Quality not quantity: Deficient juvenile play experiences lead to altered medial prefrontal cortex neurons and sociocognitive skill deficits

Ham, Jackson R.; Szabo, Madeline; Annor‐Bediako, Jessica; Stark, Rachel A.; Iwaniuk, Andrew N.; Pellis, Sergio M.

doi:10.1002/dev.22456

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 117 publications

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“…Critically, observations of rats have revealed that role reversals are among the critical experiences derived from play fighting that leads to improvements in sociocognitive skills (Pellis et al, 2023a). As noted above, a key feature of play fighting is that it involves cooperation, which in turn, is necessary to produce role reversals (turn-taking), and the studies with rats increasingly point to these beneficial effects arising from partners being relatively balanced in instigating role reversals (Stark et al, 2021;Ham et al, 2024). Not surprisingly, then, in Belding's ground squirrels, it is social play and not solitary locomotor play that is positively correlated with improved emotional responsivity and social competence (Marks et al, 2017).…”

Section: The Adaptive Functions Of Play Fightingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Play fighting revisited: its design features and how they shape our understanding of its mechanisms and functions

Pellis,

Ham

2024

Front. Ethol.

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Play fighting has been one of the most intensely studied forms of play and so has provided some of our deepest insights into the understanding of play in general. As the label implies, this behavior resembles serious fighting, in that the animals compete for an advantage over one another, but unlike true aggression, for play fighting to remain playful, it also incorporates a degree of cooperation and reciprocity – restrained competition seems to be its hallmark. Despite these common features, it should be noted that both the advantage competed over and the mechanisms by which restraint is achieved varies across species. Such variation mitigates simple generalities. For example, how empirical support for a proposed adaptive function in one species not being replicated in another, is to be interpreted. What has emerged over the past few decades is that play fighting is diverse, varying across several dimensions, some superficial, some fundamental, making choosing species to compare a challenge. In this paper, we explore various design features that constitute play fighting and the ways these can be modified across different species and lineages of species. Given that a major pillar of ethology is that description precedes explanation, having a good grasp of the behavioral diversity of play fighting is an essential starting point for detailed analyses of the mechanisms and functions of play. We show that commonalities across species likely involve different mechanisms than do species idiosyncrasies, and that different styles of play fighting likely afford different adaptive opportunities.

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Section: The Adaptive Functions Of Play Fightingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Play fighting revisited: its design features and how they shape our understanding of its mechanisms and functions

Pellis,

Ham

2024

Front. Ethol.

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Rapid facial mimicry as a regulator of play in a despotic macaque species

Facondini,

Pedruzzi,

Aere

et al. 2024

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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During risky interactions like social play, motor resonance phenomena such as facial mimicry can be highly adaptive. Here, we studied Rapid Facial Mimicry (RFM, the automatic mimicking of a playmate’s facial expression, play faces) during play fighting between young rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) living in a large zoo-housed group. For the first time and in contrast to previous data on highly despotic-intolerant macaques, we found RFM to be present at high frequency in young rhesus macaques, especially when the trigger was dominant over the responder and when both players were subadults. The hierarchical modulation of RFM may be associated with the increased uncertainty and riskiness of play involving a higher-ranking playmate. This highlights the importance of mimicry in improving communication and coordination during such interactions. Interestingly, RFM prolonged playful sessions, possibly indicating a more effective fine-tuning of motor patterns. Moreover, the occurrence of RFM had an effect on shortening the latency to restart playing after a break, possibly acting as an engine to potentially maintain playmates’ arousal. When investigating if bystanders could replicate play faces emitted by the playing subjects, we failed to find RFM, thus highlighting that being directly involved in the interaction might be crucial for RFM activation in monkeys. Even though further comparative studies should investigate the role of RFM across tolerant and despotic-intolerant species, our findings offer valuable insights into the communicative and adaptive value of motor resonance phenomena in regulating social play in despotic societies. Significance statement In risky interactions involving competition and vigorous physical contact, such as play fighting, replicating partners’ facial expressions can serve as a strategy to convey positive mood and intentions. Here we investigated the presence and possible roles of Rapid Facial Mimicry (RFM) in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). For the first time, our study demonstrates that communicative strategies, including Rapid Facial Mimicry (RFM), can be both present and frequent in despotic-intolerant macaque species. We demonstrate that the role of mimicry not only prolongs playful interactions but can also be linked to the reinforcement and/or transmission of playful arousal. Our study shows how the adaptive value of motor resonance phenomena may have driven their evolution to cope with challenges during social interactions also for despotic-intolerant species.

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Without optimum support: effect of maternal early deprivation on play in semiwild chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes

Francesconi,

Loprete,

Maglieri

et al. 2024

Animal Behaviour

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Quality not quantity: Deficient juvenile play experiences lead to altered medial prefrontal cortex neurons and sociocognitive skill deficits

Cited by 7 publications

References 117 publications

Play fighting revisited: its design features and how they shape our understanding of its mechanisms and functions

Play fighting revisited: its design features and how they shape our understanding of its mechanisms and functions

Rapid facial mimicry as a regulator of play in a despotic macaque species

Without optimum support: effect of maternal early deprivation on play in semiwild chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes

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