PV Interneuron Involvement In Social Recognition

Learning by observation is a type of learning in which an individual observes the behavior of others, sees the consequences of the behaviors, and then attempts to carry out the same behavior. Social learning is based on the standards of classical and operant conditioning and observational learning. It is a commonly shared belief that people have an instinctive ability to imitate the behavior of others. However, this ability is not unique to humans. Animals have also showed evidence of being able to mimic humans and other animals (Mazur, 2013). Chimpanzees, or Pan Troglodytes, have demonstrated social learning through many different experiments in different settings. Chimpanzees have shown the ability to observe the behavior of a model and reproduce the behavior. However, chimpanzees have also demonstrated the mental capacity of understanding when behaviors do not elicit a desired reaction and not repeating these behaviors under these circumstances. This paper will focus on chimpanzees and their ability to learn new behaviors through social learning.

Social cognition is the underlying processes that make social behavior possible, such as attention and memory. As we expand our knowledge about the brain, cognitive neuroscience has become increasingly important to understand these processes. Biological structures and processes in the brain help us navigate our social environment, like recognizing a friend’s face in a crowd, making assumptions about a person, or feeling empathy towards others.

Social cognition is the encoding, storage, retrieval, and processing, of information in the brain. It is a process that is generalized within a species, and relates to members of the same species. At one time social cognition referred specifically to an approach to social psychology in which these processes were studied according to the methods of cognitive

Third, Singer states that, “apes, monkeys, dogs, cats, rats, and other animals are more aware of what is happening to them, more self‐directing, and at least as sensitive to pain as a human infant.”(Page 2, Tools for Research) Singer is quick to assign cognitive motives to observed

Early investigations of the role of the hippocampus in social memory involved lesions to the brain areas that project to and from the hippocampus. One of such areas is medial septum, which has strong reciprocal projections to and from hippocampal formation (McNaughton & Miller 1984; Alonso & Köhler 1984; Chandler & Crutcher 1983). It has been shown that vincristine-induced lesions to the medial septum impairs social memory (Terranova et al. 1994; Fournier et al. 1993). Similarly, transection of the fimbria, which carries multiple projections to and from the hippocampus (Wyss et al. 1980; Cassel et al. 1997) also impairs social recognition memory (Maaswinkel et al. 1996). (but see also Petrulis et al. 2000)

What does the amygdala contribute to social cognition? Choose two or three specific social cognitive processes and review the evidence in support of amygdala participation. (Please note that you DO NOT need to read outside of our articles.

Our group is in the ideal position to address these problems. We are the first group to demonstrate that the EJC factor, RBM8a, regulates anxiety-like behaviors and neuronal plasticity1. We have developed the RBM8a conditional knockout (cKO) mice and our preliminary data demonstrated that region specific knockout of RBM8a impairs social interaction and affect fear memory. Additionally, RNAseq uncovered that RBM8a modulates a large set of genes overlapping with autism risk genes, which are involved in neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity. However, current knowledge gaps include how RBM8a regulates memory and synapse development, which physiological neuronal substrates are directly regulated by RBM8a in vivo during learning behaviors, and what happens to these transcripts when the RBM8a level is altered. Our hypothesis is that RBM8a regulates activity dependent neuronal plasticity and controls specific pools of transcripts in neurons that are activated by social interaction and learning activities. Building on a novel discovery of an essential role of RBM8a in social recognition, our goal in this proposal is to identify targets that are most relevant for RBM8a-dependent neuronal defects and determine the effect on RNA substrates of RBM8a in the brain. To achieve this goal, the following aims will be

Being extremely social, humans have a deep need to belong; to feel wanted and accepted, to have and maintain lasting relationships as well as being social in various ways that other animals are not. In animals social acts are ingrained, an act of nature per say; whereas, in humans, we learn social cues and habits by watching others. Baumeister and Tice showed from their research that social rejection corroborates the power that drive individuals to have a deeper desire to have and maintain relationships with others (Aronson, J. & Aronson, E. (2008). The experiments also revealed that being excluded causes individuals to have strong reactions; such as aggression, reduced prosocial behavior and an increase of self-defeating behavior all while

The ability to be social is the human’s most defining quality. One of the strongest pieces of evidence supporting the human's ability to socialize is phycologists Fritz Heider and Mary Simmel's famous 1944 animation of two triangles and a circle orbiting a rectangle. The animation presents simple shapes, but people are quick to portray these objects as humans. A closer look at the video article describes that the impulse is not automatic, but caused by the features of the event or situation. You may argue that animals-- with their collaboration by groups-- share the same trait, yet, in reality, they are not as conscious or it as we humans are to others.These shapes were designed to move in ways that specifically mimic humane social behavior,

When monkey socialization groups gets over the average number of members, the group falls apart and splits into two smaller groups. Similarly, humans are known to behave in the same manner, with the usual social group averaging no more than 150 members. Man is a social creature, and the feeling of loneliness can drive him mad; however, in modern culture, individuality is pursued. Personal achievements, such as personal wealth, self-image, and consumerism are viewed as self-actualization and individuality from others. In addition, whereas working on self-improvement is not a negative concept, spending too much time and focusing too much effort into self-actualization can lead to negative outcomes. For example, when the goal of self-actualization becomes more important than socialization, the results are the loss in connection with others. More and more people today are defining themselves as lonely, recognized as the most common ailment of the modern world. This may be because material objects, such as electronic appliances and nice cars, are more valued than experiences. Instead of spending time building deep connections with family and friends, time is spent working and

Research by Yamamoto, Humle and Tanaka in 2009 concluded that chimpanzees show altruism only when prompted or pressured rather than voluntarily [5]. This particular empirical research challenges the evidence proposed by prior researchers and tests the limits of chimpanzee’s altruistic nature. Using colour-coded tokens, one of which allowed for a partner to share the reward with the test subject and one of which gave the test subject all of the reward, several chimps were tested as to their response. Results showed a tendency for the chimpanzee to take the prosocial option in situations both with and without peer pressure. Abnormally results showed that pressure or harassment from partners reduced the chimpanzee’s inclination to take the prosocial option. Although these results challenge prior research [5] they are limited as they are not conclusive and raise questions of their own to reach a complete understanding. These research results are significant in challenging an already established understanding of chimpanzee’s altruistic traits and acts as a good contrast to other references. This resource stands out as it does not make conclusive statements out of abnormal results but rather opens up a reader’s opinion and presents issues further

I found it quite intriguing when the article stated that in psychopathic subjects the brain networks showed no activity unlike the “normal” people’s brain networks got activated. This indicates that the psychopaths arousal level is low. Hence, they are more prone to committing sexual and violent crimes. As I read the part below ‘shallow feelings’ I felt sorry for them. Missing out on empathy prevents them from being naturally able to relate to people. It’s immesenly sad how some people are born that way through absolutely no fault of their own, and have to go through life, missing out on a very significant part of humanity. As a matter of fact, it's not really anyones “fault” that they are, the way they are. Rather it is more obliging to look

Within social species goal emulation allows observing individuals to understand the specific behaviours exhibited by the demonstrator. The observation allows the individual to use the environment to fulfil their goal, although they may apply a different technique but produce the same outcome (Hoppitt and Laland,

Once genetic contenders have been identified for cross-activation and disinhibited feedback models, more studies can be done to determine the molecular pathways these genes regulate. For example, animal genetic knock-out or knock-in models can be created to potentially determine the effect of a gene during development. These studies are needed to support or discredit, the pruning hypothesis and its suggested underlying molecular causes: the immune-theory and serotonin-theory. This further research into the underlying causes and mechanism of synesthesia will lead to a better understanding of sensory system development. It will help identify how plasticity leads to subjective perception and what factors in development influence this. Lastly,

Human-animal interaction (HAI) is a concept that has been around since the beginning; ever since man knew what animals were. We have interacted in so many ways with animals - ranging from hunting as a resource to observing in the wild, and from holding in captivity as a means of labor to domesticating for companionship. Throughout these centuries of interactions, it's become abundantly clear as to what these encounters do for us as far as productivity/research/ entertainment/companionship, but it's never been completely clear as to what our presence and encounters do to them - more specifically, what does it do to them psychologically and behaviorally? The word interaction is key, and it's important to note what an interaction means: both individuals affect each other- “... both human and animal are active and reactive during an interaction, independent of who is the initiator” (Eddie A.M. Bokkers, 31). So, what does this mean for animal development? An animal’s psychological development (just like humans) is most influenced at a very young age, but behavioral development (though still very impressionable at a young age) can be influenced at virtually any point in their life. This, in regards to the influence of human interaction, means that it influences these two branches of development through positive and negative stimulants that allow a psychological learning adaptation to take place, prompting a behavioral action.