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PubMed2003

The place of the Triune Brain in psychiatry.

MacLean's pioneering concept of "The Triune Brain" began to emerge in 1949 with his publication Psychosomatic disease and the "visceral brain", followed in 1952 by Some psychiatric implications of physiological studies on frontotemporal portion of limbic system (visceral brain). This shows that his seminal ideas grew out of his astute observation of psychiatric signs and symptoms. Later on, he observed the broad spectrum of human epileptic seizures and its cause in the limbic system. A large variety of uncontrolled feelings and emotions, together with bizarre motor behavior, is elicited by seizures in the hippocampus and other limbic structures.Meanwhile, based on the triune brain model, a new approach to psychopathology has taken shape. It is the evolutionary perspective of mental diseases such as the major psychoses, anorexia nervosa, anxiety disorders, and also brain diseases such as Parkinson's disease or Huntington's disease. Many mental illnesses are marked by severe deficits in social behavior and social communication. The social communication system disintegrates, especially in the major psychoses. The response choices to social or other external signals in a given situation become limited or even distorted, and reasoning is no longer part of decision making. The emphasis of this contribution is on the disintegration of social behavior in psychopathology, based on evolutionary psychiatry. MacLean's concept provides valuable insight for understanding the biological roots of human social behavior and communication. It is time to uncover the ties between the natural and the social sciences.

Animal Communication↗

PubMed1999

[Treatment of depression secondary to psychotic disorders].

More than 25% patients suffering from psychotic disorders would show during their evolution some depressive disorders. More than 10% would die from suicide. Secondary depressions following psychotic disorders are heterogeneous. They have to be specified in order to assess therapeutics including biological psychological and socio-environmental approaches. Treatment of depressive disorders correlated to psychotic symptomatology, being mood congruent or not, is the same as characterized depression. However it is preferred to associate antidepressant and neuroleptic or electroconvulsivotherapy. Depressive symptomatology in psychotic disorders is mostly secondary due to delusion, negative or even deficit symptomatology. It often requires to adapt individual choice and posology of antipsychotic treatment. Depressive states in "post-psychotic" phase, secondary to acute phase or in the evolution of chronic psychosis, may be for some of them linked to neuroleptic treatment side effects: in this case, posology and indication have to be discussed. In other cases, it may be indicated to prescribe antidepressant or even electroconvulsivotherapy after having considered the existence of psycho-dynamic reorganization and the need of psychotherapic, social or institutional support. The existence of depressive disorders in the evolution of psychosis leads to ask about their significance: psychological reaction, comorbidity of two distinct pathologies, evidence of continuum between affective disorders and schizophrenia.

Depression↗

PubMed2006

Gender differences in smiling: An evolutionary neuroandrogenic theory.

Studies have found that, under a wide variety of social circumstances, females are more likely than males to smile. The present article offers a theoretical explanation for this difference based on the premise that testosterone (along with other sex hormones) has evolved the tendency to alter brain functioning in ways that inhibit male smiling, especially during their most reproductively active years. Underlying the theory are the assumptions that (a) females have been naturally selected for preferring to mate with males who have the ability to assist in long-term child rearing primarily by provisioning resources, that (b) males partially accommodate this female preference by competing with rival males who are also vying for resources with which to attract mates, and that (c) male smiling interferes with their ability to most effectively intimidate rivals. If this reasoning is correct, genes must be involved in promoting the tendency to compete for resources, the most likely location for which would be on the Y-chromosome. According to the present theory, these genes operate in part by inhibiting social signals of fear and submissiveness. An additional element of the theory asserts that testosterone alters brain functioning in ways that shift the neocortex away from the left (more "prosocial and friendly") hemisphere toward the right (less "prosocial and friendly") hemisphere. Current evidence bearing on the theory is reviewed and a number of largely untested hypotheses are derived from the theory for future assessment of its predictive power.

Androgens↗

PubMed2001

Social causes of correlational selection and the resolution of a heritable throat color polymorphism in a lizard.

When selection acts on social or behavioral traits, the fitness of an individual depends on the phenotypes of its competitors. Here, we describe methods and statistical inference for measuring natural selection in small social groups. We measured selection on throat color alleles that arises from microgeographic variation in allele frequency at natal sites of side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana). Previous game-theoretic analysis indicates that two color morphs of female side-blotched lizards are engaged in an offspring quantity-quality game that promotes a density- and frequency-dependent cycle. Orange-throated females are r-strategists. They lay large clutches of small progeny, which have poor survival at high density, but good survival at low density. In contrast, yellow-throated females are K-strategists. They lay small clutches of large progeny, which have good survival at high density. We tested three predictions of the female game: (1) orange progeny should have a fitness advantage at low density; (2) correlational selection acts to couple color alleles and progeny size; and (3) this correlational selection arises from frequency-dependent selection in which large hatchling size confers an advantage, but only when yellow alleles are rare. We also confirmed the heritability of color, and therefore its genetic basis, by producing progeny from controlled matings. A parsimonious cause of the high heritability is that three alleles (o, b, y) segregate as one genetic factor. We review the physiology of color formation to explain the possible genetic architecture of the throat color trait. Heritability of color was nearly additive in our breeding study, allowing us to compute a genotypic value for each individual and thus predict the frequency of progeny alleles released on 116 plots. Rather than study the fitness of individual progeny, we studied how the fitness of their color alleles varied with allele frequency on plots. We confirmed prediction 1: When orange alleles are present in female progeny, they have higher fitness at low density when compared to other alleles. Even though the difference in egg size of the female morphs was small (0.02 g), it led to knife-edged survival effects for their progeny depending on local social context. Selection on hatchling survival was not only dependent on color alleles, but on a fitness interaction between color alleles and hatchling size, which confirmed prediction 2. Sire effects, which are not confounded by maternal phenotype, allowed us to resolve the frequency dependence of correlational selection on egg size and color alleles and thereby confirmed prediction 3. Selection favored large size when yellow sire alleles were rare, but small size when they were common. Correlational selection promotes the formation of a self-reinforcing genetic correlation between the morphs and life-history variation, which causes selection in the next density and frequency cycle to be exacerbated. We discuss general conditions for the evolution of self-reinforcing genetic correlations that arise from social selection associated with frequency-dependent sexual and natural selection.

Alleles↗

PubMed1982

Natural science and medicine: social science and medicine: some methodological controversies.

The paper is in five parts. A discussion of the flaws in social science as seen from the viewpoint of medical science is followed by a consideration of what they hold in common--the shared institutions and ideal programme of Science. The major differences that still remain are then characterized in two further sections; the first concentrates on the issues raised by the human species' distinctive place in evolution, while the second discusses the problems and advantages created for social science by its necessary closeness to lay thought. We conclude with a summary of the difficulties involved in scientific progress in social science and some speculation concerning disciplinary re-alignment.

England↗

PubMed1988

Longitudinal evolution of individuals having appealed their committal to the C.A.S.

The longitudinal evolution of 66 patients admitted between 1976 and 1986 at the Centre Hospitalier Robert-Giffard, and who have appealed their case before the Commission des Affaires Sociales (C.A.S.) was studied. After a review of the literature, the authors compare the evolution of the patients whose appeal was accepted and who left the hospital against medical advice to those individuals whose appeal was rejected. The authors wanted to see if the first group of patients had a less favourable short-term and medium term evolution. From a study of the files and of the case notes prepared by the physicians for the C.A.S. hearings, the authors draw a profile of the typical individual of this group and they study the influence of 16 factors of dangerousness on the Commission's decisions. The results show that the short and medium term evolution of the patients who have appealed their case before the Commission does not differ significantly in the area of dangerousness, whether their appeal was accepted or rejected. However, the length of stay of those patients who had to remain in hospital was significantly longer and that may be the reason why the period of time between their discharge and their re-hospitalization was afterwards much longer. In light of these results, the authors comment on the importance given by the Commission to the legalistic rather than therapeutic aspects of cases.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Gulliver's travels in HIVland.

The emergence of HIV and AIDS is narrated here through the eyes of the legendary Irish traveller Gulliver, observing the replication, cross-species origin, evolution, diversity and transmission of HIV. Ethical problems of vaccine trials, the social impact of AIDS, and prospects for its prevention, including the development of topical virucidal lotions, are discussed. The existence of a growing proportion of HIV-infected, immunocompromised children and adults may significantly affect current immunization programmes and the evolution of opportunistic infections.

AIDS Vaccines↗

PubMed2003

A model for tool-use traditions in primates: implications for the coevolution of culture and cognition.

Inspired by the demonstration that tool-use variants among wild chimpanzees and orangutans qualify as traditions (or cultures), we developed a formal model to predict the incidence of these acquired specializations among wild primates and to examine the evolution of their underlying abilities. We assumed that the acquisition of the skill by an individual in a social unit is crucially controlled by three main factors, namely probability of innovation, probability of socially biased learning, and the prevailing social conditions (sociability, or number of potential experts at close proximity). The model reconfirms the restriction of customary tool use in wild primates to the most intelligent radiation, great apes; the greater incidence of tool use in more sociable populations of orangutans and chimpanzees; and tendencies toward tool manufacture among the most sociable monkeys. However, it also indicates that sociable gregariousness is far more likely to produce the maintenance of invented skills in a population than solitary life, where the mother is the only accessible expert. We therefore used the model to explore the evolution of the three key parameters. The most likely evolutionary scenario is that where complex skills contribute to fitness, sociability and/or the capacity for socially biased learning increase, whereas innovative abilities (i.e., intelligence) follow indirectly. We suggest that the evolution of high intelligence will often be a byproduct of selection on abilities for socially biased learning that are needed to acquire important skills, and hence that high intelligence should be most common in sociable rather than solitary organisms. Evidence for increased sociability during hominin evolution is consistent with this new hypothesis.

Animals↗

PubMed1980

Sociobiology: another biological determinism.

Sociobiology is a form of biological determinism which argues that human social organization is constrained by genes that have been selected in evolution. In particular, it regards male dominance, hierarchical society, entrepreneurial economic activity, territoriality, and aggression as a consequences of human genes. It is shown that sociobiological theory is carefully constructed to make it impossible to test, that it makes a number of fundamental errors in attempting to describe "human nature," that there is no evidence for inheritance of human social traits, and that the evolutionary arguments used are merely fanciful, adaptive stories.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Intellectual and physical disabilities in prehistory and early civilization.

This paper is focused on three basic questions: The first concerns when specific disabilities first appeared during human evolution. The second question has to do with causes of disabilities. The third question concerns social responses to people with disabilities. Discussions on each of the issues are presented.

Attitude↗

PubMed2004

Comparative psychology, a new perspective for the 21st century: up the spiral staircase.

This article responds to the continuing obituaries for Comparative Psychology. We understand the field to be a general psychology, a way of understanding the origins of all behavior of all species. We outline a methodological and conceptual foundation for comparative psychology to enter the new millennium-with an anagenetic and dynamic systems perspective. We see an important role to be played by comparative psychologists in managing resources, increasing our activity in social and political issues, and transcending our traditional role as the study of animal behavior to one that makes significant contributions to psychology and humanity by studying relationships between animals and changing environments, and by providing a historical perspective on human evolution.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Acoustic communication in territorial butterflyfish: test of the sound production hypothesis.

Butterflyfishes are conspicuous members of coral reefs and well known for their visual displays during social interactions. Members of the genus Chaetodon have a unique peripheral arrangement of the anterior swim bladder that connects with the lateral line (the laterophysic connection) and in many species projects towards the inner ear. This morphology has lead to the proposal that the laterophysic connection and swim bladder system may be a specialized structure for the detection of sound. However, the relevant stimuli, receiver mechanisms and functions for these putative hearing structures were unknown because butterflyfishes were previously not recognized to produce sounds during natural behavior. We performed field experiments to test the hypothesis that Chaetodon produces sounds in natural social contexts. Acoustic and motor behaviors of the monogamous multiband butterflyfish, C. multicinctus, were evoked and recorded by placement of bottled fish into feeding territories of conspecific pairs. We demonstrate that territory defense includes the production of agonistic sounds and hydrodynamic stimuli that are associated with tail slap, jump, pelvic fin flick and dorsal-anal fin erection behaviors. In addition, grunt pulse trains were produced by bottled intruders and are tentatively interpreted to function as an alert call among pair mates. Acoustic behaviors include low frequency hydrodynamic pulses <100 Hz, sounds with peak energy from 100 Hz to 500 Hz, and a broadband high frequency click (peak frequency=3.6 kHz), which is produced only during the tail slap behavior. These results provide a biological framework for future studies to interpret the proximate function of the acoustico-lateralis sensory system, the evolution of the laterophysic mechanism and their relevance to butterflyfish social behavior.

Animal Communication↗

PubMed2005

The evolution and function of adult attachment: a comparative and phylogenetic analysis.

Although the evolutionary functions of attachment in infant-caregiver relationships are undisputed, it is unclear what functions--if any--attachment serves in adult romantic relationships. The objective of this research was to examine the evolution and function of adult attachment (i.e., pair bonding) by applying comparative and phylogenetic methods to archival data collected on 2 diverse samples of mammalian species. The authors found that species exhibiting adult attachment were more likely than others to be characterized by paternal care, developmental immaturity or neoteny, small social groups, and small body sizes. The authors also used phylogenetic techniques to reconstruct the evolution of adult attachment and test alternative evolutionary models of the comparative correlates of pair bonding. Phylogenetic analyses suggested that the relationship between paternal care and adult attachment may be a functional one (i.e., due to convergent evolution) but that the relationship between neoteny and adult attachment may be due to homology (i.e., shared ancestry). Discussion focuses on the potential of comparative and phylogenetic methods for advancing the science of social and personality psychology.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Towards a coexistence of paradigms in nursing knowledge development.

During the last 35 years, nursing knowledge has known a surge in its development. Following the evolution of the scientific world, nursing first embraced the logical empiricist perspective of discovering and knowing. Historicism and, more recently, critical social theory have been explored as alternative ways of making knowledge in nursing. This paper discusses the evolution of nursing knowledge, considering its past and present activities. The authors suggest that a cooperative attitude amongst nurses, and a coexistence of various paradigms of knowledge development characterize the future of nursing. Nursing knowledge should be understood as a stage in its evolution and growth. The result of this process will never be a final static body of knowledge. Knowledge expansion will be encouraged through a process of integrating components from different research traditions, such that a multidimensional understanding of phenomena will be realised.

England↗

PubMed2002

Kissimmee River restoration: a case study.

Channelization of the Kissimmee River transformed a 167 km meandering river into a 9 metre deep, 75 metre wide, 90 km drainage canal (C-38) that is compartmentalized with levees and water control structures into a series of five stagnant pools. Channelization dramatically changed water level and flow characteristics, drained 21,000 hectares of floodplain wetlands and severely impacted fish and wildlife populations. A $500 million dollar restoration project will restore the ecological integrity of the river-floodplain system by reconstructing the natural river channel and reestablishing hydrologic processes. Sixty expectations have been established to quantify the ecosystem's recovery. The first phase of reconstruction was completed in February 2001 and included movement of 9.2 million cubic metres of earth to backfill 12 km of C-38, the explosive demolition of one water control structure, construction of two sections (2.4 km) of new river channel, and reestablishment of 24 contiguous km of river. Numerous social, political, and technical challenges have been encountered during the project's evolution. Recommendations are provided for future restoration projects.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗

PubMed1995

[Quality of life in patients with pacemakers].

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: On the occasion of the doctoral thesis "Epidemiologic study in pacemaker patients", the social and some health factors around the pacemaker patient has been studied. METHODS: Data were obtained by a patient verbal questionnaire and the pacemaker follow-up form. The social parameters studied are: employment aspects, change life feeling, health feeling, sporting activity and change of intensity of pharmacologic treatment. Just to get alone a quantitative social parameter, a social resulting punctuation or "social balance" has been designed. It has been used in bi-variable relation against the symptoms, electrocardiogram, complications, time from the pacemaker implantation, pacemaker type, dependence of the pacemaker and social variables between himself. Among the 108 variables considered, it has been studied which of them had more weight in the "pacemaker profitability". Greatest profitability (and vice versa): greatest profit in symptoms and in social conditions, smallest number of complications; greater time passed and worst evolution of electrocardiogram. The numerical value of the "profitability" is set up by assigning 20 points to each foregoing concepts, obtaining a greatest theoretical punctuation of 100 points and a smallest of 0 points. RESULTS: We obtained values of arithmetical mean, a frequency profile of quality life parameters, a profile of the better and worst situation in the bi-variable relation and the definition of those social factors who contributed to the segmentation of the "pacemaker profitability". CONCLUSIONS: The kind of job and the time of going out of it after the pacemaker implantation, the changing life feeling, the health feeling after the pacemaker and the transport means to the hospital are the variables which contributed to discriminate the major and the minor profitability.

Aged↗

PubMed2003

Extraordinary diversity in vasopressin (V1a) receptor distributions among wild prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster): patterns of variation and covariation.

The vasopressin V1a receptor is a gene known to be central to species differences in social behavior, including differences between the monogamous prairie vole and its promiscuous congeners. To examine how individual differences compare with species differences, we characterize variability in the expression of the vasopressin V1a receptor (V1aR) in a large sample of wild prairie voles. We find a surprising degree of intraspecific variation in V1aR binding that does not seem attributable to experimental sources. Most brain regions exhibit differences between upper and lower quartiles that are comparable to differences between species in this genus. Regions that are less variable have been implicated previously in regulating monogamous behaviors, suggesting that the lack of variation at these sites could reflect natural selection on mating system. Many brain regions covary strongly. The overall pattern of covariation reflects the developmental origins of brain regions. This finding suggests that shared mechanisms of transcriptional regulation may limit the patterns of gene expression. Such biases may shape both the efficacy of selection and the pattern of individual and species differences. Overall, our data indicate that the prairie vole would be a useful model for exploring how individual differences in gene expression influence complex social behaviors.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Toward a revised evolutionary adaptationist analysis of depression: the social navigation hypothesis.

Evolutionary biologists use Darwinian theory and functional design ("reverse engineering") analyses, to develop and test hypotheses about the adaptive functions of traits. Based upon a consideration of human social life and a functional design analysis of depression's core symptomatology we offer a comprehensive theory of its adaptive significance called the Social Navigation Hypothesis (SNH). The SNH attempts to account for all intensities of depression based on standard evolutionary theories of sociality, communication and psychological pain. The SNH suggests that depression evolved to perform two complimentary social problem-solving functions. First, depression induces cognitive changes that focus and enhance capacities for the accurate analysis and solution of key social problems, suggesting a social rumination function. Second, the costs associated with the anhedonia and psychomotor perturbation of depression can persuade reluctant social partners to provide help or make concessions via two possible mechanisms, namely, honest signaling and passive, unintentional fitness extortion. Thus it may also have a social motivation function.

Adaptation, Psychological↗