Age and gender differences in smiling and laughter: the power asymmetry hypothesis retested

The power asymmetry hypothesis puts smiling and laughter into the context of relationships, in particular the inequalities between people within interactions. As a means of appeasement, junior members are expected to display higher than usual rates of deliberately affiliative gestures towards senior (dominant) counterparts (compared to rates towards non-senior counterparts). Previous researchers found these effects for males but not females. In a new observational study, we compared rates of smiling and laughter within male-male and female-female dyads in bars and restaurants in London UK. Age was used as a proxy for social status (older presumed dominant). Individuals within these focal dyads were classified in two ways: sex, and estimated age (binary category using age thirty-five as a dividing line). Instances of smiling and laughter were classified as either deliberate or spontaneous. In total, 150 dyads were observed. Some power asymmetry effects were found for male-male but not female-female dyads. Younger males displayed higher rates of deliberate laughs towards older males and older males displayed more deliberate smiles towards other older males. Females displayed more affiliative behaviors when interacting with peers compared to older counterparts. These results partly replicate earlier studies and provide support for power symmetry effects amongst males only

Effect of the Ketogenic Diet on Behavioral Symptoms of Autism in the Poly(IC) Mouse Model

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological disorder characterized by decreased sociability, deficits in communication, and restricted and repetitive behaviors. The ketogenic diet (KD), a high-fat, low-carbohydrate, and moderate-protein diet has been shown to improve these three behavioral symptoms in the BTBR mouse model of autism. However, further research is required to strengthen the body of knowledge surrounding the potential of KD as diet therapy for autism. Epidemiological observations have shown that maternal immune activation (MIA) during pregnancy increases the risk of autism in offspring. Based on these observations, the polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly(IC)) mouse model was developed as an animal model to study autism. Poly(IC) is a synthetic analog of double stranded RNA and acts as a viral mimic. It is injected into a pregnant dam, activating an immune response without causing an infection. The offspring of this protocol are the poly(IC) MIA mouse model. They have been shown to have the autistic symptoms of deficits in sociability and communication as well as increased repetitive behaviors. In this study, pregnant dams were injected with poly(IC) or the saline vehicle during the late first trimester. The offspring were separated into control and test groups. At 5 weeks of age, the test group was placed on a 6:1 fat:(carbohydrates + protein) KD while the control groups remained on standard chow. After three weeks on the diet, we assessed sociability, repetitive behavior, and communication. Our results showed that KD reversed increased self-grooming in poly(IC) mice. Results did not indicate autistic-like behavior in our poly(IC) mice for social contact, sociability, grooming during the 3-chamber test, or repetitive behavior in the marble-burying test. However, KD increased social contact in poly(IC) mice. It also increased sociability and decreased 3-chamber grooming in poly(IC) males. Poly(IC) mice did not have a deficit in the social transmission of food preference task, a previously unused assessment of the poly(IC) mouse model. While our study did not succeed in replicating several autistic behaviors in the poly(IC) mouse model, KD had influence on behavior in multiple measures, increasing sociability and decreasing grooming. This suggests that KD may be an effective diet therapy for autism

The Candy Project: the re-enchantment of candy in a liquid world

Sugar consumption has become an extremely serious problem, especially since its incorporation into every type of food not only those considered to be sweet culturally. This is not exclusively a health problem but also a gastronomic one, since this “invisible sugar” is perceptible by the stomach but not by the senses. Sugar’s ubiquity has led to its demonization. The consumption of candy has been one of the victims of this process. A social image of “empty calories”, or food without nutrients, has been built up around it. In this article I want to emphasize what this “medicalized” image of candy leaves out: the social, imaginary, nutritional and gastronomic potentialities of this form of alimentation. It is true that since sugar became invisible we have no understanding of its power. But by focusing solely on negative aspects we overlook the potentiality of candy as, amongst other things, vehicles for nutritional socialization and education in taste. Redeeming candy thus involves changing the social imaginaries associated with it. This new imaginary is largely emerging in the field of internet and the new technologies

Dubstep, Darwin, and the Prehistoric Invention of Music

Where did music come from, and why are we so drawn to it? Though various scholars have offered a diverse set of hypotheses, none of these existing theories can fully encapsulate the complexity of music. They generally treat music holistically, but music is not monolithic. Musical ability encompasses myriad component parts, such as pitch perception and beat synchronization. These various musical elements are processed in different parts of the brain. Thus, it is unlikely that music arose in one place, at one time, in response to one evolutionary pressure. While existing theories can explain pitch-related aspects of music, such as melody and harmony, they fail to encapsulate rhythm. I explore rhythm’s connection with motion, social function, and the brain in order to investigate how and why it may have evolved. In order to do so, I use diverse lines of evidence, such as my own ethnomusicological fieldwork, autism studies, and brain scans of monkeys. I hypothesize that the mirror neuron system, a mechanism in the brain that allows cognitive and physical synchronization, may be behind the connection between rhythm, movement, and social cognition. When eventually rhythm was joined with pitch manipulation activities, music as we know it was born

Searching for the gut microbial contributing factors to social behavior in rodent models of autism spectrum disorder

Social impairment is one of the major symptoms in multiple psychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Accumulated studies indicate a crucial role for the gut microbiota in social development, but these mechanisms remain unclear. This review focuses on two strategies adopted to elucidate the complicated relationship between gut bacteria and host social behavior. In a top-down approach, researchers have attempted to correlate behavioral abnormalities with altered gut microbial profiles in rodent models of ASD, including BTBR mice, maternal immune activation (MIA), maternal valproic acid (VPA) and maternal high-fat diet (MHFD) offspring. In a bottom-up approach, researchers use germ-free (GF) animals, antibiotics, probiotics or pathogens to manipulate the intestinal environment and ascertain effects on social behavior. The combination of both approaches will hopefully pinpoint specific bacterial communities that control host social behavior. Further discussion of how brain development and circuitry is impacted by depletion of gut microbiota is also included. The converging evidence strongly suggests that gut microbes affect host social behavior through the alteration of brain neural circuits. Investigation of intestinal microbiota and host social behavior will unveil any bidirectional communication between the gut and brain and provide alternative therapeutic targets for ASD

Exploring Values in Museum Artifacts in the SPICE Project: A Preliminary Study

This document describes the rationale, the implementation and a preliminary evaluation of a semantic reasoning tool developed in the EU H2020 SPICE project to enhance the diversity of perspectives experienced by museum visitors. The tool, called DEGARI 2.0 for values, relies on the commonsense reasoning framework , and exploits an ontological model formalizing the Haidt’s theory of moral values to associate museum items with combined values and emotions. Within a museum exhibition, this tool can suggest cultural items that are associated not only with the values of already experienced or preferred objects, but also with novel items with different value stances, opening the visit experience to more inclusive interpretations of cultural content. The system has been preliminarily tested, in the context of the SPICE project, on the collection of the Hecht Museum of Haifa

Endogenous opioid system and human sociability

Social bonds have a profound impact on our everyday life. People differ in their capacity for establishing and maintain strong, intimate relationships. These differences are characterized as attachment styles. Particularly insecure attachment style may lead to developmental and psychiatric disorders, as well as to addictive behavior (Mikulincer & Shaver 2007), which cause large societal expenses due to treatment and sickness leaves. In addition to anti-nociception and reward, the endogenous opioid system has been proposed to regulate social bonding in mammals. That could explain the link between social distress and physical pain (Panksepp & Nelson 1997). However, the role of the endogenous opioid system in human social behavior remains poorly understood (Machin & Dunbar 2011). The aim of this thesis was to investigate opioidergic basis of affiliative behavior with positron-emission tomography (PET). We approached the phenomenon from two perspectives: by 1) measuring how prosocial behavior affects endogenous opioid peptide release and 2) quantifying whether regional differences in opioid receptor availability explain differences in adult attachment styles. PET was used for quantifying endorphin release after social laughter manipulation (Study I) and levels of brain μ-opioid receptor (MOR) in baseline state (Study II). In the methodological part of the thesis (Study III), PET and MRI data were combined. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based indices of gray matter density (GMD) were correlated with tracer binding potentials (BPND) Social laughter increased endorphin release in brain regions such as thalamus, caudate nucleus and putamen, in subcortical areas and in frontal cortices (Study I). Adult avoidant attachment style correlated negatively with brain MOR availability in thalamus, anterior, middle and posterior cingulate cortices, and medial and lateral prefrontal cortices (Study II). In study III, gray matter density (GMD and radiotracer binding (BPND) correlated positively in multiple brain areas, suggesting a link between brain’s regional macrostructure and molecular functioning. In sum, these results highlight the crucial role of endogenous opioid system in human prosocial functioning. Furthermore, they show that PET and anatomical MR provide complementary information regarding brains molecular organization, stressing the importance of fusion imaging for understanding brain basis of sociability.Ihmisen käyttäytymiselle on tyypillistä muodostaa pitkäkestoisia ja monimuotoisia kiintymyssuhteita. Erot kiintymyskäyttäytymisessä voivat olla suuria, eikä ilmiön neurobiologista taustaa vielä täysin tunneta. Kiintymyssuhdehäiriöt liittyvät usein laajempiin mielenterveyden häiriöihin sekä mm. lisääntyneeseen päihdehakuisuuteen aikuisiällä (Egle et al. 2002). Fyysisen kivun kokemuksen sekä lievittymisen tiedetään olevan vahvasti opioidi-välitteistä. Opioidijärjestelmän ajatellaan evoluution myötä kehittyneen säätelemään fyysisen kivun lisäksi myös sosiaalista kanssakäymistä nisäkkäillä (Nelson & Panksepp 1998; Higham et al. 2011). Tämä voisi selittää yhteyden psyykkisen ja somaattisen kipukokemuksen välillä myös ihmisillä (Panksepp et al. 1978). Tässä väitöskirjatyössä pyrittiin selvittämään aivojen opioidijärjestelmän merkitystä ihmisen sosiaalisen käyttäytymisen säätelijänä kahdella tavalla: 1) mittaamalla aivoissa vapautuvan endorfiinin määrää miellyttävän sosiaalisen tilanteen jälkeen sekä 2) vertailemalla aikuisen kiintymussuhdetyypin yhteyttä aivojen u-opioidireseptoritasoihin (MOR) normaalitilassa. Menetelmänä käytettiin aivojen positroniemissiotomografiaa (PET) sekä [11C]karfentaniilia, jonka tiedetään sitoutuvan spesifisti MOR:iin keskushermostossa. Kolmannessa (3), metodologisessa osatyössä vertailtiin aivojen PET-dataa magneettikuvantamisella (MRI) saatuihin aivojen harmaan ja valkean aineen tiheyskarttoihin käyttäen vokselipohjaista menetelmää (VBM; voxel-based morphometry). Tuloksena oli, että nauraminen läheisten ystävien kanssa lisäsi endorfiinien vapautumista (I) ja välttävä kiintymyssuhdetyyppi korreloi negatiivisesti vapaana olevien MOR:ien kanssa (II) sosio-emotionaalista käyttäytymistä ohjaavilla aivoalueilla. Lisäksi (III), harmaan aineen tiheys (GMD) korreloi positiivisesti merkkiaineiden sitoutumispotentiaalin (BPND) kanssa usealla aivoalueella. Tulokset I-II lisäävät tietoa opioidijärjestelmän keskeisestä roolista ihmisen sosiaalisen käyttäymisen säätelijänä. Lisäksi, osatyön III mukaan kaksi eri aivokuvantamisessa yleisesti käytettyä mittaria (BPND ja GMD) antavat toisiaan täydentävää tietoa aivojen molekyylirakenteesta, minkä vuoksi usean modaliteetin aivokuvantaminen on välttämätöntä sosiaalisen käyttäytymisen aivoperustan ymmärtämiseksi

Review Essay: The New Home Economics: A Review of Sex and Reason. by Richard A. Posner.

Review essay: The New Home Economics: A Review of Sex and Reason. By Richard A. Posner. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1992. Pp. vii, 458. Reviewed by: Jane E. Larson

Review Essay: The New Home Economics: A Review of Sex and Reason. by Richard A. Posner.

Review essay: The New Home Economics: A Review of Sex and Reason. By Richard A. Posner. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1992. Pp. vii, 458. Reviewed by: Jane E. Larson