Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “subordinate behavior”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 631 records · Page 35Linked to original sources
PubMed2003

Effect of the establishment of dominance relationships on cortisol and other metabolic parameters in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).

The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of the establishment of dominance relationships and social stress on plasma cortisol and metabolite levels in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). During the 30-day experiment, the fish weighing 236 29 g were kept in individual aquaria, except for two pairings lasting 6 h each. Blood samples were taken from the animals before and after pairing. Display, approach, attack, rebuff, chase flight, and coloration were carried out on days 16 and 30. Activities and behaviors characteristic of the establishment of dominance relationships were described. It was possible to classify all experimental fish (N = 30) as dominant or subordinate. No differences were detected between dominant (N = 15) and subordinate (N = 15) fish during isolation or after pairing in cortisol (isolated: 5.76 0.98 vs 5.42 0.63; paired: 10.94 1.62 vs 11.21 2.45 g/dl), glucose (isolated: 60.02 4.9 vs 67.85 16.16; paired: 110.44 15.72 vs 136.26 22.46 mg/dl), triglyceride (isolated: 167.87 5.06 vs 185.68 7.24; paired: 210.85 13.40 vs 221.82 12.70 mg/dl) or total protein levels (isolated: 7.01 0.42 vs 6.69 0.59; paired: 9.21 0.62 vs 9.51 0.66 g/dl). However, when isolated (N = 30) and paired (N = 30) tilapia were compared, there were significant differences in cortisol and metabolite levels. The similar response presented by dominant and subordinate tilapia indicates that establishment of dominance relationships was a stressor for both groups.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed2001

Mechanisms for quick and variable responses.

Dominant and subordinate males produce neuroendocrine stress responses during aggressive social interaction. In addition, stress responsiveness has both acute and chronic temporal components. A neurochemical marker that distinguishes social status and aggression by temporal and regional differentiation is the activity of serotonergic nuclei and terminals. A unique model for distinguishing the relationships among the neuroendocrine machinery of stress, social status and behavior is the lizard Anolis carolinensis. Dominant males exhibit more aggression and have temporally advanced serotonergic responses. Chronic serotonergic activity is associated with subordinate social status and reduced aggression. Acute and chronic serotonergic responses occur in both dominant and subordinate males, and are distinguished temporally. This provides a fundamental question that may elucidate basic differences in behavior: What causes temporally advanced serotonergic activity in response to stress in dominant males? Secondarily, what is the neural basis for the acute and chronic responses? The neural mechanisms for transduction of the relevant behavioral signals are very plastic. Behavioral experience and visual stimuli can produce very rapid responses. Faster and greater responsiveness may be stimulated by restraint stress, social stress and the absence of social sign stimuli (e.g. eyespots of the lizard Anolis carolinensis). Stress response machinery provides regulatory factors necessary to modify social behavior, and to adapt it for specific contexts. Serotonergic activity is rapidly modified by glucocorticoids and GABA, and also by CRF under conditions of previous stress or in combination with AVP. Advancing acute elevation of serotonergic activity may be a distinguishing characteristic of dominant males. Social events add contextual conditioning to brain transmitter activity, with social information processed in a distributed fashion. Medial amygdala manifests delayed serotonergic response compared to hippocampus and nucleus accumbens, and is therefore a good candidate to mediate chronic stress responsiveness. Limiting or delaying acute effects, in addition to chronic serotonergic activity, may be the distinguishing characteristics of subordinate males. Monoamines, glucocorticoids, testosterone, CRF, AVP, AVT, play neuromodulatory roles producing context appropriate behavior.

Aggression↗
PubMed1994

Vasopressin and serotonin interactions in the control of agonistic behavior.

In hamsters, dominant/subordinate relationships are initially determined by overt aggression, but subsequently communicated by flank marking, an arginine vasopressin (AVP)-dependent behavior. Once a relationship is established, dominant males will flank mark at a higher frequency than their subordinate partners. Flank marking displayed during social encounters can be turned "on or off" by microinjection of AVP or AVP-receptor antagonist within the anterior hypothalamus (AH). For instance, microinjecting dominant hamsters with AVP-receptor antagonist blocks their flank marking and provokes an immediate induction of flank marking by subordinate animals. The central effects of AVP have been extended to include a role in offensive aggression. Microinjection of AVP-receptor antagonist into the AH inhibits the aggression of a resident hamster toward an intruder and diminishes aggression between hamsters placed into a neutral arena. Microinjection of AVP into the ventrolateral hypothalamus (VLH) facilitates offensive aggression of a resident toward an intruder. As AVP receptors in the VLH are testosterone-dependent, it is possible that the reduction of aggression observed in castrated hamsters is due to a loss of AVP responsiveness in the VLH. Recent work has focused on the notion that serotonin (5-HT) antagonizes AVP activity in the CNS. The AH and VLH have a high density of 5-HT terminals and binding sites. Indeed, there appear to be 5-HT synapses on AVP neurons in the AH. Microinjection of 5-HT into the AH inhibits AVP-induced flank marking while IP injection of fluoxetine a serotonin reuptake inhibitor inhibits AVP-induced offensive aggression in the VLH. It is possible that serotonin interacts with AVP to modulate offensive aggression.

Aggression↗
PubMed2005

The bully as victim?

Bullying in schools is now widely acknowledged and the detrimental effect on children who are bullied is well recognised. A literature review aimed at exploring the links between bullying and depression in primary school children uncovered evidence of depression in the children who bully. Further analysis of the literature identified conflicting research findings. This article summarises the causes and implications of aggression and bullying behaviour, including future outcomes for children who bully. Further research is necessary as the evidence suggesting that bullies are depressed contradicts indications that they are confident and have a high self-esteem.

Aggression↗
PubMed2006

Rewarding effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine ("Ecstasy") in dominant and subordinate OF-1 mice in the place preference conditioning paradigm.

We tested the ability of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) to induce conditioned place preference (CPP) in dominant and subordinate OF-1 mice subjected to cohabitation and repeated sessions of agonistic confrontation, as well as in non-confronted mice. We selected doses of MDMA (2, 6, 10 mg/kg) previously reported to induce CPP in mice and we measured expression of c-Fos evoked by the treatments in non-confronted mice. MDMA induced c-Fos protein in several corticolimbic regions involved in drug-induced reward. Mice were exposed to brief sessions of agonistic confrontation on 5 consecutive days. Determinations of circulating hormones and drug conditioning tests were carried out on completion of the encounters. The results of hormone assays indicated that dominant mice had higher serum concentrations of testosterone, but lower levels of corticosterone, than submissive mice. Post-conditioning tests after drug conditioning (4 injections of MDMA or saline on alternate days) showed that MDMA significantly produced CPP at doses of 2 and 6 mg/kg, but not at 10 mg/kg, an inverted U-shaped pattern of conditioning that was invariable in non-confronted, dominant and subordinate mice. These results demonstrate that the endocrine and behavioural correlates linked to social status and social stress in mice are not paralleled by significant changes in the rewarding efficacy of MDMA in the CPP paradigm under the specific conditions tested.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed1984

Vasopressin impairs or enhances retention of learned submissive behavior in mice depending on the time of application.

The effects of vasopressin on learning and memory were investigated in a paradigm using adaptive capabilities of interacting male mice. Test animals of the DBA/2 strain which were not submissive in a confrontation with a non-aggressive subordinate C57BL/6 mouse on day 1 (baseline), were defeated on day 2 (learning) by an aggressive dominant C57 mouse, and showed learned submissive behavior upon mere contact with a non-aggressive C57 mouse on day 3 (retest). Pretrial injections of lysine-vasopressin (0.01, 0.1 or 1.0 I.U., s.c.) 20 min before defeat on day 2 resulted in less submissive behavior on day 3 compared to controls, with 0.1 I.U. (equal to 370 ng) being the most effective dose. Post-trial injections of vasopressin (0.1 I.U.) immediately after defeat on day 2 significantly improved retention on day 3. Preretention injections of vasopressin (0.1 I.U.) 20 min before testing on day 3 significantly increased learned submissive behavior. The amnesic effect observed after pretrial injections of vasopressin was neither due to state dependency nor to an acquisition deficit, nor to antinociception. It is concluded that processing of the stressful experience of defeat is differently influenced by vasopressin given before or after training, resulting in an impaired or facilitated retention, respectively. Among the hypothetically discussed underlying mechanisms, one suggestion is that exogenous vasopressin interacts with an assumed discriminative stimulus function of endogenously released vasopressin. Another possibility might be that exogenous vasopressin interferes with the defeat-activated opioid peptide system.

Aggression↗
PubMed2005

Fighting in the aged male mouse increases the expression of TrkA and TrkB in the subventricular zone and in the hippocampus.

In the present study, we investigate the effect of aggressive behavior and release of nerve growth factor (NGF) on brain progenitor cells. We found that the condition of subordination enhances the level of NGF in the subventricular zone and hippocampus whereas dominance elevates brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). It was also found that mRNA-TrkA is over-expressed in the subventricular zone and hippocampus of dominant and subordinate mice, whereas mRNA-TrkB is increased in the subventricular zone of both dominants and subordinates and in the hippocampus of dominant mice. Fighting was also associated with increased presence of proliferating cells in the hippocampus stained with the nuclear marker bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). Moreover, the brain of subordinate mice displayed tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity in the wall of the periventricular region of the third ventricles and a marked neuropeptide Y (NPY) presence in the hippocampus co-expressed with BrdU. These results provide additional evidence that agonistic behavior in the aged mouse alters neurotrophin levels and increases brain progenitor cells number. The functional significance of these findings is discussed.

Aggression↗
PubMed1978

Feminists' heterosexual relationships: more on dominance and mating.

The hypothesis that female dominance inhibits mating whereas male dominance facilitates it, and seemingly incongruous findings suggesting that dominant women take more initiative and are more interested than others in sex, are explored through comparison of feminist and control subjects, ie, women who were expected, a priori, to be located at widely separated points on a theoretical dominance continuum. Principal findings are the following: (1) sexual initiative and satisfaction appear to be greater among feminists than others, (2) there is no difference between groups in frequency of coitus in a present (or most recent) sexual relationship, but (3) there is a tendency for feminists to have had less stable first marriages than control subjects. These findings do permit more than one interpretation: the greater sexual satisfaction combined with marital instability among feminists may reflect their energy and willingness to change an unsatisfactory condition, or, in addition, the more general proposition that personal power is associated with positive sexual response in both men and women, so that there is minimal complementarity along this dimension. Both cultural and biologic factors appear to contribute to the relative instability of feminists' marriages.

Achievement↗
PubMed1980

Cross-species and cross-cultural contributions to understanding homosexual activity.

Some forms of homosexual activity are widespread if not ubiquitous among studied mammals, occur invariably in all reported subhuman primates, and are present in most human cultures. Homo sapiens is the only species, however, in which adult preferential or obligatory homosexuality occurs naturally. Existing cross-species and cross-cultural reports are reviewed from behavioral, physiological, and evolutionary perspectives with a view toward clarifying the role of homosexual behavior in species interactions. The data suggest that preferential or obligatory homosexuality in adulthood, in the presence of available and receptive heterosexual partners, is qualitatively rather than quantitatively distinct from all other manifestations of homosexual activity, and that quantitative incidence rating scales obscure meaningful understanding of this dimension of homosexual behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Immune responses in male mice with aggressive and submissive behavior patterns: strain differences.

Immune responses in two strains of male mice with aggressive and submissive behavior patterns was studied. In aggressive CBA males immunized on the 10th day of agonistic confrontations with submissive partners, greater numbers of plaque-forming cells (PFC) and rosette-forming cells (RFC) were noted compared to control mice. Unlike the CBA strain, both PFC and RFC levels in aggressive C57BL males did not increase, but both PFC and RFC numbers decreased in submissive animals.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed1995

Testosterone and aggression in male red jungle fowl.

We investigated the relationship between aggression, plasma testosterone level (T), and change in T in captive male red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus). T measured on day 1 of our experiment was positively correlated with T on day 8, suggesting that T remains constant in males when the social environment is stable. During aggressive encounters that escalated to include physical combat, males that attacked first (won) had increased T relative to their opponent. Males did not differ in T measured 1 week before the aggressive encounter. Our data suggest that an increase in T during aggression is associated with winning in escalated fights.

Aggression↗
PubMed1990

The representation of social relations by monkeys.

Monkeys recognize the social relations that exist among others in their group. They know who associates with whom, for example, and other animals' relative dominance ranks. In addition, monkeys appear to compare types of social relations and make same/different judgments about them. In captivity, longtailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) trained to recognize the relation between one adult female and her offspring can identify the same relation among other mother-offspring pairs, and distinguish this relation from bonds between individuals who are related in a different way. In the wild, if a vervet monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops) has seen a fight between a member of its own family and a member of Family X, this increases the likelihood that it will act aggressively toward another member of Family X. Vervets act as if they recognize some similarity between their own close associates and the close associates of others. To make such comparisons the monkeys must have some way of representing the properties of social relationships. We discuss the adaptive value of such representations, the information they contain, their structure, and their limitations.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Behavioral and hormonal correlates of social dominance in stable and disrupted groups of male domestic fowl.

An experiment was conducted to determine the behavioral and hormonal correlates of social dominance in stable and disrupted groups of male domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus). In addition, the relative importance of visual and auditory cues in the maintenance of dominance status in this species was assessed. Alpha roosters were removed from their six-bird home pens for 1 week, and placed in either (1) and adjacent pen in visual contact with penmates, (2) and adjacent pen where visual, but not auditory, contact was prevented, or (3) a different building where they were in visual and auditory isolation. Dominance rank, aggressive activity, and crowing frequency were intercorrelated during the premove period. There was a significant increase in both aggression and crowing among the males remaining in the home pen following removal of the alpha male, except in the treatment in which males were still in visual contact with the removed alpha, in which only aggression increased. Increases in crowing frequency were also noted in alpha males. High levels of aggression occurred when alpha males were returned except in those pens in which visual contact had been maintained. Visual cues thus appear to be more important than auditory cues alone with respect to the maintenance of dominant social status in roosters. There were no clear correlations between behavioral variables and plasma androgen or corticosterone levels in either the stable or disrupted flocks, and no consistent changes in the levels of these hormones as a result of experimental manipulation; several possible explanations for this finding are discussed.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed1992

Hormonal responses to fighting in hamsters: separation of physical and psychological causes.

Male Syrian hamsters were paired and allowed to interact with a conspecific for 15 min a day for 4 days. On the fifth day, the animals were again paired, but they were kept physically separated by a mesh partition that allowed visual, olfactory, and auditory contact between the animals. Controls were placed with conspecifics on each of the 5 testing days, but the partition between them was never removed. Hamsters that were submissive on days 1-4 exhibited elevated plasma adrenocorticotropin-like immunoreactivity (ACTH-LI), beta-endorphin-like immunoreactivity (B-EP-LI), and cortisol on day 5 even though no fighting occurred on that day. Dominant hamsters did not differ from controls. These data support the hypothesis that there is an important psychological component to the pituitary-adrenocortical response in defeated hamsters.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1990

Primate social behavior--anxiety or depression?

A review of primate social behavior in different species is presented, with particular emphasis on the talapoin monkey and the concept of dominance and how this may be related to physiological function. Social behavior in nonhuman primates can be used to study both anxiety and depression, depending on the precise social setting employed and the way in which the animals are manipulated, for example by drugs. Studies relevant to anxiety and depression are described, and indicate that the behavior of dominant animals is more susceptible to drugs that are known to manipulate levels of anxiety, whereas subordinate animals appear more susceptible to treatment with antidepressant drugs.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Selective increase of offensive behavior in the rat following intrahypothalamic 5,7-DHT-induced serotonin depletion.

Cerebral serotonin (5-HT) depletions usually increase aggressive behaviors and more specifically facilitate elicitation of offensive behaviors. In order to localize the brain structures involved in this effect, 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT), a neurotoxin of 5-HT neurons, was injected into the ascending serotonergic pathway within the lateral hypothalamus, thus depleting 5-HT only in the forebrain structures. The effects of such treatment on offensive and defensive as well as social and non-social behaviors were studied in resident rats confronted with untreated intruders. Pretreatment with desipramine protected noradrenergic neurons. The content of 5-HT fell to 25% of controls, whereas noradrenaline was maintained at 90% in the forebrain anterior to the injection site. Ethological analysis of both resident's and intruder's behavior showed that offensive items were increased in 5,7-DHT-treated residents, whereas defensive items were increased in their non-treated partners; non-social activities were unchanged. Control of mouse-killing behavior during a 2-h test in the same animals showed a clear increase in elicitation of killing in 5,7-DHT-injected rats. These results confirm that the inhibitory control of serotonin is exerted specifically on offensive aggression. They suggest that forebrain structures are involved in this control.

5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine↗