Doctoral Dissertation Research: Patterns of social bonds and developmental outcomes in juvenile primates

博士论文研究：幼年灵长类动物的社会纽带模式和发育结果

• 批准号: 2017976
• 负责人: Amy Lu
• 金额: $ 2.82万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Stony Brook
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-15 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2017976&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Patterns; social

Although a growing body of research has pinpointed how strong social bonds improve survival and health across both human and nonhuman primates, the importance of social connections in early life has been comparatively understudied. This doctoral dissertation project will integrate behavioral, hormonal, and immune data to quantify early-life social bonds and assess their developmental consequences in a wild primate. By studying these connections in a nonhuman primate species, this research will provide comparative data for investigations of early-life social bonds in humans. The investigator will engage in mentorship and education programs both in the U.S. and abroad, mentoring undergraduates in crafting research projects, designing science programs for libraries in underserved neighborhoods, and leading conservation education activities with local communities.This research project will examine the role of early-life social bonds in wild, juvenile gelada monkeys. Geladas inhabit complex societies in which immatures play with both familiar groupmates and unfamiliar neighbors. First, this project will determine whether maternal dominance rank, the number of close relatives, and the presence/absence of a sibling predict the quality and/or quantity of social bonds, taking into account potential sex differences in these patterns. Second, this project will examine whether strong bonds buffer juveniles from social adversity, reducing rates of received aggression, increasing alliances during competitive encounters, and decreasing physiological stress measures. Lastly, this project will investigate the stress response’s impact on both innate immunity and adaptive immunity. While social isolation and associated physiological stress may impair immune function wholesale, it may instead lead to trade-offs between these two sub-systems, prioritizing immediately beneficial, innate immune defenses.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

尽管越来越多的研究指出了强大的社会纽带如何改善人类和非人类灵长类动物的生存和健康，但社会联系在早期生活中的重要性已经相对了解。该博士学位论文项目将整合行为，荷尔蒙和免疫数据，以量化早期生活纽带，并评估其在野生灵长类动物中的发展后果。通过研究非人类灵长类动物的这些联系，这项研究将为人类早期社会纽带的投资提供比较数据。研究人员将在美国和国外参与思想和教育计划，在制定研究项目中的思想本科生，服务不足的社区的图书馆设计科学计划以及与当地社区的领先的保护教育活动。这项研究项目将研究野生社会纽带在野外，少年玛诺·蒙基里的早期社会纽带的作用。 Geladas居住在复杂的社会中，在这种社会中，熟悉的团体和陌生的邻居都在玩耍。首先，该项目将确定孕产妇的统治等级，近亲的数量以及同胞的存在/不存在，同时考虑到这些模式的潜在性别差异，可以预测社会纽带的质量和/或数量。其次，该项目将检查牢固的纽带缓冲少年是否来自社交广告，降低受到侵略性的速度，在竞争性相遇期间增加联盟以及减少身体压力指标的同盟。最后，该项目将调查压力反应对先天免疫学和适应性免疫学的影响。尽管社会隔离和相关的身体压力可能会批发免疫学功能，但它可能导致这两个子系统之间的权衡，从而优先考虑立即有益的先天免疫学防御。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准来评估我们被认为是诚实的支持。