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5,666 results for “Social”
Data from: Transforming water: social influence moderates psychological, physiological, and functional response to a placebo product
This paper investigates how social influence can alter physiological, psychological, and functional responses to a placebo product and how such responses influence the ultimate endorsement of the product. Participants consumed a product, "AquaCharge Energy Water," falsely-labeled as containing 200 mg of caffeine but which was actually plain spring water, in one of three conditions: a no social influence condition, a disconfirming social influence condition, and a confirming social influence condition. Results demonstrated that the effect of the product labeling on physiological alertness (systolic blood pressure), psychological alertness (self-reported alertness), functional alertness (cognitive interference), and product endorsement was moderated by social influence: participants experienced more subjective, physiological and functional alertness and stronger product endorsement when they consumed the product in the confirming social influence condition than when they consumed the product in the disconfirming social influence condition. These results suggest that social influence can alter subjective, physiological, and functional responses to a faux product, in this case transforming the effects of plain water.
Data from: Vitellogenin-like A–associated shifts in social cue responsiveness regulate behavioral task specialization in an ant
Division of labor and task specialization explain the success of human and insect societies. Social insect colonies are characterized by division of labor with workers specializing on brood care early and foraging later in life. Theory posits that this task switching requires shifts in responsiveness to task-related cues, yet experimental evidence is weak. Here we show that a Vitellogenin (Vg) ortholog identified in a RNAseq study on the ant Temnothorax longispinosus is involved in this process: Using phylogenetic analyses of Vg and Vg-like genes, we firstly show that this candidate gene does not cluster with the intensively studied honey bee Vg, but falls into a separate Vg-like A cluster. Secondly, an experimental knockdown of Vg-like A in the fat body caused a reduction in brood care and an increase in nestmate care in young ant workers. Nestmate care is normally exhibited by older workers. We demonstrate experimentally that this task switch is at least partly based on Vg-like-A-associated shifts in responsiveness from brood to worker cues. We thus reveal a novel mechanism leading to early behavioral maturation via changes in social cue responsiveness mediated by Vg-like A and associated pathways, which proximately play a role in regulating division of labor.
Data from: A shift from magnitude to sign epistasis during adaptive evolution of a bacterial social trait
While the importance of epistasis in evolution has long been recognized, remarkably little is known about the processes by which epistatic interactions evolve in real time in specific biological systems. Here, we have characterized how the epistatic fitness relationship between a social gene and an adapting genome changes radically over a short evolutionary time frame in the social bacterium Myxococcus xanthus. We show that a highly beneficial effect of this social gene in the ancestral genome is gradually reduced – and ultimately reversed into a deleterious effect – over the course of an experimental adaptive trajectory in which a primitive form of novel cooperation evolved. This reduction and reversal of a positive social allelic effect is driven solely by changes in the genetic context in which the gene is expressed as new mutations are sequentially fixed during adaptive evolution, and explicitly demonstrates a significant evolutionary change in the genetic architecture of an ecologically important social trait.
Data from: Heritabilities, social environment effects and genetic correlations of social behaviours in a cooperatively breeding vertebrate
Social animals interact frequently with conspecifics, and their behaviour is influenced by social context, environmental cues and the behaviours of interaction partners, allowing for adaptive, flexible adjustments to social encounters. This flexibility can be limited by part of the behavioural variation being genetically determined. Furthermore, behaviours can be genetically correlated, potentially constraining independent evolution. Understanding social behaviour thus requires carefully disentangling genetic, environmental, maternal and social sources of variations as well as the correlation structure between behaviours. Here, we assessed heritability, maternal, common environment and social effects of eight social behaviours in Neolamprologus pulcher, a cooperatively breeding cichlid. We bred wild-caught fish in a paternal half-sibling design and scored ability to defend a resource against conspecifics, to integrate into a group and the propensity to help defending the group territory ('helping behaviour'). We assessed genetic, social and phenotypic correlations within clusters of behaviours predicted to be functionally related, namely 'competition', 'aggression', 'aggression-sociability', 'integration' and 'integration-help'. Helping behaviour and two affiliative behaviours were heritable, whereas there was little evidence for a genetic basis in all other traits. Phenotypic social effects explained part of the variation in a sociable and a submissive behaviour, but there were no maternal or common environment effects. Genetic and phenotypic correlation within clusters were mostly positive. A group's social environment influenced covariances of social behaviours. Genetic correlations were similar in magnitude but usually exceeding the phenotypic ones, indicating that conclusions about the evolution of social behaviours in this species could be provisionally drawn from phenotypic data in cases where data for genetic analyses are unobtainable.
Data from: Excessive use of WeChat, social interaction and locus of control among college students in China
In China, the number of college students using mobile phone based messaging and social networking applications like WeChat is increasing rapidly. However, there has been minimal research into the addictive nature of these applications and the psychological characteristics associate with their excessive use. There is also no published scale available for assessing excessive use of WeChat and similar applications. In the current study, we collected data from 1,245 college students in China (715 females) and developed the WeChat Excessive Use Scale (WEUS). We then assessed the relationship between excessive use of WeChat and excessive use of a social networking application-Weibo, problematic use of mobile phones, external locus of control, and social interaction skills. Our 10-item scale featured three factors, namely- "mood modification," "salience" and ''conflict"- critical factors in assessing different forms of addiction. The WEUS was found to be a reliable instrument in assessing excessive use of WeChat as it showed good internal consistency and correlated with other measures of problematic use social networking and mobile phone addiction. Our results showed that excessive users of WeChat are more likely to excessively use Weibo than they are to problematically use mobile phones. Our study also showed that greater excessive use of WeChat is associated with higher external locus of control and greater online social interaction skills. These results reveal that WeChat has unique and strong appeal among college students in China. Further, practitioners should consider dealing with malleable factors like locus of control and real life social skills in treating people with problematic messaging and social networking.
Data from: Socially selected ornaments and fitness: signals of fighting ability in paper wasps are positively associated with survival, reproductive success, and rank
Many animals have ornaments that mediate choice and competition in social and sexual contexts. Individuals with elaborate sexual ornaments typically have higher fitness than those with less elaborate ornaments, but less is known about whether socially selected ornaments are associated with fitness. Here, we test the relationship between fitness and facial patterns that are a socially-selected signal of fighting ability in Polistes dominula wasps. We found wasps that signal higher fighting ability have larger nests, are more likely to survive harsh winters, and obtain higher dominance rank than wasps that signal lower fighting ability. In comparison, body weight was not associated with fitness. Larger wasps were dominant over smaller wasps, but showed no difference nest size or survival. Overall, the positive relationship between wasp facial patterns and fitness indicates that receivers can obtain diverse information about a signaler's phenotypic quality by paying attention to socially selected ornaments. Therefore, there are surprisingly strong parallels between the information conveyed by socially and sexually selected signals. Similar fitness relationships in social and sexually selected signals may be one reason it can be difficult to distinguish the role of social versus sexual selection in ornament evolution.
Data from: Social information from immigrants: multiple immigrant based sources of information for dispersal decisions in a ciliate
1. Dispersal is increasingly recognized as being an informed process, based on information organisms obtain about the landscape. While local conditions are often found to drive dispersal decisions, local context is not always a reliable predictor of conditions in neighbouring patches, making the use of local information potentially useless or even maladaptive. In this case, using social information gathered by immigrants might allow adjusting dispersal decisions without paying the costs of prospecting. However, this hypothesis has been largely neglected despite its major importance for ecological and evolutionary processes. 2. We investigated three fundamental questions about immigrant-informed dispersal: Do immigrants convey information that influences dispersal, do organisms use multiple cues from immigrants, and is immigrant-informed dispersal genotype dependent? 3. Using Tetrahymena thermophila ciliates in microcosms, we manipulated the number of immigrants arriving, the density of congeners, the resource quality in neighbouring patches, matrix characteristics and the level of cooperation of individuals in the neighbouring populations. 4. We provide the first experimental evidence that immigrants convey a number of different cues about neighbouring patches and matrix (patch quality, matrix characteristics and cooperation in neighbouring populations) in this relatively simple organism. Furthermore, we demonstrate genotype-dependent immigrant-informed dispersal decisions about patch quality and matrix characteristics. 5. Multiple cues from immigrants and genotype-dependent use of cues have major implications for theoretical metapopulation dynamics and the potential for local adaptation.
Data from: Temporal stability in a male African elephant social network
Social animals live in complex and variable socio-ecological environments where individuals adapt their behaviour to local conditions. Recently, there have been calls for studies of animal social networks to take account of temporal dynamics in social relationships as these have implications for the spread of information and disease, group cohesion, and the drivers of sociality, and there is evidence that maintaining stable social relationships has fitness benefits. It has recently been recognised that male elephants form strong social bonds with other males. The nature of these relationships, and thus network structure, may vary over time in response to environmental conditions and as individuals age. Using social network analysis, we examine the stability of relationships and network centrality in a population of male African elephants. Our results suggest that males may maintain stable social relationships with others over time. Older males show greater stability in network centrality than younger males, suggesting younger males face uncertainty in transitioning to adult society. For elephants, where older individuals function as social repositories of knowledge, maintaining a social network underpinned by older males could be of particular importance.
Data from: No evidence for social immunity in co-founding queen associations
Ant queens often associate to found new colonies, yet the benefits of this behaviour remain unclear. A major hypothesis is that queens founding in groups are protected by social immunity and can better resist disease than solitary queens, due to mutual grooming, sharing of antimicrobials, or higher genetic diversity among their workers. We tested this hypothesis by manipulating the number of queens in incipient colonies of Lasius niger and measuring their resistance to the fungal entomopathogen Metarhizium brunneum. We found no evidence for social immunity in associations of founding queens. First, co-founding queens engaged in self-grooming, but performed very little allo-grooming or trophallaxis. Second, co-founding queens did not exhibit higher pathogen resistance than solitary queens, and their respective workers did not differ in disease resistance. Finally, queens founding in groups increased their investment in a component of individual immunity, as expected if they do not benefit from social immunity but respond to a higher risk of disease. Overall, our results provide no evidence that joint colony founding by L. niger queens increases their ability to resist fungal pathogens.
Data from: Spite versus cheats: competition among social strategies shapes virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Social interactions have been shown to play an important role in bacterial evolution and virulence. The majority of empirical studies conducted have only considered social traits in isolation, yet numerous social traits, such as the production of spiteful bacteriocins (anti-competitor toxins) and iron-scavenging siderophores (a public good) by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, are frequently expressed simultaneously. Crucially, both bacteriocin production and siderophore cheating can be favoured under the same competitive conditions, and we develop theory and carry out experiments to determine how the success of a bacteriocin-producing genotype is influenced by social cheating of susceptible competitors and the resultant impact on disease severity (virulence). Consistent with our theoretical predictions, we find that the spiteful genotype is favoured at higher local frequencies when competing against public good cheats. Furthermore, the relationship between spite frequency and virulence is significantly altered when the spiteful genotype is competed against cheats compared with cooperators. These results confirm the ecological and evolutionary importance of considering multiple social traits simultaneously. Moreover, our results are consistent with recent theory regarding the invasion conditions for strong reciprocity (helping cooperators and harming non-cooperators).
Data from: An active-radio-frequency-identification system capable of identifying co-locations and social-structure: validation with a wild free-ranging animal
Behavioural events that are important for understanding sociobiology and movement ecology are often rare, transient and localised, but can occur at spatially distant sites e.g. territorial incursions and co-locating individuals. Existing animal tracking technologies, capable of detecting such events, are limited by one or more of: battery life; data resolution; location accuracy; data security; ability to co-locate individuals both spatially and temporally. Technology that at least partly resolves these limitations would be advantageous. European badgers (Meles meles L.), present a challenging test-bed, with extra-group paternity (apparent from genotyping) contradicting established views on rigid group territoriality with little social-group mixing. In a proof of concept study we assess the utility of a fully automated active-radio-frequency-identification (aRFID) system combining badger-borne aRFID-tags with static, wirelessly-networked, aRFID-detector base-stations to record badger co-locations at setts (burrows) and near notional border latrines. We summarise the time badgers spent co-locating within and between social-groups, applying network analysis to provide evidence of co-location based community structure, at both these scales. The aRFID system co-located animals within 31.5 m (adjustable) of base-stations. Efficient radio transmission between aRFIDs and base-stations enables a 20 g tag to last for 2–5 years (depending on transmission interval). Data security was high (data stored off tag), with remote access capability. Badgers spent most co-location time with members of their own social-groups at setts; remaining co-location time was divided evenly between intra- and inter-social-group co-locations near latrines and inter-social-group co-locations at setts. Network analysis showed that 20–100% of tracked badgers engaged in inter-social-group mixing per week, with evidence of trans-border super-groups, that is, badgers frequently transgressed notional territorial borders. aRFID occupies a distinct niche amongst established tracking technologies. We validated the utility of aRFID to identify co-locations, social-structure and inter-group mixing within a wild badger population, leading us to refute the conventional view that badgers (social-groups) are territorial and to question management strategies, for controlling bovine TB, based on this model. Ultimately aRFID proved a versatile system capable of identifying social-structure at the landscape scale, operating for years and suitable for use with a range of species.
Data from: The ecology of sexual conflict: temperature variation in the social environment can drastically modulate male harm to females
1. Sexual conflict is a fundamental driver of male/female adaptations, an engine of biodiversity, and a crucial determinant of population viability. Sexual conflict frequently leads to behavioural adaptations that allow males to displace their rivals, but in doing so harm those same females they are competing to access, which can decrease population viability and facilitate extinction. 2. We are far from understanding what factors modulate the intensity of sexual conflict, and particularly the role of ecology in mediating underlying behavioural adaptations. 3. In this study we show that, in Drosophila melanogaster, variations in environmental temperature of ±4ºC decrease male harm impact on female fitness by between 45-73%. Rate-sensitive fitness estimates indicate that such modulation results in an average rescue of population productivity of 7% at colder temperatures and 23% at hotter temperatures. 4. Our results: a) show that the thermal ecology of social interactions can drastically modulate male harm via behaviourally plasticity, b) identify a potentially crucial ecological factor to understand how sexual conflict operates in nature, and c) along with recent studies, suggest that behaviourally plastic responses can lessen the negative effect of sexual conflict on population viability in the face of rapid environmental temperature changes.
Data from: Modulation of social space by dopamine in Drosophila melanogaster, but no effect on the avoidance of the Drosophila stress odorant
Appropriate response to others is necessary for social interactions. Yet little is known about how neurotransmitters regulate attractive and repulsive social cues. Using genetic and pharmacological manipulations in Drosophila melanogaster, we show that dopamine is contributing the response to others in a social group, specifically, social spacing, but not the avoidance of odours released by stressed flies (dSO). Interestingly, this dopamine-mediated behaviour is prominent only in the day-time, and its effect varies depending on tissue, sex and type of manipulation. Furthermore, alteration of dopamine levels has no effect on dSO avoidance regardless of sex, which suggests that a different neurotransmitter regulates this response.
Data from: Physiological and social consequences of gastrointestinal nematode infection in a nonhuman primate
Gastrointestinal nematodes are intensely studied models for host-pathogen interactions in wildlife, yet consequences of infections are not fully understood. Among the potential costs of nematode infection are physiological changes caused by immune system activation, reduction or reallocation of available energy, as well as potential social consequences in terms of decreased social activity or avoidance of infected individuals. We used experimental anthelmintic treatment to investigate effects of strongyle nematode infection in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus), comparing 56 treated to 17 untreated individuals. Deworming success was monitored by coproscopy and infection probability estimated from patch occupancy models. Increasing strongyle infection probabilities were associated with increased fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels and slightly decreased activity, and had no significant effect on energy balance quantified as urinary C-peptide levels. The frequency to approach into close spatial proximity of a partner was predicted by the partner's, but not focal individual's infection status, with a tendency towards infected individuals being approached less frequently. Although effects were weak, they suggest a co-occurrence of sickness and avoidance behavior, both possibly shaping social interaction patterns with potential consequences for an individual's social relationships. This study adds to the growing body of research on the complex interactions of sociality, health and fitness in a group living species.
Data from: Social evolution of toxic metal bioremediation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Bacteria are often iron-limited, and hence produce extracellular iron-scavenging siderophores. A crucial feature of siderophore production is that it can be an altruistic behaviour (individually costly but benefitting neighbouring cells), thus siderophore producers can be invaded by non-producing social 'cheats'. Recent studies have shown that siderophores can also bind other heavy metals (such as Cu and Zn), but in this case siderophore chelation actually reduces metal uptake by bacteria. These complexes reduce heavy metal toxicity, hence siderophore production may contribute to toxic metal bioremediation. Here, we show that siderophore production in the context of bioremediation is also an altruistic trait and can be exploited by cheating phenotypes in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Specifically, we show that in toxic copper concentrations (i) siderophore non-producers evolve de novo and reach high frequencies, and (ii) producing strains are fitter than isogenic non-producing strains in monoculture, and vice versa in co-culture. Moreover, we show that the evolutionary effect copper has on reducing siderophore production is greater than the reduction observed under iron-limited conditions. We discuss the relevance of these results to the evolution of siderophore production in natural communities and heavy metal bioremediation.
Data from: Tracking individuals shows spatial fidelity is a key regulator of ant social organization
Ants live in organized societies with a marked division of labor among workers, but little is known about how this is generated. We use a tracking system to continuously monitor individually-tagged workers in six colonies of the ant Camponotus fellah over 41 days. Network analyses of over 9 million interactions revealed three distinct groups that differ in behavioral repertoires. Each group represents a functional behavioral unit with workers moving from one group to the next as they age. The rate of interactions was much higher within- than between groups. The precise information on spatial and temporal distribution of all individuals permitted calculation of the expected rates of within- and between-group interactions. These values suggest that the network of interaction within colonies is primarily mediated by age-induced changes in the spatial location of workers.
Data from: Gaze-contingent reinforcement learning reveals incentive value of social signals in young children and adults
While numerous studies have demonstrated that infants and adults preferentially orient to social stimuli, it remains unclear as to what drives such preferential orienting. It has been suggested that the learned association between social cues and subsequent reward delivery might shape such social orienting. Using a novel, spontaneous indication of reinforcement learning (with the use of a gaze contingent reward-learning task), we investigated whether children and adults' orienting towards social and non-social visual cues can be elicited by the association between participants' visual attention and a rewarding outcome. Critically, we assessed whether the engaging nature of the social cues influences the process of reinforcement learning. Both children and adults learned to orient more often to the visual cues associated with reward delivery, demonstrating that cue–reward association reinforced visual orienting. More importantly, when the reward-predictive cue was social and engaging, both children and adults learned the cue–reward association faster and more efficiently than when the reward-predictive cue was social but non-engaging. These new findings indicate that social engaging cues have a positive incentive value. This could possibly be because they usually coincide with positive outcomes in real life, which could partly drive the development of social orienting.
Data from: Fruiting bodies of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum increase spore transport by Drosophila
Background: Many microbial phenotypes are the product of cooperative interactions among cells, but their putative fitness benefits are often not well understood. In the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum, unicellular amoebae aggregate when starved and form multicellular fruiting bodies in which stress-resistant spores are held aloft by dead stalk cells. Fruiting bodies are thought to be adaptations for dispersing spores to new feeding sites, but this has not been directly tested. Here we experimentally test whether fruiting bodies increase the rate at which spores are acquired by passing invertebrates. Results: Drosophila melanogaster accumulate spores on their surfaces more quickly when exposed to intact fruiting bodies than when exposed to fruiting bodies physically disrupted to dislodge spore masses from stalks. Flies also ingest and excrete spores that still express a red fluorescent protein marker. Conclusions: Multicellular fruiting bodies created by D. discoideum increase the likelihood that invertebrates acquire spores that can then be transported to new feeding sites. These results thus support the long-hypothesized dispersal benefits of altruism in a model system for microbial cooperation.
Data from: Altered physical and social conditions produce rapidly reversible mating systems in water striders
Mating systems can vary within-species but the environmental drivers and behavioral mechanisms underlying this variation are seldom investigated experimentally. We experimentally assessed how individual behavioral plasticity in response to changes in pool and group size resulted in fundamental shifts in mating systems in water striders. We observed the same animals in larger and smaller pools, mimicking variation in pool size in natural streams, and observed a rapid, reversible change in the entire mating system. In large pools, striders exhibited scramble promiscuity with intense sexual conflict. Most males were active, harassing and driving females into hiding. Matings were frequent and typically lasted for more than 100 min. In contrast, when placed in small pools, the same animals often exhibited harem polygyny where the largest male drove other males into hiding, but allowed females to be relatively active. Matings were less frequent and of much shorter duration. Harem polygyny took several days to emerge after animals were moved to small pools, while these same animals returned to scramble promiscuity within hours after being moved to larger pools. Such variability in mating systems likely has important implications for the evolution of individual mating tactics.
Data from: Individual dispersal decisions in a cooperative breeder: ecological constraints, the benefits of philopatry, and the social queue for dominance
1. Delayed dispersal is a key step in the evolution of familial animal societies and cooperative breeding. However, no consensus has been reached on the ecological and social circumstances driving delayed dispersal. 2. Here we test predictions from the ecological constraints and benefits of philopatry hypotheses as well as the recently-proposed dual benefits hypothesis to better understand the evolution of group-living and cooperative breeding. Furthermore, we consider how individual social circumstances within groups affect dispersal decisions. 3. We examine 11 years of life-history information on a wild population of cooperatively breeding southern pied babblers (Turdoides bicolor). We investigate the effects of ecological conditions, natal-group membership and individual social context on male and female dispersal delays, disperser survival and acquisition of dominance. 4. Female dispersal decisions are generally unconstrained by ecological or social circumstances. In contrast, males disperse in response to relaxed ecological constraints, decreases in nepotistic tolerance, or when low social rank in the queue for dominance decreases their likelihood of gaining a dominant breeding position. Early dispersal by end-of-queue males often leads to a head-of-queue subordinate position in a non-natal group, thereby increasing access to dominant breeding positions. However, males and females remaining in natal groups gain benefits of philopatry via increased survival and, for head-of-queue males, very high likelihood of acquisition of a breeding position. 5. Overall, predictions from the dual benefits hypothesis best describe these results, while some predictions from each of the ecological constraints and benefits of philopatry hypotheses were supported. The benefits of living and working together (collective action benefits) in large stable groups are of central importance in shaping dispersal delays in southern pied babbler societies. In addition, position in the subordinate social queue for dominance is key in determining access to reproduction, particularly for males. This research highlights the importance of considering the costs and benefits of individual social circumstances in dispersal decisions and illustrates how the dual benefits hypothesis offers new perspectives in understanding delayed dispersal.
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.