Reciprocal Cooperation in Rats

Reciprocal cooperation means working together with another individual to increase the likelihood of future cooperation. It can be explained evolutionarily because it promotes the fitness of individuals in certain conditions. Cooperation is common in humans, however rats display cooperative behaviors under certain conditions. This study examines conditions for cooperation in rats by testing housing conditions and prior interactions between cooperating rats in a Prisoner’s Dilemma task. Furthermore, this study examines the effects of the neurosteroid Allopregnanolone on cooperation. We hypothesize that Allopregnanolone will increase social cooperation behaviors based upon its ability to increase nonspatial memory capacity. We did not find evidence that Allopregnanolone significantly influenced measures of cooperation, although there was a statistical trend towards greater cooperation in the Allopregnanolone-treated animals