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In this chapter we provide an overview of recent research on the biopsychological correlates of implicit motives. We review evidence for a role of gonadal steroids (testosterone and estradiol) as well as stress axis activation in power motivation arousal and satisfaction/frustration, summarize recent research on the role of progesterone and affiliation motivation, and discuss a possible role for arginine–vasopressin in achievement motivation. We also present findings from brain imaging work that indicate that the needs for power, affiliation, and achievement modulate activity in a core motivational circuit consisting of striatum, amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, and insula when nonverbal social incentives are processed.

This chapter examines the role of peptide hormones in the regulation of neural mutability and the involved cellular and molecular mechanisms. It first considers the effects of vasopressin and oxytocin—hormones released in the neurohypophysis. It then analyzes the plastic actions of corticotropin-releasing hormone, prolactin, gonadotropin-releasing hormone, insulin, growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-I (GF-I), erythropoietin and angiotensin. Finally, the chapter considers the effects of feeding hormones leptin, ghrelin, and glucagon-like peptide-1 on neural plasticity. These hormones exert important plastic actions on the organization of neuronal circuits involved in the control of food intake and energy balance, but also promote plastic remodeling of cognitive brain areas.

This chapter provides an overview of the role of two mammalian neuropeptide hormones, oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP), in the development and expression of social behaviors, including selective behaviors that are indicative of social bonds. It begins by giving a general background on social behavior in monogamous species, as well as the previously studied physiological and behavioral effects of OT and vasopressin. This is followed by a description of animal studies describing the role of OT and AVP during development. It then discusses current knowledge of possible developmental actions of OT and AVP, especially as these may be related to psychopathologies in later life.

In second‐language acquisition, the affiliative phase comes first. The learner positively appraises one or more speakers of the target language and makes efforts to affiliate with them. If the efforts are successful, the learner will experience consummatory rewards generated by the opiate system. These rewards promote learning. As the child passes into adolescence and adulthood, changes take place in the hormone, peptide, and neurotransmitter systems that support affiliation in primary‐language acquisition. Dopamine levels increase until the onset of puberty and then gradually decrease throughout life. The opiate system is modulated by oxytocin and vasopressin. These neuromodulators are also found at high levels in the child and become lower as the individual ages. The abundance of dopamine, opiates, oxytocin, and vasopressin in the child's brain supports interaction with conspecifics and guarantees primary‐language acquisition. The reduction of these substances in the mature brain may contribute to the difficulties in second‐language acquisition experienced by older learners.

This chapter discusses the neurobiology of affiliative behavior and social bonding in prairie voles using the monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) as a model system. It focuses on the roles of the neuropeptides oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP), and the effects of stress on social bonding and parental care. However, it should be recognized that these neuropeptides do not work in a vacuum, but are simply the most well-characterized systems in a complex network of factors and circuits that regulate these complex behaviors. The chapter briefly discusses some implications of these findings for translational research on human social behavior.

An excellent example of genetic control of behavior is found in voles, where a single gene encoding the receptor for the neuropeptide vasopressin, has a profound effect on a wide range of social activities. This gene is now being examined in humans affected with autism. Genes for neurotransmitter receptors, and for protein neurotransmitters, are strong candidates for behavioral genes in humans. But the environment also plays a role in modifying our underlying genotypes. It is known that environmental experiences can alter both the structure and the function of the human nervous system. But we alter our environment actively or passively based on our genotypes. We also select certain things from our environment, and exclude others. Our interpretation of free will is affected by how we consider these two influences. Is who we are dictated entirely by our genes? Or is it dictated entirely by our environment? Our genes are not subject to interference by others. But social scientists can use the environment to change who we are. Which is the lesser evil?

Maintenance of bodily homeostasis by the central nervous system involves complex interactions between the neuroendocrine and the autonomic nervous systems. Concerted actions between these systems have critical implications both in physiological and pathological conditions. Still, relatively little is known about the mechanisms underlying the generation and integration of complex patterns of homeostatic responses, particularly at the cellular and/or network levels. This chapter provides an overview of the anatomical and cellular organization of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), a major center involved in autonomic and neuroendocrine integration. Particular emphasis is devoted to recent advances in our understanding of paracrine signaling mechanisms underlying transfer of information within and between autonomic and neuroendocrine circuits in the PVN, including nitric oxide and somatodendritic vasopressin release.

This chapter reviews pathological altruism in the context of social biology. In particular, the focus is on the biology that may underlie a “seduction super-responder”—that is, a person who is highly reactive to social persuasion, as well as a “hyper-truster—one who misplaces trust as a result of failing to adequately detect social signals. Oxytocin, vasopressin, CD38, and related molecules are explored in this context. Group behaviors, as for example emotional contagion, are discussed in the context of autonomic reactions. Pathological altruism may be viewed as a distorted, and possibly co-opted, response to social signals based, at least in part, on biology.

This essay describes neurobiological and neuroendocrine mechanisms that are implicated in human caregiving. Anatomical and biochemical systems that first appeared in the evolutionary transition from reptiles to mammals allowed the emergence of mammalian sociality. Human behaviors are characterized by symbiotic and reciprocal interactions, which are necessary for successful caregiving. The autonomic nervous system, and especially the mammalian changes in the parasympathetic system, provides an essential neural platform for social behavior. Especially critical to coordinating the features of positive sociality are neuropeptides including oxytocin and vasopressin. These neuropeptides modulate the mammalian autonomic nervous system to foster the expression of social behaviors and, when adaptive, defensive behaviors. Oxytocin, the same peptide that regulates various aspects of mammalian reproduction including birth, lactation and maternal behavior, is also involved in the beneficial and reciprocal effects of caregiving on physiology, behavior and health.

At the heart of mammalian social behaviors are evolved neural and endocrine pathways that support both survival and reproduction in an “environment of evolutionary adaptiveness.” The physiological prototype for mammalian social behaviors can be found in birth, lactation, and maternal behavior. Two mammalian neuropeptides, oxytocin and arginine vasopressin, are particularly critical to mammalian reproduction and sociality, with actions throughout the central and autonomic nervous systems. The same systems that regulate the formation of social bonds and attachments also regulate emotionality and reactivity to stressful experiences. Knowledge of these neurobiological systems helps to explain the causes and consequences of social behavior and the mechanisms through which social behavior is integrated with emotional regulation and management of the “stress of life.”

The dips occurring after the training of chicks delimit short-term, intermediate and long-term memory. The duration of the intermediate-memory stage can be increased when certain hormones are given, after training. Out of these hormones, this chapter concentrates on vasopressin, presenting retention time-courses resulting when vasopressin is given to chicks that have their long-term memory function blocked. Arginine vasopressin affects any of the processes involved in different memory stages. Different stages are amenable to manipulation by various physiological hormones. The chapter argues that biochemical cycles are applicable not only to the central nervous system, but also to a wide range of other tissues. Hormones have memory effects that are of interest in their own right, and their actions may also provide insights into the basic cellular processes which are intimately involved in the storage of memory.

Monogamous mammals are found in many different taxa and in diverse environments. There are two neuropeptide hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin. These two are found exclusively in mammals, but they belong to a family of structurally related neuropeptides implicated in sociosexual behaviors of reptiles, amphibia, and birds. All neurohormones act via specific receptors. After it is released from nerve endings the hormone binds to receptors that initiate a series of intracellular events. There are few genomic differences between prairie and montane voles. Humans have oxytocin and vasopressin; both hormones are released during copulation. We cannot say that attachment or altruism in humans involves oxytocin and vasopressin, the phylogenetic tradition is impressive. Hormones from the hypothalamus, like oxytocin and vasopressin, may modify human behavior, but due to the dominance of the cortex, intellectual, spiritual, and cultural influences ultimately may determine human attachments independent of hormonal state.

The neurohypophysis, also called the posterior pituitary or neural lobe , is the ventral extension of hypothalamic tissue derived from a developmental down growth of the neuroectoderm forming the floor of the third cerebroventricle. It weighs approximately 0.10–0.15 g in humans and is well developed at birth, having been present since the fifth month of intrauterine life. In addition to containing glial elements called pituicytes, the posterior pituitary is composed of unmyelinated nerve fibers and axon terminals of neurons whose cell bodies reside primarily in the supraoptic and paraventricular hypothalamic nuclei. These hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal fibers deliver the two primary posterior pituitary hormones, oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP), to the neural lobe in association with specific proteins, the neurophysins, once thought to be carrier proteins but now known to be portions of the OT and AVP precursor molecules. The neurons produce either OT or AVP, and under some circumstances both, and recent studies indicate that in addition to one of these two hormones, other neuropeptides, such as corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and nesfatin-1, and neurotransmitters are also produced in OT- or AVP-containing cells. The phenomenon of colocalization of neuromodulatory agents has aroused a great deal of clinical interest in the role of neuropeptides such as OT and AVP in brain function. Both OT- and AVP-containing nerve fibers, originating in the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei, project to a variety of other brain structures that are thought to be the sites of their observed central nervous system actions, and to the vicinity of the hypophyseal portal vessels in the median eminence. Release from these fibers of both OT and AVP explains the high levels of these hormones in portal blood and provides the framework for the actions of OT and AVP as modulators of anterior pituitary function. The arterial blood supply of the posterior pituitary is via the inferior (and to some degree the superior) hypophyseal arteries, which originate from the cavernous and postclinoid portions of the internal carotid artery.

This chapter examines specific neuroendocrine pathways that may influence the positive social behaviors necessary for peace (where peace is defined as social safety within a society). This definition emphasizes the enabling power of social safety in promoting positive "states" associated with individuals interacting, socially connecting, and being mutually responsible for each other. Peptide pathways, including those reliant on oxytocin and vasopressin and their receptors, function as an integrated system mediating states of social safety. These endocrine and genetic pathways are at the center of a network that permitted the evolution of the human nervous system and allowed the expression of contemporary human sociality. Affiliation, pair bonds, and other forms of prosocial behaviors are not simply the absence of aggression. As reviewed here, we now understand that the prerequisites for peace, including prosocial behaviors and social safety, are built on active peptide systems. Knowledge of neurobiological mechanisms that form the foundations of social bonds and restorative behaviors offers a rational perspective for understanding, preventing, or intervening in the aftermath of adversity, and for enabling the emergence of peace in human societies. Published in the Strungmann Forum Reports Series.

Child and adolescent psychiatry is the medical specialty that works with children, young people, and families with emotional and behavioural problems. As children and young people are still developing and grow–ing, their emotional wellbeing and functioning needs to be thought about in this context, making it different from adult psychiatry. Communication with people of all ages is vital within the specialty and information from a wide variety of sources, including parents or carers, school, and peers, is used to inform the clinical picture, in addition to history-taking and direct observations of the child’s behaviour. Play is often used to understand younger children’s thoughts and feelings. In theory, the specialty covers children and young people from birth up to the teenage years, although different services cover slightly different age ranges. The spectrum of difficulties covered within the specialty include psy–chiatric disorders also seen in adults (such as psychosis); problems spe–cific to the age group (such as separation anxiety); lifelong conditions which start in childhood (such as ADHD); and conditions that may pre–sent in different ways in childhood or adolescence (such as phobias). Approaches to treatment include psychopharmacological interven–tions, and numerous therapeutic modalities including family therapy and CBT, which can be modified for different age groups. Most work is community based, although there are specialist inpatient units which offer on-going educational opportunities to young people who need the intensive support and risk reduction of a hospital admission. Work tends to be done within MDTs using a range of knowledge and expertise to offer the most appropriate care.

This chapter builds on ‘priorities for future research’ as laid out in the species’ accounts of the dark-eyed and yellow-eyed junco in Birds of North America in 1999 and 2002. It also relates directions for future research as described by the book’s authors during discussions following the junco summit held at Indiana University in 2012 (see Preface) and in their chapters. It concludes with a small number of specific recommendations for how to advance the integration of organismal and evolutionary biology

Bonobos and chimpanzees are two closely relates species of the genus Pan, yet they exhibit marked differences in anatomy, behaviour and cognition. For this reason, comparative studies on social behaviour, cognition and brain organization between these two species provide important insights into evolutionary models of human origins. This chapter summarizes studies on socio-communicative competencies and social cognition in chimpanzees and bonobos from the authors’ laboratory in comparison to previous reports. Additionally, recent data on species differences and similarities in brain organization in grey matter volume and distribution is presented. Some preliminary findings on microstructural brain organization such as neuropil space and cellular distribution in key neurotransmitters and neuropeptides involved in social behaviour and cognition is presented. Though these studies are in their infancy, the findings point to potentially important differences in brain organization that may underlie bonobo and chimpanzees’ differences in social behaviour, communication and cognition. Les bonobos et les chimpanzés sont deux espèces du genus Pan prochement liées, néanmoins ils montrent des différences anatomiques, comportementales et cognitives marquées. Pour cette raison, les études comparatives sur le comportement social, la cognition et l’organisation corticale entre ces deux espèces fournissent des idées sur les modèles évolutionnaires des origines humaines. Dans ce chapitre, nous résumons des études sur les compétences socio-communicatives et la cognition sociale chez les chimpanzés et les bonobos de notre laboratoire en comparaison avec des rapports précédents. En plus, nous présentons des données récentes sur les différences et similarités d’organisation corticale du volume et distribution de la matière grise entre espèces. Nous présentons plus de résultats préliminaires sur l’organisation corticale microstructurale comme l’espace neuropile et la division cellulaire dans des neurotransmetteurs clés et les neuropeptides impliqués dans le comportement social et la cognition. Bien que ces études sont dans leur enfance, les résultats montrent des différences d’organisation corticale importantes qui sont à la base des différences de comportement social, la communication et la cognition entre les bonobos et les chimpanzés.

Virtue theories appealing to character traits to explain and predict normatively evaluable behavior will eventually need to come to grips with the question of how such traits relate to a detailed biological understanding of their causes. Though many empirical questions relevant to such an integration remain unanswered, recent neurobiological accounts of the associations between genes, molecular-level biochemical pathways, complex social behaviors, emotions, and moral judgment have prompted claims that such work has profound implications for morality and our ordinary understanding of persons. Chapter 28 identifies how neurobiological accounts of the proximate causes of social behavior could, in principle, be relevant to virtue theory while resisting the hype surrounding recent research on the neuropeptide oxytocin. It argues that, so far, the results are open to interpretations that are not nearly as revisionary for our common sense understanding of persons or rational action as some would have us believe.