Hormonal mechanisms of cooperative behaviour

Soares, Marta C.; Bshary, Redouan; Fusani, Leonida; Goymann, Wolfgang; Hau, Michaela; Hirschenhauser, Katharina; Oliveira, Rui Filipe

doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0151

Cited by 143 publications

(148 citation statements)

References 115 publications

(117 reference statements)

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“…The ability to form strong social bonds with non-kin provides animals with more flexible options to increase their reproductive success [6,7,11]. The mechanisms underlying non-kin bond formation in non-reproductive contexts have remained elusive, particularly whether oxytocin plays a part in bond formation between unrelated individuals [24,27]. In this study, we defined close social bonds in terms of high rates of exchange of cooperative behaviours.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A cognitively less demanding mechanism underlying exchange of cooperative acts may be based on an uncalculated mediation of reciprocity [21,23] whereby services given from animal A to animal B promote a positive emotion, which increases the likelihood that B will interact again with A. The underlying physiological mechanism of such a process could act on neural reward and social memory circuits [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31], promoting social choices that are considerably influenced by underlying emotions [21,24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Urinary oxytocin and social bonding in related and unrelated wild chimpanzees

et al. 2013

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Animals that maintain cooperative relationships show gains in longevity and offspring survival. However, little is known about the cognitive or hormonal mechanisms involved in cooperation. Indeed, there is little support for a main hypothesis that non-human animals have the cognitive capacities required for bookkeeping of cooperative exchanges. We tested an alternative hypothesis that cooperative relationships are facilitated by an endocrinological mechanism involving oxytocin, a hormone required for bonding in parental and sexual relationships across mammals. We measured urinary oxytocin after single bouts of grooming in wild chimpanzees. Oxytocin levels were higher after grooming with bond partners compared with nonbond partners or after no grooming, regardless of genetic relatedness or sexual interest. We ruled out other possible confounds, such as grooming duration, grooming direction or sampling regime issues, indicating that changes in oxytocin levels were mediated by social bond strength. Oxytocin, which is thought to act directly on neural reward and social memory systems, is likely to play a key role in keeping track of social interactions with multiple individuals over time. The evolutionary linkage of an ancestral hormonal system with complex social cognition may be the primary mechanism through which long-term cooperative relationships develop between both kin and non-kin in mammals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urinary oxytocin and social bonding in related and unrelated wild chimpanzees

et al. 2013

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“…Androgens have long been recognized as important modulators of behaviour, yet few studies have sought to establish the mechanistic link between hormones and cooperation [13]. Low testosterone levels are thought to facilitate cooperation because high testosterone might produce deterministic, inflexible responses (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding testosterone variation in a tropical lek-breeding bird

2011

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Male reproductive coalitions, in which males cooperate to attract females, are a rare strategy among vertebrates. While some studies have investigated ultimate aspects of these relationships, little is known about the mechanistic role that hormones play in modulating cooperative behaviours. Here, we examined male testosterone variation in a tropical lekking bird, the wire-tailed manakin (Pipra filicauda), which exhibits cooperative male -male display coalitions. We found that testosterone levels in territorial males were comparable to those of temperate breeding birds, a surprising result given their environmental, social and reproductive dynamics. In addition, social status rather than plumage was a strong predictor of testosterone variation. Territorial males had significantly higher testosterone levels than did two other plumage classes of floater males, who do not hold territories. We hypothesize that testosterone variation plays an important role in the establishment of male dominance hierarchies (competition), while concurrently facilitating stable display partnerships (cooperation).

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“…In order to determine the natural variation in CORT levels secreted by zebra finch nestlings in response to a standardized environmental stressor, and to allow us to manipulate birds within biologically relevant levels, pilot work was undertaken prior to the start of the experiment to establish appropriate dose levels. A separate sample of unrelated zebra finch nestlings aged 12 and 16 days were chosen at random from our breeding colony (12 days old: n ¼ 8; 16 days old: n ¼ 10) and subjected to the standard capturerestraint protocol for measuring acute responses to environmental stressors in birds [12,13]. Blood samples (less than 50 ml) were collected upon initial capture (within 2 min) and at 10 and 30 min during restraint in an opaque box, and analysed for CORT as described below.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

For better or worse: reduced adult lifespan following early-life stress is transmitted to breeding partners

et al. 2011

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Stressful conditions early in life can give rise to exaggerated stress responses, which, while beneficial in the short term, chronically increase lifetime exposure to stress hormones and elevate disease risk later in life. Using zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata, we show here that individuals whose glucocorticoid stress hormones were experimentally increased for only a brief period in early post-natal life, inducing increased stress sensitivity, had reduced adult lifespans. Remarkably, the breeding partners of such exposed individuals also died at a younger age. This negative effect on partner longevity was the same for both sexes; it occurred irrespective of the partner's own early stress exposure and was in addition to any longevity reduction arising from this. Furthermore, this partner effect continued even after the breeding partnership was terminated. Only 5 per cent of control birds with control partners had died after 3 years, compared with over 40 per cent in early stress -early stress pairs. In contrast, reproductive capability appeared unaffected by the early stress treatment, even when breeding in stressful environmental circumstances. Our results clearly show that increased exposure to glucocorticoids early in life can markedly reduce adult life expectancy, and that pairing with such exposed partners carries an additional and substantial lifespan penalty.

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Hormonal mechanisms of cooperative behaviour

Cited by 143 publications

References 115 publications

Urinary oxytocin and social bonding in related and unrelated wild chimpanzees

Urinary oxytocin and social bonding in related and unrelated wild chimpanzees

Understanding testosterone variation in a tropical lek-breeding bird

For better or worse: reduced adult lifespan following early-life stress is transmitted to breeding partners

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