The Behavioral Mechanisms of Hierarchy Formation and the Neurochemical Correlates of Aggression and Dominance in Crayfish

动物行为程序非技术摘要提案编号：9874608 PI：Huber，RobertTitle：等级形成的行为机制和小龙虾中侵略和统治的神经化学相关性等级社会结构是从海葵到人类的物种中普遍存在的现象，但产生它们的行为过程仍然知之甚少。 这项对优势关系的全面研究将使用小龙虾来探索动物如何在攻击性互动的背景下修改它们的行为。 这项工作将首先描述先前的战斗成功如何改变生物体在配对遭遇中的后续行为。 由于在更大的动物群体中，这种关系如何发展成复杂的社会网络并不直观，因此计算机模拟“虚拟”小龙虾将探索更复杂的社会结构。然后，将用真实的小龙虾来检验这些模型得出的预测。这个项目的结果应该提供相当多的洞察力，复杂的协会之间存在的不同层次的组织，包括感觉过程，性格的侵略，优势地位，和脑化学。鉴于攻击的理论意义、进化重要性和广泛的分类学传播，阐明这些“低等”动物中优势的形成和维持机制将有助于更好地理解支配社会行为的规律。这项研究的结果也可能对控制情感状态的药物的开发以及心理学家调查过去的经验在攻击行为中的作用产生影响。

Animal Behavior ProgramNontechnical AbstractProposal #: 9874608PI: Huber, RobertTitle: The behavioral mechanisms of hierarchy formation and the neurochemical correlates of aggression and dominance in crayfishHierarchical social structures are a widespread phenomenon in species ranging from anemones to humans and yet the behavioral processes that produce them remain poorly understood. This comprehensive study of dominance relationships will use crayfish to explore how animals modify their behavior in the context of aggressive interactions. This work will first characterize how previous fighting success modifies an organism's subsequent behavior in paired encounters. Since it is not intuitively obvious how relationships between such pairs develop into a complex social web in larger groups of animals, computer simulations of 'virtual' crayfish will explore more complex social structures. Predictions arising from these models will then be tested using real crayfish. Results from this project should provide considerable insight into the complex associations that exist between different levels of organization, including sensory processes, dispositions for aggression, dominance status, and brain chemistry. Given the theoretical significance, evolutionary importance, and broad taxonomic spread of aggression, elucidating the mechanisms of formation and maintenance of dominance inthese 'lower' animals will lead to a better understanding of the laws which govern social behavior. Results from this research may also have implications for the development of pharmaceuticals for the control of affective states, and for psychologists investigating the role of past experience in aggressive behavior.