Social experience in early ontogeny has lasting effects on social skills in cooperatively breeding cichlids

Arnold, Cornelia; Taborsky, Barbara

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.12.008

Cited by 129 publications

(200 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…Our data suggest that, at least in this species, four weeks of repeated social interactions are needed to fully establish social niches. While several studies have now investigated how different ecological factors influence among-individual variation in behaviour [4][5][6]11], fewer have investigated how these factors generate individual consistency in behaviour (but see [19,34]). Our study demonstrates that the stability of the social environment may be especially influential in generating and even reinforcing individual differences once they appear.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of social niche construction: persistent and repeated social interactions generate stronger personalities in a social spider

Laskowski

Pruitt²

2014

Proc. R. Soc. B.

114

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While there are now a number of theoretical models predicting how consistent individual differences in behaviour may be generated and maintained, so far, there are few empirical tests. The social niche specialization hypothesis predicts that repeated social interactions among individuals may generate among-individual differences and reinforce within-individual consistency through positive feedback mechanisms. Here, we test this hypothesis using groups of the social spider Stegodyphus mimosarum that differ in their level of familiarity. In support of the social niche specialization hypothesis, individuals in groups of spiders that were more familiar with each other showed greater repeatable among-individual variation in behaviour. Additionally, individuals that were more familiar with each other exhibited lower withinindividual variation in behaviour, providing one of the first examples of how the social environment can influence behavioural consistency. Our study demonstrates the potential for the social environment to generate and reinforce consistent individual differences in behaviour and provides a potentially general mechanism to explain this type of behavioural variation in animals with stable social groups.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of social niche construction: persistent and repeated social interactions generate stronger personalities in a social spider

Laskowski

Pruitt²

2014

Proc. R. Soc. B.

114

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“…Previous studies have already shown developmental effects on mean behavioral levels such as social interactions (Iba et al, 1995;Arnold and Taborsky, 2010;Ballen et al, 2014;Liebgold, 2014), motor activity (Carducci and Jakob, 2000;Buchsbaum and Morse, 2012), or parental care (Margulis et al, 2005;Branchi et al, 2006). More studies are now desirable that investigate whether behavioral differences induced by developmental effects are consistent and stable, i.e., whether environmental conditions experienced influence animal personalities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Environmental Conditions Shape Personality Types in a Jumping Spider

et al. 2015

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Individuals of many species across the animal kingdom are found to be less plastic than expected, even in behavioral traits. The existence of consistent behavioral differences between individuals, termed "personality differences", is puzzling, since plastic behavior is considered ideal to enable animals to adaptively respond to changes in environmental conditions. In order to elucidate which mechanisms are important for the evolution of personality differences, it is crucial to understand which aspects of the environment are important for the development of personality differences. Here, we tested whether physical or social aspects of the environment during development influence individual differentiation (mean level of behavior) using the jumping spider Marpissa muscosa. Furthermore, we assessed whether those behaviors were repeatable, i.e. whether personalities existed. We applied a split-brood design and raised spider siblings in three different environments: a deprived environment with no enrichment, a socially and a physically enriched environment. We focused on exploratory behavior and repeatedly assessed individual behavior in a novel environment and a novel object test. Results show that the environment during development influenced spiders' exploratory tendencies: spiders raised in enriched environments tended to be more exploratory. Most investigated behaviors were repeatable (i.e., personalities existed) across all individuals tested, whereas only few behaviors were also repeatable across individuals that had experienced the same environmental condition. Taken together, our results indicate that external stimuli can influence the development of one aspect of personality, the inter-individual variation (mean level of behavior), in a jumping spider. We also found family by environment interactions on behavioral traits potentially suggesting genetic variation in developmental plasticity.

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“…Social enrichment or deprivation experienced shortly after birth can affect, for instance, the performance in dominance relationships and hierarchy formation (laboratory mice [1,2]; rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta [3]), adult brood care behaviour (laboratory mice [4]; laboratory rats [5,6]) and mate choice (zebra finch, Teaniopygia guttata [7]). In the cooperatively breeding African cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher, altering the structure of social groups during the first two months of life affects the social behaviour expressed across different social contexts and life stages [8,9]. Young reared among their siblings in the absence of dominant adults respond less appropriately to social challenges during the juvenile stage, with ensuing negative effects on the outcome of social interactions [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We compared transcription profiles of adult N. pulcher at about 1.5 years after they had been exposed to two different social conditions: for the first two months of life they had been reared either in the presence of parents and siblings, which corresponds to a normal social setting in this species, or only in the presence of same-aged siblings [8,9]. We quantified the expression level of four genes coding for neuropeptides and receptors implicated in the release and binding of corticoids as part of the vertebrate stress response: (i) corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF, the fish homologue of corticotropin-releasing hormone, CRH [17]), (ii) the two glucocorticoid receptors found in N. pulcher (GR1 and GR2 [18,19]), and (iii) the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR [18]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the cooperatively breeding African cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher, altering the structure of social groups during the first two months of life affects the social behaviour expressed across different social contexts and life stages [8,9]. Young reared among their siblings in the absence of dominant adults respond less appropriately to social challenges during the juvenile stage, with ensuing negative effects on the outcome of social interactions [8]. Competitive contests between fish reared without dominants take longer to resolve, and losers of a contest reared without dominants face a higher risk of eviction from the winner's territory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stable reprogramming of brain transcription profiles by the early social environment in a cooperatively breeding fish

et al. 2013

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Adult social behaviour can be persistently modified by early-life social experience. In rodents, such effects are induced by tactile maternal stimulation resulting in neuroendocrine modifications of the hypothalamicpituitary -adrenal axis involved in stress responsiveness. Whether similar long-term alterations can occur in the hypothalamic -pituitary -interrenal (HPI) axis of poikilothermic vertebrates is unknown. We compared the expression of four genes of the HPI axis in adults of the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher, which had been exposed to two early-life social treatments 1.5 years prior to brain sampling. Fish reared with parents and siblings had less brain expression of corticotropin-releasing factor and of the functional homologue of the mammalian glucocorticoid receptor (GR1) than individuals reared with same-age siblings only. Expression of the mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) did not differ between treatments, but the MR/GR1 expression ratio was markedly higher in fish reared with parents and siblings. Thus, we show here that early social experience can alter the programming of the stress axis in poikilothermic vertebrates, suggesting that this mechanism is deeply conserved within vertebrates. Moreover, we show for the first time that reprogramming of the stress axis of a vertebrate can be induced without tactile stimulation by parents.

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Social experience in early ontogeny has lasting effects on social skills in cooperatively breeding cichlids

Cited by 129 publications

References 41 publications

Evidence of social niche construction: persistent and repeated social interactions generate stronger personalities in a social spider

Evidence of social niche construction: persistent and repeated social interactions generate stronger personalities in a social spider

Early Environmental Conditions Shape Personality Types in a Jumping Spider

Stable reprogramming of brain transcription profiles by the early social environment in a cooperatively breeding fish

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