performance in stable and variable environments. Drawing on studies in cultural... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
This research provides evidence regarding the causal effect of group conformity on task performance in stable and variable environments. Drawing on studies in cultural evolution, social learning, and social psychology, we experimentally tested the hypotheses that conformity improves group performance in a stable environment (H1) and decreases performance (by hindering adaptability) in a temporally variable environment (H2). We compare the performance of individuals, low conformity groups, and high conformity groups in a four-arm randomized lab experiment (N = 240). High conformity was manipulated by rewarding agreement with the group's majority and imposing a cost on disagreement. The monetary implications of conformity impaired performance in a variable environment but did not have a significant effect on performance in the stable environment. Intragroup individual-level analyses provide insights into the mechanisms that account for the group-level results by showing that lower conformity in groups facilitates efficient adaptability in the use of social information.
Topics: Humans; Cultural Evolution; Group Processes; Social Behavior; Social Conformity; Social Learning
PubMed: 37541988
DOI: 10.1007/s12110-023-09454-2 -
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge... Aug 2023Social learning is widespread in the animal kingdom and is involved in behaviours from navigation and predator avoidance to mate choice and foraging. While social... (Review)
Review
Social learning is widespread in the animal kingdom and is involved in behaviours from navigation and predator avoidance to mate choice and foraging. While social learning has been extensively studied in group-living species, this article presents a literature review demonstrating that social learning is also seen in a range of non-grouping animals, including arthropods, fishes and tetrapod groups, and in a variety of behavioural contexts. We should not be surprised by this pattern, since non-grouping animals are not necessarily non-social, and stand to benefit from attending to and responding to social information in the same ways that group-living species do. The article goes on to ask what non-grouping species can tell us about the evolution and development of social learning. First, while social learning may be based on the same cognitive processes as other kinds of learning, albeit with social stimuli, sensory organs and brain regions associated with detection and motivation to respond to social information may be under selection. Non-grouping species may provide useful comparison taxa in phylogenetic analyses investigating if and how the social environment drives selection on these input channels. Second, non-grouping species may be ideal candidates for exploring how ontogenetic experience of social cues shapes the development of social learning, allowing researchers to avoid some of the negative welfare implications associated with raising group-living animals under restricted social conditions. Finally, while non-grouping species may be capable of learning socially under experimental conditions, there is a need to consider how non-grouping restricts access to learning opportunities under natural conditions and whether this places a functional constraint on what non-grouping animals actually learn socially in the wild.
Topics: Animals; Social Learning; Social Behavior; Phylogeny; Learning; Brain
PubMed: 36992613
DOI: 10.1111/brv.12954 -
Nature Feb 2024To survive in a complex social group, one needs to know who to approach and, more importantly, who to avoid. In mice, a single defeat causes the losing mouse to stay...
To survive in a complex social group, one needs to know who to approach and, more importantly, who to avoid. In mice, a single defeat causes the losing mouse to stay away from the winner for weeks. Here through a series of functional manipulation and recording experiments, we identify oxytocin neurons in the retrochiasmatic supraoptic nucleus (SOR) and oxytocin-receptor-expressing cells in the anterior subdivision of the ventromedial hypothalamus, ventrolateral part (aVMHvl) as a key circuit motif for defeat-induced social avoidance. Before defeat, aVMHvl cells minimally respond to aggressor cues. During defeat, aVMHvl cells are highly activated and, with the help of an exclusive oxytocin supply from the SOR, potentiate their responses to aggressor cues. After defeat, strong aggressor-induced aVMHvl cell activation drives the animal to avoid the aggressor and minimizes future defeat. Our study uncovers a neural process that supports rapid social learning caused by defeat and highlights the importance of the brain oxytocin system in social plasticity.
Topics: Animals; Mice; Aggression; Avoidance Learning; Cues; Fear; Hypothalamus; Neural Pathways; Neurons; Oxytocin; Receptors, Oxytocin; Social Behavior; Social Learning; Supraoptic Nucleus; Ventromedial Hypothalamic Nucleus; Neuronal Plasticity
PubMed: 38267576
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06958-w -
Pediatrics Sep 2023The goal of this study was to describe the typical, longitudinal, developmental trajectories of communication and social functioning in individuals with autism spectrum...
OBJECTIVES
The goal of this study was to describe the typical, longitudinal, developmental trajectories of communication and social functioning in individuals with autism spectrum disorder from childhood through adulthood and to determine the correlates of these trajectories.
METHODS
Children with autism spectrum disorder who were born in California from 1992 through 2016 and enrolled with the California Department of Developmental Services were identified. Subjects with <4 evaluations in the database were excluded, resulting in a sample of 71 285 individuals. Score sequences were constructed based on evaluative items for communication and social functioning. Typical trajectories were identified using group-based latent trajectory modeling, and logistic regression was used to determine the odds of classification into a social adolescent decline trajectory by individual-, family-, and zip code-level factors.
RESULTS
Six typical patterns of communication functioning and 7 typical patterns of social functioning were identified. Whereas the majority of autistic individuals exhibit improved communication functioning as they age, the majority of individuals exhibit steady social functioning. A small group of individuals (5.0%) exhibits high social functioning in childhood that declines in adolescence. Membership in this adolescent decline group is associated with maternal non-Hispanic white race and ethnicity, female sex, moderate levels of maternal education, lower zip code-level median home values and population density, and higher zip code-level inequality.
CONCLUSIONS
Most autistic individuals show improved communication and social functioning as they age, but not all do. Trajectory group membership is correlated with socioeconomic status. Future research should investigate what drives these correlations.
Topics: Adolescent; Child; Humans; Female; Autistic Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Communication; Databases, Factual; Educational Status
PubMed: 37615073
DOI: 10.1542/peds.2022-058674 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Nov 2023Synchronization, the human tendency to align behaviors in time with others, is necessary for many survival skills. The ability to synchronize actions with rhythmic... (Review)
Review
Synchronization, the human tendency to align behaviors in time with others, is necessary for many survival skills. The ability to synchronize actions with rhythmic (predictable) sound patterns is especially well developed in music making. Recent models of synchrony in musical ensembles rely on pairwise comparisons between group members. This pairwise approach to synchrony has hampered theory development, given current findings from social dynamics indicating shifts in members' influence within larger groups. We draw on social theory and nonlinear dynamics to argue that emergent properties and novel roles arise in musical group synchrony that differ from individual or pairwise behaviors. This transformational shift in defining synchrony sheds light on successful outcomes as well as on disruptions that cause negative behavioral outcomes.
PubMed: 37277276
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.05.005 -
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review Aug 2023Why, when, and how do stereotypes change? This paper develops a computational account based on the principles of structure learning: stereotypes are governed by... (Review)
Review
Why, when, and how do stereotypes change? This paper develops a computational account based on the principles of structure learning: stereotypes are governed by probabilistic beliefs about the assignment of individuals to groups. Two aspects of this account are particularly important. First, groups are flexibly constructed based on the distribution of traits across individuals; groups are not fixed, nor are they assumed to map on to categories we have to provide to the model. This allows the model to explain the phenomena of group discovery and subtyping, whereby deviant individuals are segregated from a group, thus protecting the group's stereotype. Second, groups are hierarchically structured, such that groups can be nested. This allows the model to explain the phenomenon of subgrouping, whereby a collection of deviant individuals is organized into a refinement of the superordinate group. The structure learning account also sheds light on several factors that determine stereotype change, including perceived group variability, individual typicality, cognitive load, and sample size.
Topics: Humans; Social Perception; Stereotyping; Learning; Phenotype; Sample Size
PubMed: 36973602
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02252-y -
Behavioural Brain Research Jul 2024Social cognition is a set of mental skills necessary to create satisfactory interpersonal relationships and feel a sense of belonging to a social group. Its deficits... (Review)
Review
Social cognition is a set of mental skills necessary to create satisfactory interpersonal relationships and feel a sense of belonging to a social group. Its deficits significantly reduce the quality of life in people with epilepsy. Studies on social cognition and its impairments focus predominantly on people with focal epilepsies. Idiopathic generalised epilepsies are a group of diseases that share similar clinical, prognostic and electrographic characteristics. Despite their typically normal intelligence, people with Idiopathic generalised epilepsies can suffer from learning disabilities and executive dysfunctions. Current studies also suggest social cognition impairments, but their results are inconsistent. This review offers the latest knowledge of social cognition in adults with Idiopathic generalised epilepsies. In addition, we provide an overview of the most frequently used assessment methods. We explain possible reasons for different outcomes and discuss future research perspectives.
Topics: Humans; Social Cognition; Epilepsy, Generalized; Executive Function
PubMed: 38734033
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115044 -
Human Nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.) Dec 2023Humans share with other mammals and primates many social motivations and emotions, but they are also much more cooperative than even their closest primate relatives.... (Review)
Review
Humans share with other mammals and primates many social motivations and emotions, but they are also much more cooperative than even their closest primate relatives. Here I review recent comparative experiments and analyses that illustrate humans' species-typical social motivations and emotions for cooperation in comparison with those of other great apes. These may be classified most generally as (i) 'you > me' (e.g., prosocial sympathy, informative and pedagogical motives in communication); (ii) 'you = me' (e.g., feelings of mutual respect, fairness, resentment); (iii) 'we > me' (e.g., feelings of obligation and guilt); and (iv) 'WE (in the group) > me' (e.g., in-group loyalty and conformity to norms, shame, and many in-group biases). The existence of these species-typical and species-universal motivations and emotions provides compelling evidence for the importance of cooperative activities in the human species.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Motivation; Emotions; Guilt; Hominidae; Shame; Mammals
PubMed: 37971576
DOI: 10.1007/s12110-023-09464-0 -
Royal Society Open Science Sep 2023Music is an interactive technology associated with religious and communal activities and was suggested to have evolved as a participatory activity supporting social...
Music is an interactive technology associated with religious and communal activities and was suggested to have evolved as a participatory activity supporting social bonding. In post-industrial societies, however, music's communal role was eclipsed by its relatively passive consumption by audiences disconnected from performers. It was suggested that as societies became larger and more differentiated, music became less participatory and more focused on solo singing. Here, we consider the prevalence of group singing and its relationship to social organization through the analysis of two global song corpora: 5776 coded audio recordings from 1024 societies, and 4709 coded ethnographic texts from 60 societies. In both corpora, we find that group singing is more common than solo singing, and that it is more likely in some social contexts (e.g. religious rituals, dance) than in others (e.g. healing, infant care). In contrast, relationships between group singing and social structure (community size or social differentiation) were not consistent within or between corpora. While we cannot exclude the possibility of sampling bias leading to systematic under-sampling of solo singing, our results from two large global corpora of different data types provide support for the interactive nature of music and its complex relationship with sociality.
PubMed: 37680502
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230562