#social behavior
How workers can become queens
A honey bee’s fate is decided at birth. The larvae develop to become a queen or a worker. If you’re born a queen, you get to rule the hive.
But other insects are more flexible.
For example, paper wasps and dinosaur ants are able to switch role from worker to queen at any point in their life - and new research uncovers the basis of this flexibility.
Researchers from the University of Bristol, the Babraham Institute and the Centre for Genomic Regulation analysed individual wasp and ant brains from queens and workers of both species to see whether caste differences could be explained by variations in how the genome is ‘read’ and regulated.In the paper wasps as seen in the video above, the queen is identifiable by behaviours such as shaking the abdomen and aggression to exert dominance.
By looking at the genetic makeup of the insects, the researchers were able to determine what genetic influences were controlling behaviour.
They found very little difference between roles, which was surprising given that hundreds of genes are involved in determining the differences between queens and workers in the honeybee.
This suggests that there is no single master gene determining the role of these wasps and ants.
So you don’t have to be born a queen after all…
Video: Solenn Patalano
Release of Dopamine in Infant Brains May Help Control Early Social Development
Increased levels of dopamine release in the basolateral amygdala as a result of stressful situations during infancy could lead to lasting behavioral issues and social difficulties, a new study reports.
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Release of Chemical Dopamine in Infant Brains May Help Control Early Social Development
Changing levels of the chemical dopamine, a chemical most associated with motivation, may help explain why stressful experiences during infancy can lead to lasting behavioral issues, a new study in rodents shows.
Experts have long understood that negative experiences early in life among rodents and other mammals, including humans, can affect later social development. Past studies in rats, for example, have found that limited bedding causes mother rats to roughly handle pups, impacting pups’ social behavior throughout their lives. However, exactly what changes occurred in the brain as a result of such adversity remained unclear.
In a study led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, investigators tied repeated stress during infancy to increased dopamine levels in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), a brain region that plays a role in memory formation. When they housed mother rats and their new pups in stressful conditions while rearing their young, the stressed pups had about twice as much BLA activity compared with those raised in a more comfortable nest. In turn, the former group spent at least 90 percent less time near their mothers and more than 30 percent less time near other pups compared with the latter group.
“Our findings suggest that repeated dopamine release in the basolateral amygdala plays a key role in infant social development,” says study lead author Maya Opendak, PhD. “As a result, this region of the brain may be a promising target for understanding or even treating psychiatric disorders that can interfere with social interaction, such as autism,anxiety, and depression.”
As part of the study, the study authors artificially blocked dopamine release in the BLA in the distressed infants and found that social behavior returned to normal. By contrast, increasing dopamine levels in pups raised in non-stressful conditions impaired their social behavior.
Dr. Opendak, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Langone Health, notes that elevated BLA activity and social impairment only occurred in pups that were stressed in their mother’s presence. If they experienced stress alone, they showed no sign of these issues. Dr. Opendak suggests that the repeated activation of the BLA, already known to play a key role in learning about threats, prompts infants to associate their mother with danger.
“Our investigation offered us a clearer look at how specific brain mechanisms link stressful experiences during infancy to lifelong social behavior problems,” says study senior author Regina M. Sullivan, PhD. “We can take this same approach to explore other areas of brain development, such as memory, learning, and threat recognition,” adds Dr. Sullivan, a professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
For the study, published online in the journal Neuron, the research team observed the behavior of hundreds of rat pups. Some rodent mothers were provided limited materials with which to build a nest. In a series of social behavior tests, the study authors measured the length of time pups approached their mothers or peers after five days of living in these stressful conditions. According to the findings, the longer the stress exposure went on, the less often the pups would approach their mothers.
To examine the role of dopamine during these early life experiences, researchers used drugs that block the chemical’s release in the brain. They also stimulated dopamine release in individual brain cells using light to test the impact of the chemical on social behavior after distress.
Dr. Sullivan says the research team next plans to expand the investigation to other brain areas involved in processing threat and reward.
She cautions that the study only explored the effect of a single chemical in one brain pathway, noting that social behavior involves an intricate network of cells and other pathways that still needs to be uncovered.
Q: Okay, I know this is a stupid question, but can you tell me the best way to pet a cat? A: This is not a stupid question at all. It might seem like an absurdly easy question to answer, but I see people pet their cats the wrong way for decades. Every cat is different on physical interaction, and each should be treated as an individual. To learn how to bond with a kitten who isn’t interested in…
Q: Why does my cat understand so many of the words that I say and I understand almost none of his vocalizations? A: There are a lot of factors at play here, so if you want a TLDR answer, you’re out of luck. First, some basics: Some cats are smarter than other cats. And there is a lot we don’t know about animals and cognition. And because cats in particular can’t be bribed reliably with food or a…
WW Q&A: Are Cats Plotting Against Us?
It’s another Wacky Wednesday, so here’s our wacky question of the week: Q: Do cats plot to overthrow their human masters? A: This is a fun question, and I do appreciate the fun/silly factor. However, I’m going to answer this one factually, since that’s what I do. Cats generally see as as equals, not superior (like dogs see us) or inferior (like 80% of cat memes would have you believe). Cats are…
Q: How do I get my cat to fall asleep at night? A: What time are you wanting the cat to sleep? Is it waking you up in the early hours, not sleeping when you go to bed, or something else? How old is the cat? How long has this been going on? The details really matter here. Without them, I can only cover generalities. Cats sleep (usually a light doze) most of the day and night, and are active at…
Continuing from Part 1, where I explained how we came to keep Stiles, and his relationships with our other cats… Kiki loves elephants and whales, and especially loves watching them if David Attenborough is narrating. She taught Stiles this love of whales, elephants, and David Attenborough from an early age. He’s particularly fond of baby elephants. He hops up on my desk to watch the You Tube…
Wacky Wednesday #1: Kitty Kisses
As I mentioned last week, I decided that I would start using Wednesdays as the day I answer questions that are a little more off the wall, or stories that seem a little nutty, and to discuss studies that come out that are weird. For our first installment of wackiness, I thought this would be fun:: Q: How can it be safe to kiss a cat if they use their mouths to carry mice and other animals? A: Who…
Q: Why do cats scream at night? A: There are only 3 common reasons you might hear cats scream at any time. Mating Females will yowl and make a lot of crazy-sounding noises when they are in heat. This is so that all the intact males in the area will know that this is their chance. Fighting Whether it’s a fight over territory, access to a mate, a female or male guarding kittens (yes, males do this…
Q: I have been a cat owner a long time. They are extremely curious and stick their nose in every drawer or hole. But this one sits still and has no interest in his surroundings. He is 2 years old now. He is also anxious and does not like us petting him. The vet examined him and run some blood tests when he fell down from 7th floor. All was good. He survived from this incident with little…
Q&A How do cats see themselves and us?
Q: Do Cats Think They’re Humans? A: I’m not exactly sure where you got this idea, but it’s a rather simple answer: No. So why bring it up? Because there’s this ridiculous related notion that cats think that we are strange-looking cats. By that logic, they would have to think that their dog friends, bunny friends, and other animal friends are also strange-looking cats, but we know they don’t. Cats…
Where Do Domestic Cats Come From?
SciShow delved into some very interesting cat topics in the past few weeks, and I thought they were worth sharing.
Q&A: Why Does My Cat Insist on Tripping Me?
Q: My cat is always tripping me up, especially if I’m carrying something big. Why does he do this? A: Ah, yes. Tripping over cats. It’s quite a conundrum if you aren’t thinking like a cat. So why do they do this? The answers are fairly simple. If you watch cats interact, then you will notice that when they pass close to each other, they stop and sniff each other a bit. It’s a kind of “Hi! Whatcha…
Q: I’m finally able to get my own cat! What should I look out for when I want a low maintenance cat?
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Why You Should Never Punish a Cat
I’ve seen so many people talk about punishing their cats, and I am shocked every time. Even yelling at a cat is detrimental—they will think you are insane, and they will lose some trust in you—they don’t understand it, it means nothing to them, so you’re making your cat feel less safe without doing anything to change the behavior. Every time you yell at or punish a cat, you are putting your…
Wacky Wednesday! If My Cat Were Bigger, Would He Kill Me?
Q: If my cat, who is a gentle house cat, suddenly became as big as a lion, would he kill me? A: That depends on a lot of factors like age, activity level, if he’s neutered, how he plays with you, his personality, and your bond. If he’s young, and very exuberant about play, and is serious about his aggression toward toys, then it’s a possibility. If he was taught (or not corrected—gently and…
Expressive Wearable explores clothing as a communication tool. This project imagines a scenario in which clothing expresses the wearer’s attitude directly without the concern of adhering to social conventions. More broadly, the project explores how people might playfully use wearables that move and gesture, what the aesthetics of these will be, and how wearables might interact with each other in group situations. This project speaks up in silence, using ambiguity as a guide to explore a seemingly impromptu interaction while delivering a meaningful message accurately and expressively. It provokes social conventions by speculating on the complexity of human psychological behaviors
