Meeting Abstract

S3.7  Sunday, Jan. 4  Social behaviour in context: how animals adjust their behaviour to the social environment OLIVEIRA, R.F.; ISPA, Lisboa, Portugal ruiol@ispa.pt

Animals interact with each other frequently and these interactions modulate subsequent interactions among them and with other group members. Thus, animals must fine-tune the expression of their social behaviour to the social environment in which they live. Classically associative learning rules have been proposed to explain these effects of prior experience on the expression of social behaviour, whereas variations in the internal state (motivation) of the animal have not been taken into account. Here I propose that hormones (in particular androgens) may play a major role as physiological mediators of the modulation of social behaviour by social context; two types of evidence support this hypothesis: (1) social interactions elicit rapid responses in circulating levels of androgens; (2) androgens are known to have activational effects on the expression of social behaviour. We will review data demonstrating an involvement of androgens in the mediation of the following experiential (social) effects: anticipatory effect; bystander priming effect in bystanders; winner/loser effect (i.e. winners keep winning and losers keep losing); dear enemy (familiarity) effect. The possible mechanism involved in the translation of social information into an endocrine response will also be discussed. Together these results suggest an interrelationship between hormonal factors, that regulate the internal state of the animal, and cognitive and learning mechanisms in the regulation of social behaviour.