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PubMed2004

Social status interacts with badge size and neuroendocrine physiology to influence sexual behavior in male house sparrows (Passer domesticus).

Reproduction results from a complex interplay among multiple factors including social stimuli, hormones, the brain, and an individual's physical characteristics. Male house sparrows (Passer domesticus) possess a bib of black feathers, or badge, that is associated with behaviors important for reproduction including courtship behaviors, copulation, and aggression. Such behaviors are controlled by testosterone activity within the central nervous system and are strongly influenced by social status and female behavior. To understand how multiple factors interact to coordinate reproductive activity we explored relationships among social status, badge size, gonad volume, and the volumes of brain regions involved in male courtship and dominance (HVC, robust nucleus of the archistriatum, and the medial preoptic nucleus). A trend toward a U-shaped relationship was observed between dominance status and badge size, with the most dominant and most subordinate males possessing the largest badges. Male vocal expression, copulation, and aggression were positively related to dominance status, but not badge size. In contrast, the volumes of HVC, the medial preoptic nucleus and the gonads related positively to badge size, but not dominance. Females preferentially approached large-badged males regardless of dominance status, but this interest translated into copulation for dominant rather than subordinate males, a finding possibly related to the observation that dominant males vocalized at higher rates than subordinates. Subordinate males that had large badges, attracted female interest, and possessed the neuroendocrine potential to perform courtship behaviors might have been prevented from doing so through social interactions with dominant males within the flock.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Intrinsic and extrinsic influences on play fighting in rats: effects of dominance, partner's playfulness, temperament and neonatal exposure to testosterone propionate.

Play fighting is a frequent activity of juvenile rats and appears to show marked variability amongst individuals in that some rats play a great deal and others very little. This study attempted to identify some of the factors involved in producing this individual variability. The major influence over an individual's frequency of play as a juvenile was found to be the frequency of play by the partner. That is, play appears to be contagious, in that a high playing animal stimulates its partner to play frequently as well. In male juveniles, but seemingly not in female juveniles, the subsequent adult status of one partner as dominant influences the subordinate-to-be to initiate more playful contacts. In addition to these extrinsic influences, however, there appear to be intrinsic factors that influence whether an individual is a high or low playing animal. One intrinsic factor appears to be 'boldness', so that bolder animals tend to initiate more playful contacts. Higher players tend to be more susceptible to the stereotypy-inducing effects of the dopamine agonist, apomorphine, and tend to be more dependent upon the playful activity of the partner to maintain their own high levels of play. Both of these characteristics are consistent with other studies comparing bold and timid rats. Boldness, however, only seems to influence how much play a rat will exhibit, not how much play it is capable of exhibiting. Neonatal testosterone augmentation increases juvenile play fighting but not apomorphine susceptibility, suggesting that a high player need not be a bold animal. The total frequency of play an individual is capable of initiating appears to depend upon perinatal exposure to androgens. Boldness and the playfulness of the partner appear to modulate the expression of this hormonally set value.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed1995

Stressors, including social conflict, decrease plasma prolactin in male golden hamsters.

Following exposure to a stressor, plasma prolactin (PRL) rises in most species. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of social conflict or of footshock stress on PRL responsiveness in male Syrian hamsters. Contrary to expectations, PRL was significantly lower in subordinate hamsters than in their dominant opponents or in controls following one, five, or nine exposures to social conflict. Similarly, PRL was reduced in hamsters subjected to a mild footshock stressor. By contrast, adrenocorticotropin, another stress-responsive hormone, was elevated following exposure to each of these stressors. We also demonstrate that PRL release is inhibited by dopamine as it is in other species by showing that there is a dose-dependent increase in PRL release following treatment with the dopamine receptor blocker, domperidone.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1977

Neonatal corticosterone treatment increases submissiveness in adulthood in mice.

Mice were treated with either a placebo, 100 or 300 mcg/day corticosterone during postnatal Days 3-5 and tested for submissiveness in adulthood. Neonatal corticosterone treatment, regardless of dosage level, resulted in increased adult levels of submissiveness. This effect cannot be ascribed to differences in adult resting corticosterone levels, since neonatal corticosterone- and placebo-treated mice did not differ in the levels of this hormone. Some alternative explanations of this effect of neonatal corticosterone treatment on adult social behavior are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Serotonin, but not dopamine, metabolites are increased in selected brain regions of subordinate male rats in a colony environment.

Subordinate male laboratory rats maintained in mixed-sex groups in a Visible Burrow System habitat show a complex pattern of stress-related changes including enhanced defensive behavior, early mortality and increased voluntary ethanol consumption. Analysis of serotonin (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) levels indicated that 5-HT levels do not differ between colony subordinates, colony dominants, and singly-housed control animals. However, 5-HIAA levels were higher in subordinates than either dominants or control animals in the preoptic area, amygdala, hippocampus, and spinal cord, and, were higher than dominants only, in entorhinal cortex. Subordinates' regional 5-HIAA/5-HT ratios were reliably higher than those of dominant or control animals in midbrain and spinal cord and reliably higher than dominants only, in hypothalamus. Dopamine (DA) and dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) levels and DA/DOPAC ratios were affected neither in hypothalamus nor midbrain. These findings suggest that a consistent increase of 5-HIAA levels in selected brain regions of subordinate rats may represent a biological substrate for a well-characterized pattern of alterations in defensive behaviors for these animals.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Monkey motor stimulation and altered social behavior during chronic methadone administration.

To assess the effects of chronic methadone administration on locomotor, social, and eating behavior od drug-native individuals under circumstances approximating those of methadone "maintenance" clinics, we gave single, daily oral doses of methadone to 5 Macaca radiata monkeys living in a social group. We obtained motor activity counts automatically during 6 weeks of baseline, 10 weeks of drug administration, and 3 weeks of post-drug abstinence. Social behaviors of association, dominance, submission, and sexuality were counted 5 days per week, and animal weights, food eaten and food-reinforced work were recorded. Plasma methadone levels were near those achieved in mechadone clincs. Methadone produced mixed stimulation and sedation in the daytime, with stimulation predominating for 4 hrs following administration. At night the subjects moved less while taking the drug. Associative behaviors were reduced by methadone, but dominance, submission, and sexual behaviors were not altered. The monkeys ate less while taking the drug, losing weight and working less for food. In these primates methadone had significant stimulant properties, impaired important social behaviors, and reduced the potency of food as a reinforcer of work. The results are compared with methadone's effects upon humans.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Influences of female partner preference on potential reproductive outcome in Japanese macaques.

The immediate effects of female partner preference on male mating behaviors and its potential influence on male reproductive success and conception in the Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) were analyzed. Although male dominance interactions probably led to low-ranking males having more single-day consortships and high-ranking males more multi-day consortships, dominant males were unable to prevent females from mating with preferred subordinate males. Ultimately, there was no marked difference in the number of estimated offspring sired. Females chose not to mate with certain males and actively mated with others, suggesting that female partner preferences do affect conception. Evidence for this was found in paternity estimates, which reflected observed preferences for particular middle-ranking young adult males.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Combined olfactory contact with the parent colony and direct contact with nonbreeding animals does not maintain suppression of ovulation in female naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber).

The study investigated the role of odor cues from two naked mole-rat colonies, in conjunction with behavioral cues from nonbreeding colony members, in maintaining suppression of ovulation in subordinate female naked mole-rats isolated from the two parent colonies. Four high ranking nonbreeding female naked mole-rats were removed from their respective parent colonies and singly housed in separate burrow systems. For a 64-day period, the removed females were maintained in daily odor contact with their parent colony by daily rotating soiled bedding material between the parent colony and the burrow systems of removed females. In addition, subsets of nonbreeding animals from the respective parent colony were regularly moved into the burrow systems of removed females for 2-day periods during this 64-day period. Removed females were therefore in continual social contact with subsets of parent colony animals except for the breeding pair. All four removed females exhibited raised levels of urinary progesterone (< 2 ng/mg Cr) indicative of the onset of ovarian function within 3 days of being separated from the parent colony. Removed females exhibited a normal ovulatory cycle with levels of progesterone remaining elevated for 25-35 days (mean concentration of progesterone +/- SEM; 16.2 +/- 2 ng/mg Cr). Initiation of aggression and sexual behavior by removed females increased significantly when they were isolated from the parent colony. The results demonstrated that odor cues from the complete colony in conjunction with behavioral/tactile/vocal cues from the nonbreeding colony members were not the major cues maintaining reproductive suppression in nonbreeding female naked mole-rats. Instead, our results suggest that female reproductive suppression in naked mole-rats is caused by a dominance-related behavioral mechanism requiring direct contact with the breeding female.

Aggression↗
PubMed1989

Male age, dominance, and mating success among rhesus macaques.

Some previous primate studies have found a positive correlation between male dominance and mating success when data from subadult males were included in the analyses. The information in this paper suggests that an unconscious bias may have been introduced when data on subadult males were included because of the lower dominance rank of these animals. Data from a study of rhesus monkeys on Cayo Santiago showed that subadult males mated significantly less than adults. Because these monkeys are not fully mature, data on them should not be used in any test for correlation between adult male dominance and mating success. The only significant correlation found for adult male mating success was an inverse one with relation to age. Based on behavioral data young, fully adult males have the best chance of fathering offspring regardless of their dominance rank.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The set-up-to-fail syndrome.

Why do some employees perform poorly? Most managers would answer that question by ticking off a list that includes weak skills, insufficient experience, inability to prioritize assignments, and lack of motivation. In other words, they would contend that poor performance is the employee's fault. But is it? Not always, according to the authors. Their research with hundreds of executives strongly suggests that it is the bosses themselves--albeit unintentionally--who are frequently responsible for an employee's subpar achievement. According to the authors, bosses and their perceived weak performers are often caught in a dynamic called the set-up-to-fail syndrome, which tends to play out as follows: A boss begins to worry when a subordinate's performance is not satisfactory. He then takes what seems like the obvious action by increasing the time and attention he focuses on the employee. But rather than improve the subordinate's performance, the increased supervision has the reverse effect. The subordinate, in perceiving the boss's lack of confidence in him, withdraws from his work and from the boss. And the relationship spirals downward. What is a boss to do? First, he must accept the possibility that his own behavior could be contributing to the problem. Second, he must plan a careful intervention with the subordinate that takes the form of one or several candid conversations meant to untangle the unhealthy dynamics in the relationship. The intervention is never easy, but the time and energy invested in it usually yields a high payback.

Administrative Personnel↗
PubMed1991

Behavioral correlates of male mating success in a multisire flock as determined by DNA fingerprinting.

The fertility of an individual rooster within a multi-sire flock may be influenced by a number of behavioral considerations, including frequency and timing of matings and the male's position in the social dominance hierarchy. The relationship between behavior and fertility has proven difficult to assess, however, because there are a limited number of heritable morphological traits that can be used to determine paternity. The objectives of the present study were to use DNA fingerprinting to determine paternity in domestic fowl and to assess some behavioral and physiological correlates of mating success. Sixty day-old chicks from each of two commercial breeds, DeKalb White Leghorn (L) and Warren Color-Sexed (W), were reared in either same-breed or mixed-breed groups. At 43 wk of age, all females and six randomly selected males were mixed into one large pen. Male aggressive and mating behaviors were recorded over a 4-mo period. Fertility of individual sires was determined by DNA fingerprinting and pedigree analysis of chicks. Dominance rank and the frequencies of both completed matings and mating attempts were positively correlated with fertility (P less than .01). In addition, wing flapping was correlated with both dominance (P less than .001) and fertility (P less than .05). There was no correlation between fertility and plasma testosterone. There were breed effects on dominance status, with W dominating L. Multiple paternity was demonstrated in 4 out of 10 families by DNA fingerprinting. The present study is the first one to demonstrate a correlation between dominance and fertility in a flock containing several males of the same breed and morphology.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Behavioral, cognitive and biochemical responses to different environmental conditions in male Ts65Dn mice, a model of Down syndrome.

Ts65Dn mouse is the most widely accepted model for Down syndrome. We previously showed that environmental enrichment improved spatial learning in female but deteriorated it in male Ts65Dn mice. This study analyzed the factors contributing to the disturbed cognition of male Ts65Dn mice after enriched housing, by allocating male control and Ts65Dn mice in four conditions after weaning: small (n = 2-3) and large group (n = 8-10) housing, and enriched housing in small (2-3) and large groups (8-10). Learning, aggressive behavior, anxiety-like behavior and biochemical correlates of stress were evaluated when Ts65Dn and control mice were 4-5 months old. Environmental enrichment in large mixed colonies of Ts65Dn and diploid littermates disturbed behavioral and learning skills of Ts65Dn mice in the Morris water maze. ACTH and testosterone levels were not modified in any group of mice. Ts65Dn and control mice subjected to enriched housing in large groups and Ts65Dn mice housed in large groups showed higher corticosterone levels. Aggressive behavior was evaluated by measuring the number of attacks performed in the presence of an intruder. Ts65Dn mice performed less attacks than controls in all conditions, especially after enriched housing, indicating subordination. In the plus maze, cognitive aspects (i.e. risk assessment) and motor components (open arm avoidance) of anxiety behavior were evaluated; no difference in any condition was found. It is suggested that an excess of social and/or physical stimulation in Ts65Dn mice may affect cognition by disturbing the emotional and behavioral components of the learning process.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1998

Behavioral and endocrine change following chronic predatory stress.

Adult male rats showed very high levels of crouching when exposed to a cat, with suppression of the nondefensive behaviors (e.g., lying, locomotion, rearing) that were shown by toy cat-exposed controls. The crouching of cat-exposed rats declined slightly but reliably with increasing time within daily 60-min exposure sessions. However, the lack of a reliable cat-exposure x days interaction for crouching over the 20 days of testing indicated minimal habituation of the rats' defensive response to the cat over this exposure schedule, although rat and cat were separated by a wire mesh screen, precluding contact and pain. Following the 20th day of exposure, cat-exposed rats showed reliably higher basal plasma corticosterone levels, suggesting a lack of habituation of this stress-linked response as well. Adrenal weights were also higher and thymus weights lower in these animals compared with controls, while spleen and testes weights and testosterone levels were not reliably different. Of the 13 cat-exposed subjects, 6 (and a single control) failed to show a 10 microg/mL corticosterone (CORT) increase in response to an acute restraint stressor. In 3 of these 6 cat-exposed rats, the failure to meet this criterion was attributable to a low level of CORT following restraint, suggesting failure of the normal CORT surge to the acute restraint stressor. These findings of organ weight changes, enhanced basal CORT, and reduced CORT response to stress in a subgroup of animals are similar to many of the phenomena obtained with other intense, chronic stressors such as subordination, and suggest that repeated predator exposure produces a pattern of intense behavioral and endocrine response that is very slow to habituate. Because it is a natural stressor for both male and female subjects, and one for which pain and even handling of the subject is unnecessary, cat exposure may provide a particularly relevant and adaptable paradigm for research involving analysis of gender effects on the stress response.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

[Aggressive behavior of the male volcano mouse Neotomodon alstoni (Rodentia: Cricetidae)].

A study was carried out on the agonistic behavior of the male volcano mouse, Neotomodon alstoni, with 50 pairs of males which were classified as possible dominants (D) and subordinates (S), utilizing Melzack-Thompson's Method. The aggressiveness levels exhibited by this mouse were recording in the combinations: D vs. D and S vs. S. Two groups were formed: Group I with 12 pairs of D males and 13 of S males, and Group II with 11 pairs of D males and 14 of S males. In Group I the aggressiveness level was quantified after one week of mating and after another week of isolation, and in Group II the sequence of observation was inverted. The aggressiveness level was measured by the number of attacks per hour, an attack being defined as the aggressive physical contac of an animal (aggressor) with another (attacked). The kinds of behavior registered, including offense, defense, and submission patterns, revealed hierarchic relationships. Dominance was correlated significatively (p < 0.05) with a higher level of aggressiveness.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed2001

Individual versus collective responses to membership in a low-status group: the effects of stability and individual ability.

To test predictions of social identity theory (SIT; M. A. Hogg & D. Abrams, 1988; H. Tajfel & J. C. Turner, 1979) and the 5-stage model (FSM; D. M. Taylor & D. J. McKirnan, 1984) concerning reactions to membership in a low-status group, the authors led 112 pupils to believe that another (anonymous) class outperformed their class. In an overall permeable and legitimate intergroup context, the authors manipulated the stability of the low group status and the individual ability of the group members. Contrary to SIT and FSM, the pupils generally favored collective normative action. Individual mobility was preferred only by group members, especially boys, with high individual ability who thought that the low status of their group was stable. The results support FSM assumptions (a) that individual ability is a powerful determinant of intergroup behavior but (b) that one should consider its impact in combination with perceived stability.

Child↗
PubMed1992

Hormonal reactions to fighting in rat colonies: prolactin rises during defence, not during offence.

Male Wistar rats living in colonies of 4 males plus 4 females were compared to noncolony males, cohabitating with a female. Irreversible dominance relationships developed between one dominant male (D) and three subordinates (S). Dominants developed high basal testosterone levels and large preputial glands. Subordinates had reduced preputial glands despite normal testicle weights and normal basal testosterone levels. Basal corticosterone was elevated in both ranks, in S more so than in D, while in acute encounters both ranks showed a similar increase in the corticosterone-to-ACTH ratio. They also underwent a similar reduction in thymus weight, while an increase in adrenal weight was more pronounced in D. In D-S-I encounters, during which D simultaneously attacked S and an intruder (I) for 20 minutes, both defenders showed a 3-4 fold increase in plasma prolactin, while in the offensive dominant the level remained low. Similar, but weaker hormonal contrasts between offence and defence were found for beta-endorphin, ACTH, and corticosterone, while alpha-MSH and testosterone did not discriminate. In our view, the marked hyporesponsiveness of prolactin to acute offence may be associated with a specific offensive setting of dopaminergic inhibitory and beta-adrenergic stimulatory influences.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Children's understanding of their research rights before and after debriefing: informed assent, confidentiality, and stopping participation.

This study explored children's understanding of their research rights in the context of an investigation of how children cope with peer provocation. Participants were 178 children (97 girls and 81 boys) who had finished the second, fourth, and sixth grades (average ages: 8, 10, and 12, respectively). After children agreed to take part in research on "how kids get along together," as well as after debriefing, their perceptions of free assent, their understanding of what they would be doing and why, their belief in voluntary participation and freedom to withdraw, and their comprehension of confidentiality were assessed. The vast majority of participants gave assent freely and reported no undue pressure from their families or the experimenters to participate. Older children knew before participating in the research what their participation would involve, comprehended confidentiality, and understood the study's purpose after their participation, but second graders were less likely to understand these issues than fourth and sixth graders were. Following debriefing, children's understanding of their research rights was largely unchanged; most children still had difficulty describing the research goals.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2002

The influence of Marianismo on psychoanalytic work with Latinas. Transference and countertransference implications.

Marianismo, the traditional sexual code of behavior for Latinas, specifies chastity before marriage, sexual passivity after marriage, and the subordination of women to men. In addition to describing traditional gender role expectations for Latinos, this paper discusses marianismo as an important organizer of various conflicts experienced by Latinas. It also presents selected case material from a psychoanalysis to illustrate the impact of Marianismo on the therapeutic process when both the analyst and the patient are Latinas.

Adult↗