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Trends in Cognitive Sciences Oct 2020A fundamental question in psychology and neuroscience is the extent to which cognitive and neural processes are specialised for social behaviour, or are shared with... (Review)
Review
A fundamental question in psychology and neuroscience is the extent to which cognitive and neural processes are specialised for social behaviour, or are shared with other 'non-social' cognitive, perceptual, and motor faculties. Here we apply the influential framework of Marr (1982) across research in humans, monkeys, and rodents to propose that information processing can be understood as 'social' or 'non-social' at different levels. We argue that processes can be socially specialised at the implementational and/or the algorithmic level, and that changing the goal of social behaviour can also change social specificity. This framework could provide important new insights into the nature of social behaviour across species, facilitate greater integration, and inspire novel theoretical and empirical approaches.
Topics: Algorithms; Brain; Cognition; Neurosciences; Social Behavior
PubMed: 32736965
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.06.011 -
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity May 2023Aging is associated with remodelling of immune and central nervous system responses resulting in behavioural impairments including social deficits. Growing evidence...
Aging is associated with remodelling of immune and central nervous system responses resulting in behavioural impairments including social deficits. Growing evidence suggests that the gut microbiome is also impacted by aging, and we propose that strategies to reshape the aged gut microbiome may ameliorate some age-related effects on host physiology. Thus, we assessed the impact of gut microbiota depletion, using an antibiotic cocktail, on aging and its impact on social behavior and the immune system. Indeed, microbiota depletion in aged mice eliminated the age-dependent deficits in social recognition. We further demonstrate that although age and gut microbiota depletion differently shape the peripheral immune response, aging induces an accumulation of T cells in the choroid plexus, that is partially blunted following microbiota depletion. Moreover, an untargeted metabolomic analysis revealed age-dependent alterations of cecal metabolites that are reshaped by gut microbiota depletion. Together, our results suggest that the aged gut microbiota can be specifically targeted to affect social deficits. These studies propel the need for future investigations of other non-antibiotic microbiota targeted interventions on age-related social deficits both in animal models and humans.
Topics: Humans; Mice; Animals; Aged; Microbiota; Social Behavior; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Recognition, Psychology; Aging
PubMed: 36791892
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2023.02.008 -
Current Protocols Jun 2021Prairie voles have emerged as an important rodent model for understanding the neuroscience of social behavior. Prairie voles are well known for their capacity for pair...
Prairie voles have emerged as an important rodent model for understanding the neuroscience of social behavior. Prairie voles are well known for their capacity for pair bonding and alloparental care. These behavioral phenomena overlap with human social behavior but are not commonly observed in traditional rodent models. In this article, we highlight the many benefits of using prairie voles in neuroscience research. We begin by describing the advantages of using diverse and non-traditional study models. We then focus on social behaviors, including pair bonding, alloparental care, and peer interactions, that have brought voles to the forefront of social neuroscience. We describe many additional features of prairie vole biology and behavior that provide researchers with opportunities to address an array of research questions. We also survey neuroethological methods that have been used with prairie voles, from classic to modern techniques. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of other vole species, particularly meadow voles, and their own unique advantages for neuroscience studies. This article provides a foundation for researchers who are new to working with voles, as well as for experienced neuroscientists who want to expand their research scope. © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Topics: Animals; Arvicolinae; Peer Group; Social Behavior
PubMed: 34170636
DOI: 10.1002/cpz1.175 -
Primates; Journal of Primatology Sep 2022For close to 50 years, my research has focused on social relationships and social structure, particularly in macaques, and has been marked by a gradual broadening of... (Review)
Review
For close to 50 years, my research has focused on social relationships and social structure, particularly in macaques, and has been marked by a gradual broadening of scope. Supported by open-minded parents, I followed a once unconventional path into field primatology largely by ignoring distinct gender-based ideas about appropriate occupations for women that were prevalent when I was a child. Later, as Robert Hinde's PhD advisee, I benefited enormously from his mentoring and from the transformative experience he provided. I began by examining infant social development in free-ranging rhesus monkeys and the integration of infants into the kinship and dominance structures of their groups. I gradually branched out to look at (1) kinship and dominance in additional age classes and macaque species, (2) additional aspects of social structure (reciprocity, agonistic support, tolerance, cooperation, conflict management), (3) mechanisms and organizing principles (e.g., attraction to kin and high rank, intergenerational transmission, demography, reciprocity, social style, time constraints) and (4) evolutionary underpinnings of social relationships and structure (e.g., parental investment, kin selection, socioecology, phylogeny, biological markets). For much of this journey, I have been accompanied by talented PhD students who have enriched my experience and whom I am now proud to call colleagues and friends. It is gratifying to realize that my career choice is no longer considered as unconventional as it once was.
Topics: Animals; Commerce; Female; Humans; Macaca mulatta; Male; Social Behavior; Social Dominance
PubMed: 35925423
DOI: 10.1007/s10329-022-01000-5 -
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 -
Current Opinion in Psychology Apr 2022The field of prosociality is flourishing, yet researchers disagree about how to define prosocial behavior and often neglect defining it altogether. In this review, we... (Review)
Review
The field of prosociality is flourishing, yet researchers disagree about how to define prosocial behavior and often neglect defining it altogether. In this review, we provide an overview about the breadth of definitions of prosocial behavior and the related concept of altruism. Common to almost all definitions is an emphasis on the promotion of welfare in agents other than the actor. However, definitions of the two concepts differ in terms of whether they emphasize intentions and motives, costs and benefits, and the societal context. In order to improve on the conceptual ambiguity surrounding the study of prosociality, we urge researchers to provide definitions, to use operationalizations that match their definitions, and to acknowledge the diversity of prosocial behavior.
Topics: Altruism; Humans; Motivation; Social Behavior
PubMed: 34627110
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.021 -
Current Opinion in Neurobiology Oct 2020What is good for others, may not be in my best interest. Individuals should not, and do not, respond identically in the same environment. Personalized social behavior is... (Review)
Review
What is good for others, may not be in my best interest. Individuals should not, and do not, respond identically in the same environment. Personalized social behavior is particularly important to ultimately ensure reproductive fitness. How and where neural activity is modulated to customize behavior has remained largely unknown. The robust response to pheromones provides a platform to identify the logic of how the brain initiates social behavior. Mouse pheromones engage innate motor actions that underlie social behavior yet are plastic to suit individual needs. Recent study of mouse pheromone behavior, neurocircuit activity, and functional manipulations is beginning to paint a complex, dynamic, and diverse picture of the mechanisms that enable flexible modulation of social behavior.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Brain; Mice; Pheromones; Social Behavior
PubMed: 32682209
DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2020.05.003 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Aug 2022Empathy is critical to adjusting our behavior to the state of others. The past decade dramatically deepened our understanding of the biological origin of this capacity.... (Review)
Review
Empathy is critical to adjusting our behavior to the state of others. The past decade dramatically deepened our understanding of the biological origin of this capacity. We now understand that rodents robustly show emotional contagion for the distress of others via neural structures homologous to those involved in human empathy. Their propensity to approach others in distress strengthens this effect. Although rodents can also learn to favor behaviors that benefit others via structures overlapping with those of emotional contagion, they do so less reliably and more selectively. Together, this suggests evolution selected mechanisms for emotional contagion to prepare animals for dangers by using others as sentinels. Such shared emotions additionally can, under certain circumstances, promote prosocial behavior.
Topics: Altruism; Animals; Emotions; Empathy; Humans; Rodentia; Social Behavior
PubMed: 35667978
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.05.005 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Aug 2022Social norms have long been recognized as an important factor in curtailing antisocial behavior, and stricter prosocial norms are commonly associated with increased...
Social norms have long been recognized as an important factor in curtailing antisocial behavior, and stricter prosocial norms are commonly associated with increased prosocial behavior. In this study, we provide evidence that very strict prosocial norms can have a perverse negative relationship with prosocial behavior. In laboratory experiments conducted in 10 countries across 5 continents, we measured the level of honest behavior and elicited injunctive norms of honesty. We find that individuals who hold very strict norms (i.e., those who perceive a small lie to be as socially unacceptable as a large lie) are more likely to lie to the maximal extent possible. This finding is consistent with a simple behavioral rationale. If the perceived norm does not differentiate between the severity of a lie, lying to the full extent is optimal for a norm violator since it maximizes the financial gain, while the perceived costs of the norm violation are unchanged. We show that the relation between very strict prosocial norms and high levels of rule violations generalizes to civic norms related to common moral dilemmas, such as tax evasion, cheating on government benefits, and fare dodging on public transportation. Those with very strict attitudes toward civic norms are more likely to lie to the maximal extent possible. A similar relation holds across countries. Countries with a larger fraction of people with very strict attitudes toward civic norms have a higher society-level prevalence of rule violations.
Topics: Cultural Characteristics; Deception; Humans; Morals; Social Behavior; Social Norms
PubMed: 35901207
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2120138119 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Apr 2023Sociality is widespread among animals, and involves complex relationships within and between social groups. While intragroup interactions are often cooperative,...
Sociality is widespread among animals, and involves complex relationships within and between social groups. While intragroup interactions are often cooperative, intergroup interactions typically involve conflict, or at best tolerance. Active cooperation between members of distinct, separate groups occurs very rarely, predominantly in some primate and ant species. Here, we ask why intergroup cooperation is so rare, and what conditions favour its evolution. We present a model incorporating intra- and intergroup relationships and local and long-distance dispersal. We show that dispersal modes play a pivotal role in the evolution of intergroup interactions. Both long-distance and local dispersal processes drive population social structure, and the costs and benefits of intergroup conflict, tolerance and cooperation. Overall, the evolution of multi-group interaction patterns, including both intergroup aggression and intergroup tolerance, or even altruism, is more likely with mostly localized dispersal. However, the evolution of these intergroup relationships may have significant ecological impacts, and this feedback may alter the ecological conditions that favour its own evolution. These results show that the evolution of intergroup cooperation is favoured by a specific set of conditions, and may not be evolutionarily stable. We discuss how our results relate to empirical evidence of intergroup cooperation in ants and primates. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Collective behaviour through time'.
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Social Behavior; Aggression; Altruism; Primates; Cooperative Behavior
PubMed: 36802776
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0074