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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Naked Mole-Rat Social Phenotypes Vary In Investigative And Aggressive Behavior In A Laboratory Partner Preference Paradigm, Ilapreet Toor, Rashoun Maynard, Xinye Peng, Annaliese K. Beery, Melissa M. Holmes
Naked Mole-Rat Social Phenotypes Vary In Investigative And Aggressive Behavior In A Laboratory Partner Preference Paradigm, Ilapreet Toor, Rashoun Maynard, Xinye Peng, Annaliese K. Beery, Melissa M. Holmes
Psychology: Faculty Publications
Here we employed the partner preference test (PPT) to examine how naked mole-rat non-breeding individuals of different behavioral phenotypes make social decisions. Naked mole-rats from six colonies were classified into three behavioral phenotypes (soldiers, dispersers, and workers) using a battery of behavioral tests. They then participated in a 3 h long PPT, where they could freely interact with a tethered familiar or tethered unfamiliar conspecific. By comparing the three behavioral phenotypes, we tested the hypothesis that the PPT can be used to interrogate social decision-making in this species, revealing individual differences in behavior that are consistent with discrete social phenotypes. …
Sex Differences In The Reward Value Of Familiar Mates In Prairie Voles, Daniel M. Vahaba, Emily R. Halstead, Zoe R. Donaldson, Todd H. Ahern, Annaliese K. Beery
Sex Differences In The Reward Value Of Familiar Mates In Prairie Voles, Daniel M. Vahaba, Emily R. Halstead, Zoe R. Donaldson, Todd H. Ahern, Annaliese K. Beery
Psychology: Faculty Publications
The rewarding properties of social interactions facilitate relationship formation and maintenance. Prairie voles are one of the few laboratory species that form selective relationships, manifested as “partner preferences” for familiar partners versus strangers. While both sexes exhibit strong partner preferences, this similarity in outward behavior likely results from sex-specific neurobiological mechanisms. We recently demonstrated that in operant trials, females worked hardest for access to familiar conspecifics of either sex, while males worked equally hard for access to any female, indicating a sex difference in social motivation. As tests were performed with one social target at a time, males might have …
Natural Variation In The Oxytocin Receptor Gene And Rearing Interact To Influence Reproductive And Nonreproductive Social Behavior And Receptor Binding, Todd H. Ahern, Sara Olsen, Ryan Tudino, Annaliese K. Beery
Natural Variation In The Oxytocin Receptor Gene And Rearing Interact To Influence Reproductive And Nonreproductive Social Behavior And Receptor Binding, Todd H. Ahern, Sara Olsen, Ryan Tudino, Annaliese K. Beery
Psychology: Faculty Publications
Individual variation in social behavior offers an opportunity to explore gene-by-environment interactions that could contribute to adaptative or atypical behavioral profiles (e.g., autism spectrum disorders). Outbred, socially monogamous prairie voles provide an excellent model to experimentally explore how natural variations in rearing and genetic diversity interact to shape reproductive and nonreproductive social behavior. In this study, we manipulated rearing (biparental versus dam-only), genotyped the intronic NT213739 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the oxytocin receptor gene (Oxtr), and then assessed how each factor and their interaction related to reciprocal interactions and partner preference in male and female adult prairie voles. We …
Familiarity And Mate Preference Assessment With The Partner Preference Test, Annaliese K. Beery
Familiarity And Mate Preference Assessment With The Partner Preference Test, Annaliese K. Beery
Psychology: Faculty Publications
In contrast to traditional laboratory animals, prairie voles form socially monogamous partnerships in the wild and exhibit lasting social preferences for familiar individuals-both mates and same-sex peers-in the laboratory. Decades of research into the mechanisms supporting pair bonding behavior have made prairie voles an important model organism for the study of social relationships. The partner preference test is a laboratory test of familiarity preference that takes place over an extended interval (typically 3 hr), during which test subjects can directly interact with conspecifics and often engage in resting side-by-side contact (i.e., huddling). The use of this test has enabled study …
The Role Of Dopamine Signaling In Prairie Vole Peer Relationships, Nicole S. Lee, Annaliese K. Beery
The Role Of Dopamine Signaling In Prairie Vole Peer Relationships, Nicole S. Lee, Annaliese K. Beery
Psychology: Faculty Publications
Dopamine signaling mediates the formation of some types of social relationships, including reproductive pair bonds in the socially monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster). In addition to these pair bonds with mates, prairie voles demonstrate selective preferences for familiar same-sex peers. The dependence of peer relationships on dopamine signaling has not been tested, and the mechanisms supporting these relationships may differ from those underlying pair bonds. We examined the effects of pharmacological manipulations of dopamine signaling on peer partner preference and socially conditioned place preference in female prairie voles. Haloperidol blockade of dopamine receptors at multiple doses did not alter selective …