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PubMed1976

Effects of chronic d-amphetamine on social behavior of the rat: implications for an animal model of paranoid schizophrenia.

Hooded rats in a social colony were given increasing daily doses of d-amphetamine up to 8 mg/kg. Time-lapse 16 mm cinematographically recorded behavior was analyzed for the following: grooming, feeding, sex, sleeping, resting, sterotypy, agonistic behavior, muricidal activity, and the location and movement of each rat. Subordiant rats receiving d-amphetamine actively withdrew from social interactions by retreating to strategically defensible locations in the environment. They remained hypervigilant of other rats and overreacted to their approaches by either fleeing or by defensively rearing and "boxing". On the other hand, when the dominant rat received the maximum dose, it seemed totally oblivious to the other rats. The responses to drug treatment in subordinant rats may provide a model for the social behavior of frightened paranoid schizophrenics.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Interparental conflict and risk behaviors among Mexican American adolescents: a cognitive-emotional model.

This study used a cognitive-emotional model to examine the relations between multiple dimensions of interparental conflict and health risk behaviors among young adolescents. Participants were 151 Mexican American adolescents and their parents. At initial individual interviews, parents reported on conflict with their spouses, and adolescents reported on their parents' conflict, their appraisals of the conflict, their emotional distress, and their acculturation level. At 6-month follow-ups, adolescents reported on their risk behaviors, including substance use and sexual activity. In general, adolescents' acculturation level was not related to their risk behaviors. More frequent conflict, more conflict about the adolescent, more adolescent involvement in the conflict, and poor conflict resolution were related to greater emotional distress. More conflict about the adolescent, mothers being more demanding/dominating during conflict, and more adolescent involvement in the conflict were related to greater risk behaviors. Adolescents' cognitions mediated the link between two dimensions of parental conflict, frequency and resolution, and emotional distress. Adolescents' emotional distress mediated the association between adolescent involvement in parental conflict and adolescents' risk behaviors.

Acculturation↗
PubMed2004

Stress coping style predicts aggression and social dominance in rainbow trout.

Social stress is frequently used as a model for studying the neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying stress-induced behavioral inhibition, depression, and fear conditioning. It has previously been shown that social subordination may result in increased glucocorticoid release and changes in brain signaling systems. However, it is still an open question which neuroendocrine and behavioral differences are causes, and which are consequences of social status. Using juvenile rainbow trout of similar size and with no apparent differences in social history, we demonstrate that the ability to win fights for social dominance can be predicted from the duration of a behavioral response to stress, in this case appetite inhibition after transfer to a new environment. Moreover, stress responsiveness in terms of confinement-induced changes in plasma cortisol was negatively correlated to aggressive behavior. Fish that exhibited lower cortisol responses to a standardized confinement test were markedly more aggressive when being placed in a dominant social position later in the study. These findings support the view that distinct behavioral-physiological stress coping styles are present in teleost fish, and these coping characteristics influence both social rank and levels of aggression.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2005

Anabolic androgenic steroid affects social aggression and fear-related behaviors in male pair-housed rats.

This study examines the effect of chronic administration of the anabolic androgenic steroid nandrolone decanoate (ND) on dominant and subordinate male rats in a pair-housed condition. Pair-housed rats were assessed for dominance status based on their behavior and alterations in body weights. Throughout the study the rats were allowed limited social interactions on a daily basis. At all other times, a Plexiglas divider kept the rats separated, allowing olfactory and visual contact between the cage mates while preventing significant physical contact. One week into the study all subjects were subcutaneously implanted with a pellet that continuously infused either ND (15 mg/kg/day) or placebo for 21 days. Following the pellet implant, behavioral tests including reassessment for dominance status, and a conditioned fear test were conducted over a period of approximately 2 months to investigate possible long-term changes. The main finding is that during the allowed social interactions, the dominant ND-pretreated rats spent more time on highly aggressive behaviors than the dominant placebo-treated rats. In addition, the probability for highly aggressive behaviors was maintained for the ND-treated rats throughout the study, whereas it was decreased for the placebo-treated rats. The ND-treated subordinate rats showed less fear in a potential threatening situation compared to placebo-treated controls. These findings support the relatively long-term behavioral changes that have been seen in humans after abuse of ND and other anabolic androgenic steroid compounds.

Aggression↗
PubMed1992

Plasma catecholamines and social behavior in male vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus).

Many investigations in humans indicate that epinephrine, norepinephrine and their ratio may correlate with such traits as social competence, academic achievement, and aggression. However, the socioeconomic, dietary, and environmental confounds accompanying most human studies complicate their interpretation. Social status, aggression, and other social behaviors can be reliably assessed in nonhuman primates under conditions controlling for crucial environmental factors. If interpretation of human studies is correct, dominant and subordinate male vervet monkeys should exhibit distinctive patterns of catecholamine secretion. To test this possibility, seventeen adult male monkeys living in six stable social groups were observed for 6 months. Based on their success in agonistic events, subjects were categorized as dominant or subordinate. Alpha scores were calculated from empirically derived factors to provide a noncategorical measure of dominant behavioral style. Plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine samples obtained from anesthetized subjects did not differ between dominant and subordinate males. Alpha scores, however, distinguished high from low norepinephrine/epinephrine ratio groups. These findings are consistent with studies in humans linking high epinephrine, low norepinephrine, and social competence.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Hemispheric asymmetries in the split-fovea model of semantic processing.

We report a series of neural network models of semantic processing of single English words in the left and the right hemispheres of the brain. We implement the foveal splitting of the visual field and assess the influence of this splitting on a mapping from orthography to semantic representations in single word reading. The models were trained on English four-letter words, presented according to their frequency in all positions encountered during normal reading. The architecture of the model interacted with the training set to produce processing asymmetries comparable to those found in behavioral studies. First, the cueing effects of dominant and subordinate meanings of ambiguous words were different for words presented to the left or to the right of the input layer. Second, priming effects of groups of related words were stronger in the left input than the right input of the model. These effects were caused by coarser-coding in the right half compared with the left half of the model, an emergent effect of the split model interacting with informational asymmetries in the left and right parts of words in the lexicon of English. Some or all of the behavioral data for reading single words in English may have a similar origin.

Brain↗
PubMed1991

Social success and voluntary ethanol consumption in mice of C57BL/6J and CBA/Lac strains.

Voluntary ethanol (20% solution) consumption in mice of C57BL/6J (C57) and CBA/Lac (CBA) strains with consecutive experience of victories (winners) or defeats (losers) in daily intermale agonistic confrontations were studied. Winners and losers of the CBA strain maintained the ethanol consumption on the same level. Losers of the C57 strain increased the ethanol consumption most dramatically during the second week of testing, while winners of this strain did not change the ethanol intake. The aspiration to the social contact estimated by behavioral activity as a reaction to the other male significantly increased in "drinking" losers of the C57 strain. The influence of heredity and emotional state of animals formed by their social success on voluntary ethanol consumption are discussed.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed2005

Does serotonin influence aggression? comparing regional activity before and during social interaction.

Serotonin is widely believed to exert inhibitory control over aggressive behavior and intent. In addition, a number of studies of fish, reptiles, and mammals, including the lizard Anolis carolinensis, have demonstrated that serotonergic activity is stimulated by aggressive social interaction in both dominant and subordinate males. As serotonergic activity does not appear to inhibit agonistic behavior during combative social interaction, we investigated the possibility that the negative correlation between serotonergic activity and aggression exists before aggressive behavior begins. To do this, putatively dominant and more aggressive males were determined by their speed overcoming stress (latency to feeding after capture) and their celerity to court females. Serotonergic activities before aggression are differentiated by social rank in a region-specific manner. Among aggressive males baseline serotonergic activity is lower in the septum, nucleus accumbens, striatum, medial amygdala, anterior hypothalamus, raphe, and locus ceruleus but not in the hippocampus, lateral amygdala, preoptic area, substantia nigra, or ventral tegmental area. However, in regions such as the nucleus accumbens, where low serotonergic activity may help promote aggression, agonistic behavior also stimulates the greatest rise in serotonergic activity among the most aggressive males, most likely as a result of the stress associated with social interaction.

Aggression↗
PubMed1986

Married women's dissatisfaction with tubal sterilization and vasectomy at first-year follow-up: effects of perceived spousal dominance.

Examination of first-year follow-up data obtained from 234 tubal ligation women and 154 vasectomy wives indicated a very low incidence of actual regret in both groups. However, use of a broader measure of satisfaction/dissatisfaction indicated that tubal ligation women had significantly more positive feelings about the sterilization decision than did vasectomy wives. Results of a series of multivariate statistical analyses demonstrated that group differences in satisfaction were related to (1) the disproportionate prevalence of perceived male control (particularly extensive control) over reproductive decisions among vasectomy wives and the negative effect it had upon subjects in both groups and (2) the disproportionate prevalence of female control over reproductive decision-making among tubal ligation women and the positive effect it had among subjects in this group. Study results point to the importance of couple counseling and exercising control over one's own body.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Effects of chronic social stress on neuroendocrine responsiveness to challenge with ethanol, dexamethasone and corticotropin-releasing hormone.

Neuroendocrine and behavioral profiles of group-housed rodents differ from those of singly-housed ones. Subordinate rats have elevated plasma corticosterone (CORT) concentration and impaired activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis compared to dominant cagemates. However, little is known about the effects of social hierarchy on other stress-related hormones. We examined plasma prolactin (PRL) and CORT responses to saline and ethanol (EtOH) injections, and 1 month later to dexamethasone (DEX) and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) challenges of group- (triad) and single-housed male rats over a period of 225 days. Social status was determined from behaviors displayed upon initial triad housing. Subordinate rats had lower basal PRL and higher CORT compared to dominant rats. The injection of EtOH (1.25 g/kg) depressed PRL and elevated CORT levels significantly more than the saline injection only in dominant and singly-housed rats. DEX increased PRL levels, most strikingly in dominant rats, and suppressed CORT only in dominant rats. After CRH challenge, plasma CORT increased in all groups, subdominant and subordinate rats displaying blunted responses. Our data demonstrate that social rank and housing conditions affect plasma PRL and CORT concentrations, and modify responses to EtOH, possibly reflecting impairments of HPA axis regulation in socially-housed rats.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Effects of olfactory bulbectomy on social behavior of male guinea pigs (Cavia procellus).

Effects of olfactory bulbectomy on social behavior in male guinea pigs were studied. Both brief-exposure pairing techniques and a group-living observation period were employed to test for disruption. During short-term testing sessions bulbectomized animals courted females less than but mounted them as frequently as control subjects. While the groups did not differ in fighting behavior during short-term tests, control subjects scent-marked more frequently. Subsequently, animals were observed as same-treatment pairs living continuously with females, and behavior was sampled over a 3-wk period. Under these conditions bulbectomized males, unlike controls, failed to form dominance orders, exhibited virtually no intermale aggressive activity, had markedly depressed sexual activity, and scent-marked rarely. It is concluded that olfactory bulbectomy profoundly alters the behavior of male domestic guinea pigs and that hose alterations are most evident when experimental subjects are observed in a species-typical group-living environment.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMed1998

Social context affects how rhesus monkeys explore their environment.

This study reports on social modulation of exploratory behavior and response to novelty by members of a captive rhesus monkey colony. The group was trained to split in half, with one subgroup composed of dominant members only, the other of subordinates. The animals were then presented the same initially novel stimuli (i.e., sand-filled metal boxes containing hidden food items) in two social contexts differing in hierarchical composition. In a combined context, all group members (i.e., both subgroups together) were simultaneously presented the stimuli. In a split context, only members of the top or bottom half of the group (i.e., each subgroup in turn) was independently presented the stimuli. Subordinates responded similarly to dominant animals in the combined context but differently in the split context, where they were far more hesitant. Rank-related differences were evident in the way animals used their home compound and in their approach and responsiveness toward the stimuli. These findings show that social context influences how animals explore novel situations, possibly reflecting different social roles or status effects on the perception of social structure. Also, despite the complexity of primate social relationships, the separation technique produced no permanent or adverse effects on the social integrity of the group. This study shows that manipulating the social environment through separation training can be a powerful tool for assessing contextual influences on behavior.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1987

Scent marking and the maintenance of dominant/subordinate status in male golden hamsters.

Since it is thought that flank marking communicates dominance status, experiments were designed to look at changes in aggression and flank marking behaviors in pairs of male hamsters with intact flank glands (Experiment One) or when one (Experiment Two) or both (Experiment Three) members of a pair had their flank glands surgically removed. In Experiment One the dominant members of twelve pairs of hamsters had a mean daily frequency of flank marks that was over two-fold greater than their subordinate partners, F(1,11) = 17.59, p less than 0.001. Over the course of five consecutive daily tests there was a significant decrease in the aggression index of both the dominant, t(44) = 4.49, p less than 0.01, and subordinate, t(44) = 3.33, p less than 0.01, hamsters. Accompanying the decrease in aggression was a significant increase in the flank marking of both dominant, t(44) = 7.8, p less than 0.01, and subordinate, t(44) = 3.59, p less than 0.01, hamsters. In Experiment Two, six out of eleven flank glandectomized hamsters were dominant over their sham operated partners while the remaining five were subordinate. Unlike Experiment One there was no significant difference in the flank marking between dominant and subordinate hamsters, in fact, in seven pairs the subordinate hamsters flank marked more than their dominant partners. In Experiment Three both hamsters had their flank glands removed, and as in Experiment Two, there was no significant difference in flank marking between dominant and subordinate hamsters, neither was there any significant change in their aggression and flank marking behaviors over the course of the five test periods.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aggression↗
PubMed1997

Effects of small amygdala lesions on fear, but not aggression, in the rat.

The effects of amygdala lesions on passive avoidance of drinking (dPA) and social interactions in a resident-intruder test were examined in two experiments that utilized different lines of Long-Evans hooded rats. The lesions were fairly well restricted to the rostral half of the central nucleus (rACe), or the cholinergically richly innervated basolateral nucleus (ABL) or the medial nucleus (AMe) of the amygdala. In both experiments, dPA deficits indicating disturbances in fear conditioning or fear expression were found with ABL and rACe lesions. The rACe lesions produced a greater deficit. AMe lesions caused no dPA deficit at all, which contrasts with the mild PA deficits reported by others employing larger lesions extending to the cortical nucleus and, perhaps, damaging the central nucleus. Social behavior was not affected by the lesions in any clear manner. In rats from a long-standing home colony, rACe lesions increased a behavior of plowing and kicking the wood-chip cage bedding during social encounters, and AMe lesions increased lateral defense behaviors. Both effects are paradoxical, suggesting increased anxiety in the fear-deficient rACe rats and increased defense with AMe lesions, despite several previous reports of decreased defense. In the second experiment, rats purchased from a supplier showed no lesion effects during social interactions; like the control group, all three lesion groups exhibited increases in offense associated with cohabitation with a female. The ABL lesions, particularly, had no effect comparable to the decreased offense recently reported to occur following neurotoxin lesions.

Aggression↗
PubMed2000

A skew model for the evolution of sociality via manipulation: why it is better to be feared than loved.

Concession-based reproductive skew models predict that social groups can form via persuasion, whereby dominant individuals forfeit some reproduction to subordinates as an incentive to stay and help. We have developed an alternative skew model based on manipulation, whereby dominant individuals coerce subordinates into staying and helping by imposing costs on their independent reproductive prospects. Stable groups can evolve under a much wider range of genetic and ecological conditions under this manipulation model than under concession models. We describe evidence that various forms of pre-emptive and ongoing manipulation occur in nature and we discuss the implications of the model for the development of a general theory of social evolution.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Social conflict models: can they inform us about human psychopathology?

Social conflict models have been proposed as a powerful way to investigate basic questions of how brain and behavior are altered by social experience. Social defeat, in particular, appears to be a major stressor for most species, and in humans, this stressor is thought to play an important role in the onset of a variety of psychiatric disorders including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Aggressive experience, on the other hand, may promote disorders involving inappropriate aggression and violence. Current research using animal models of social conflict involves multiple levels of analysis from genetic and molecular to systems and overt behavior. This review briefly examines a variety of these animal models of social conflict in order to assess whether they are useful for advancing our understanding of how experience can shape brain and behavior and for translating this information so that we have the potential to improve the quality of life of individuals with mental illness and behavioral disorders.

Aggression↗
PubMed2003

Sexual motivation in relation to social rank in pair-housed sows.

The influence of social subordination on sexual motivation during oestrus was studied using 36 sows of which 24 treatment sows were housed in pairs and 12 control sows were housed individually in 12 and 6 m(2) pens, respectively. Video recordings were made from 07:00 h to 19:00 h during the first 2 days after grouping, which took place 3 days after weaning of the piglets. Based on the aggressive interactions between the pair-housed sows, their rank was determined. From day 4 after weaning, a test for sexual proceptive behaviour was carried out twice daily and back-pressure test was carried out four times daily in order to detect standing oestrus. When standing oestrus had occurred, transrectal ultrasonographical scans were also carried out in order to determine if ovulation took place. The proceptivity test took place in a T-maze with a 2 m x 10 m runway ending in two 1.5 m x 1.5 m goal boxes each adjacent to a stimulus compartment. One compartment contained an adult sexually experienced boar and the other was empty. Latency to and duration of time spent close to the boar and time spent presenting were recorded during the 10-min test period. On the first day that standing oestrus had been detected, a test for sexual receptivity was also carried out by introducing the sow to a mature boar in his home pen (9 m(2)). Sexual- and fear-related behaviour of sow and boar were recorded until mating was terminated or the sow had spent 5 min in the pen without mating being initiated. During oestrus the proceptivity test showed a significant increase (P < 0.05) in the time spent standing close to the boar and in presenting for single-housed sows and for pair-housed dominant sows, but not for subordinate sows. During oestrus subordinate sows spent significantly less time standing close to the boar than the dominant sows (P = 0.01) and the same tended to be the case for presenting (P = 0.07). In the receptivity test more subordinate sows than dominant sows fled (40% versus 0%, P = 0.001) and more subordinate sows than dominant sows squealed (58% versus 15%, P = 0.02) as a response to boar stimulation. In both tests, the single-housed sows differed neither from the dominant nor the subordinate sows. There was however no difference between the groups in the weaning to oestrous interval, duration of oestrus and number of piglet born. In addition, all the sows ovulated. The results indicate that social subordination can have significant consequences for sexual motivation in sows. Subordinate sows showed fear-related behaviour in response to boar stimulation even when they were in standing oestrus. Thus, both heat detection and mating may be impaired in subordinate sows. The results emphasise the importance to alleviate the social stress experienced by subordinates as well as the need for stock people to pay special attention to these animals when they are to be mated or inseminated.

Agonistic Behavior↗