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PubMed2006

Mother-child play and emerging social behaviors among infants from maltreating families.

Mother-child play of 12-month-old infants (N=130) from maltreating (N=78) and non-maltreating (N=52) families was analyzed as a context that integrates infants' developing social and cognitive skills. Play was coded from semistructured and unstructured play paradigms. No group differences were found in infants' play maturity. Infants from abusing families demonstrated more imitative play than infants from non-maltreating families, and engaged in less independent play than infants from both neglecting and non-maltreating families, suggesting a delay in emerging social behaviors. Mothers from abusing and non-maltreating families differed in attention directing behaviors. Maternal behaviors predicted child play style variables, but did not mediate the effects of maltreatment. Findings discuss the influence of an early maltreating environment upon the development of the emergent self. Implications for early intervention are underscored.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Social behavior and cortisol reactivity in children with fragile X syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (L-HPA) axis reactivity and social behavior in children with fragile X syndrome (FXS). METHOD: Salivary cortisol changes and concurrent anxiety-related behaviors consistent with the behavioral phenotype of FXS were measured in 90 children with the fragile X full mutation and their 90 unaffected siblings during a social challenge task in the home. RESULTS: Boys and girls with FXS demonstrated more gaze aversion, task avoidance, behavioral signs of distress, and poorer vocal quality than the unaffected siblings. Multiple regression analyses showed that after accounting for effects of IQ, gender, age, quality of the home environment, and basal cortisol level, cortisol reactivity to the task was significantly associated with social gaze in children with FXS. The most gaze-aversive children with FXS had cortisol reductions, whereas those with more eye contact demonstrated the most cortisol reactivity. Unaffected siblings demonstrated an opposite pattern in which less eye contact was associated with increased cortisol reactivity. CONCLUSIONS: Results of the study suggest a unique relation between abnormal gaze behavior and L-HPA mediated stress reactivity in FXS.

Child↗
PubMed1977

Methylphenidate in hyperkinetic children: differences in dose effects on learning and social behavior.

Methylphenidate (Ritalin) is widely prescribed for hyperkinetic children. This study showed a peak enchancement of learning in children after being given a dose of 0.3 milligram per kilogram of body weight, and a decrement in learning in those given larger doses; social behavior showed the most improvement in children given 1.0 milligram per kilogram. These results had been hypothesized from theoretical dose-response curves which indicate different target behaviors would improve at different doses.

Child↗
PubMed1980

Motor and social behavior in abused and control children: observations of parent-child interactions.

Motor and social contact behaviors of 13 matched pairs of abused and control children were observed in dyadic interaction with their mothers. Few distinctions were found between these groups. Using post hoc rationale, abused and control groups were further differentiated on the basis of the quality of mother-child interaction. Quality of interaction was inferred from three factors of Caldwell, Heider, and Kaplan's Inventory of Home Stimulation. One factor (i.e., mother's use of restriction and punishment), in interaction with abause and control classifications, revealed a number of significant comparisons on motor and social behavior. Abused children employed more covert forms of communication while control children used more overt form. Results were discussed in terms of the identification of developmentally relevant aspects of the child's environment.

Child Abuse↗
PubMed2006

Assessing the social behavior of unipolar depressives: the criteria for Typus melancholicus.

AIM: (a) To define the nuclear characteristics of the melancholic type of personality (TM), that in European and Japanese psychopathological tradition is considered the model which most accurately describes the social behavior of unipolar depressives, through clear, valid, and synthetic criteria (criteria for TM = CTM); (b) to evaluate the diagnostic power, reliability, internal consistency, and other psychometric properties of these criteria. METHODS: Personality features of 115 unipolar depressives consecutively admitted to 2 psychiatric facilities were assessed with the CTM and with the Kasahara Scale (KS). Four further unipolar depressives were assessed with the CTM by 13 different raters (11 CTM-naive and 2 experienced). RESULTS: The CTM have shown high reliability and internal consistency. They were also highly concordant with the KS scores. CONCLUSIONS: The CTM can discriminate between TMs and non-TMs and suggests that the TM kind of personality is not a dimensional concept but a coherent structure in which one feature entails the presence of all the others.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMed1988

Tonic pain and social behavior in male rabbits.

The 4 subjects each of 6 all-male colonies of rabbits studied in a seminatural setting rapidly established a dominance hierarchy. A combination of behavioral parameters obtained in two experimental situations was used to assign each individual a quantitative score of dominance. The situations were: 'intermale' activity between the residents and 'intruder test', i.e. the reactivity to the introduction of a male conspecific. Fifteen days later, tonic pain (formalin injection) was inflicted on the dominant, and the short-term effects on the treated animal and the social behavior of the group were studied. Licking of the injected foot was used to measure the intensity of pain; this reached a peak 4-8 h after injection and persisted with decreasing intensity into the second day. The painful condition resulted in a general dramatic decrease in motor and social activity including aggressive elements during the intruder test. A positive correlation was found between reduction in motor activity and pain intensity. However, the treated animals did not develop submissive behavior, while the untreated subordinates persisted in their prevalence of submissive over aggressive elements. This contributed to maintain in most cases the behavioral asymmetry of the agonistic activity of the different ranking animals. The possible mechanisms of the observed behavioral modifications are discussed.

Agonistic Behavior↗
PubMed1989

Autism diagnostic observation schedule: a standardized observation of communicative and social behavior.

The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), a standardized protocol for observation of social and communicative behavior associated with autism, is described. The instrument consists of a series of structured and semistructured presses for interaction, accompanied by coding of specific target behaviors associated with particular tasks and by general ratings of the quality of behaviors. Interrater reliability for five raters exceeded weighted kappas of .55 for each item and each pair of raters for matched samples of 15 to 40 autistic and nonautistic, mildly mentally handicapped children (M IQ = 59) between the ages of 6 and 18 years. Test-retest reliability was adequate. Further analyses compared these groups to two additional samples of autistic and nonautistic subjects with normal intelligence (M IQ = 95), matched for sex and chronological age. Analyses yielded clear diagnostic differences in general ratings of social behavior, specific aspects of communication, and restricted or stereotypic behaviors and interests. Clinical guidelines for the diagnosis of autism in the draft version of ICD-10 were operationalized in terms of abnormalities on specific ADOS items. An algorithm based on these items was shown to have high reliability and discriminant validity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Stages of constant amphetamine intoxication: delayed appearance of abnormal social behaviors in rat colonies.

Rats in colonies were observed for 7 days after half of them were implanted with slow-release silicone pellets containing d-amphetamine base. The drug-implanted animals were initially hyperactive and exploratory, but this gradually evolved over the next 24 h into motor stereotypies of an increasingly more circumscribed nature. On the 4th day after amphetamine implantation they transiently withdrew to the burrows area; thereafter they were characterized by heightened startle responses and increased social behaviors such as fighting and fleeing. During the last phase some of the drug-implanted animals tended to focus their fighting behaviors on one other drug-implanted animal. This late phase of constant amphetamine intoxication in rats has a number of similarities to amphetamine psychosis in humans, and can serve as a useful animal model for the study of its biochemical correlates.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

The influence of right frontotemporal dysfunction on social behavior in frontotemporal dementia.

BACKGROUND: Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is associated with a variety of cognitive and behavioral dysfunctions. Symptoms may be influenced by the relative involvement of the right versus the left hemisphere, with left-sided FTD manifesting language changes and right-sided FTD presenting with aggressive, antisocial, and other socially undesirable behaviors. OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that right-sided FTD is associated with socially undesirable behavior. METHODS: The authors assessed 41 patients with FTD diagnosed by the new research criteria for FTD(1) including behavioral, neuropsychologic, and neurologic testing as well as SPECT and MRI. Based on visual inspection of SPECT scans, 12 patients were classified as having predominantly right-sided and 19 patients were classified as having predominantly left-sided FTD. A clinician blinded to the imaging data reviewed medical records to tabulate the frequency of the following socially undesirable behaviors: criminal behavior, aggression, loss of job, alienation from family/friends, financial recklessness, sexually deviant behavior, and abnormal response to spousal crisis. RESULTS: Eleven of 12 right-sided and 2 of 19 left-sided FTD patients had socially undesirable behavior as an early presenting symptom (chi = 23.3, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The authors conclude that right-sided frontotemporal degeneration is associated with socially undesirable behavior. The early presence of socially undesirable behavior in FTD differentiates right-sided from left-sided degeneration. The results highlight the importance of the right hemisphere, especially frontotemporal regions, in the mediation of social behavior. The potential mechanism for these social losses with right-sided disease is discussed.

Aggression↗
PubMed1989

Effect of d-amphetamine, secobarbital, and marijuana on choice behavior: social versus nonsocial options.

The effects of oral d-amphetamine and secobarbital and smoked marijuana on human social conversation and preference for socializing were studied in three separate experiments. During experimental sessions, active drug or placebo was administered using an acute or divided dosing procedure. Subjects who received drug then engaged in a discrete-trial choice procedure in which they made a series of mutually exclusive choices between a social (talking with their nondrugged partner) and nonsocial (sitting quietly alone) option. Lapel microphones and voice operated relays measured seconds of speech. Subjects engaged in greater amounts of conversation and chose the social option more frequently following acute dosing of d-amphetamine and secobarbital compared with placebo. Acute administration of marijuana did not significantly affect social speech or choice behavior, producing slight decreases in both measures. Acute dosing of all drugs significantly increased subjective drug effect or drug high; however, only secobarbital affected the circular lights task, producing significant performance decrements. The shifts in preference toward the social option observed with d-amphetamine and secobarbital suggest that these drugs increased the reinforcing effects of socializing relative to sitting alone. This may be one mechanism by which psychoactive drugs facilitate social conversation.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Dual origin of highly social behavior among bees.

A study of behavior and structure indicates that highly eusocial behavior arose twice in the bees--i.e., in the stingless bees (Meliponinae) and in the honeybees (Apinae). Morphological features demonstrate the distinctiveness of these two groups and the relationship of the latter to bumblebees (Bombini) and orchid bees (Euglossin). The social behaviors of the stingless bees and honeybees, while more or less equally elaborate, are so different as to support their independent origins. The primitive apids, along with the related Xylocopinae (in the Anthophoridae), appear to have had the potential for parasocial, subsocial, and primitively eusocial behavior and from such forms the two highly eusocial groups arose.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

The Social Behavior Inventory for children in a child abuse treatment program: development of a tool to measure interpersonal behavior.

This article presents information about a tool that can be completed in a few minutes to measure the interpersonal behavior of childen particpating in a child abuse treatment program. One sample of children came from the community and had no reported history of abuse or mental health services. A second sample was children obtaining therapy services through a child abuse treatment program. Factor analysis of scores provided by parents for their children obtaining therapy services led to the development of three scales to assess aversive interpersonal behavior, two to measure prosocial interpersonal behavior, and one to measure total interpersonal competence. Numerous indices of liability and validity are presented. Data delineated the potential value of the scales for assessing the impact of therapy. The current results suggested that the Social Behavior Inventory may have value as a measure of interpersonal behavior when providing therapy to children in a child abuse treatment program if used prudently.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Deletion of the mental retardation gene Gdi1 impairs associative memory and alters social behavior in mice.

Non-specific mental retardation (NSMR) is a common human disorder characterized by mental handicap as the only clinical symptom. Among the recently identified MR genes is GDI1, which encodes alpha Gdi, one of the proteins controlling the activity of the small GTPases of the Rab family in vesicle fusion and intracellular trafficking. We report the cognitive and behavioral characterization of mice carrying a deletion of Gdi1. The Gdi1-deficient mice are fertile and anatomically normal. They appear normal also in many tasks to assess spatial and episodic memory and emotional behavior. Gdi1-deficient mice are impaired in tasks requiring formation of short-term temporal associations, suggesting a defect in short-term memory. In addition, they show lowered aggression and altered social behavior. In mice, as in humans, lack of Gdi1 spares most central nervous system functions and preferentially impairs only a few forebrain functions required to form temporal associations. The general similarity to human mental retardation is striking, and suggests that the Gdi1 mutants may provide insights into the human defect and into the molecular mechanisms important for development of cognitive functions.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

A LuxS-dependent cell-to-cell language regulates social behavior and development in Bacillus subtilis.

Cell-to-cell communication in bacteria is mediated by quorum-sensing systems (QSS) that produce chemical signal molecules called autoinducers (AI). In particular, LuxS/AI-2-dependent QSS has been proposed to act as a universal lexicon that mediates intra- and interspecific bacterial behavior. Here we report that the model organism Bacillus subtilis operates a luxS-dependent QSS that regulates its morphogenesis and social behavior. We demonstrated that B. subtilis luxS is a growth-phase-regulated gene that produces active AI-2 able to mediate the interspecific activation of light production in Vibrio harveyi. We demonstrated that in B. subtilis, luxS expression was under the control of a novel AI-2-dependent negative regulatory feedback loop that indicated an important role for AI-2 as a signaling molecule. Even though luxS did not affect spore development, AI-2 production was negatively regulated by the master regulatory proteins of pluricellular behavior, SinR and Spo0A. Interestingly, wild B. subtilis cells, from the undomesticated and probiotic B. subtilis natto strain, required the LuxS-dependent QSS to form robust and differentiated biofilms and also to swarm on solid surfaces. Furthermore, LuxS activity was required for the formation of sophisticated aerial colonies that behaved as giant fruiting bodies where AI-2 production and spore morphogenesis were spatially regulated at different sites of the developing colony. We proposed that LuxS/AI-2 constitutes a novel form of quorum-sensing regulation where AI-2 behaves as a morphogen-like molecule that coordinates the social and pluricellular behavior of B. subtilis.

Bacillus subtilis↗
PubMed1986

Gene-culture coevolution of complex social behavior: human altruism and mate choice.

The hypothesis is examined that genes bias the development of complex social behavior in one direction over alternatives. Studies of altruism and political attitudes in twins estimate that approximately 50% of the variance is associated with direct genetic inheritance, virtually 0% with the twin's common family environment, and the remainder with each twin's specific environment. Studies of human marriages show that spouses choose each other on the basis of similarity, assorting on the most genetically influenced of a set of homogeneous attributes. These data imply a genetic canalization of social influences such that, within the constraints allowed by the total spectrum of cultural alternatives, people create environments maximally compatible with their genotypes.

Altruism↗
PubMed1995

Differential impairments of spatial memory and social behavior in two models of limbic epilepsy.

To explore memory impairments in temporal lobe epilepsy, we used two experimental models in the rats: (a) kainate-induced status epilepticus (SE) resulting in excitotoxic damage and in later spontaneous seizures; and (b) amygdala kindling, known to induce no lesions (or only minor) and neuronal reorganization. Long-term effects of these models on memory were investigated with a spatial learning task in a radial-arm maze, and a social interaction test that implies degree of short-term memory. An histological analysis was made to determine neuronal damage or loss caused by epileptic activity in brain regions that could be related to memory functions. Kainate-induced epilepsy produced large memory deficits in animals tested 5 months after the injection. The rats showed severe lesions in amygdala and hippocampus and piriform and entorhinal cortex. Spatial memory was strongly diminished. The social memory test was severely impaired, probably due to the extent of amygdala injury, which is known to disturb social behavior. On the contrary, kindled rats showed no evident lesion in any brain region and displayed performances as good as those of controls in both tests. These experiments demonstrated that memory deficits appear to be related to the severity of neuronal damage in limbic areas, and the ability to develop seizures (permanence) is not solely responsible for these memory disturbances.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Attentional-inhibitory control and social-behavioral regulation after childhood closed head injury: do biological, developmental, and recovery variables predict outcome?

Attentional-inhibitory control and social-behavioral regulation are two outcome domains commonly impaired after childhood closed head injury (CHI). We compared neuropsychological tests of attentional-inhibitory control (vigilance, selective attention, response modulation) and social discourse and intentionality (inferencing, figurative language, and speech acts) with parent ratings of attention and behavioral regulation in relation to four injury-related variables: age at CHI, time since CHI, CHI injury severity, and frontal lobe injury moderated by CHI severity. Participants were 105 school-aged children in the chronic stage of CHI, divided into mild, moderate, and severe injury severity groups, and further subdivided according to frontal lobe injury. Outcome indices were imperfectly correlated in the group as a whole, although several relations between neurocognitive tests and parent ratings were observed within CHI subgroups. Different domains of cognitive function had different predictors. For attentional-inhibitory control, age at injury and time since injury were most predictive of outcome; for social discourse, predictors were injury severity and frontal lobe injury moderated by injury severity. Variability in cognitive outcome after childhood CHI is not random, but appears related to age, time, and biological features of the injury.

Adolescent↗