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

尽管越来越多的研究已经指出，强大的社会联系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命中的重要性相对而言研究不足。这个博士论文项目将整合行为，激素和免疫数据，以量化早期生活的社会纽带，并评估其在野生灵长类动物的发育后果。通过在非人类灵长类动物中研究这些联系，这项研究将为人类早期社会关系的研究提供比较数据。该研究员将在美国和国外参与导师和教育项目，指导本科生制定研究项目，为服务不足的社区的图书馆设计科学项目，并与当地社区一起领导保护教育活动。该研究项目将研究野生幼年狮尾狒狒早期生活社会纽带的作用。狮尾狒狒生活在复杂的社会中，未成年的狮尾狒狒既与熟悉的同伴玩耍，也与不熟悉的邻居玩耍。首先，该项目将确定是否母亲的优势排名，近亲的数量，和兄弟姐妹的存在/不存在预测的质量和/或数量的社会债券，考虑到这些模式的潜在性别差异。第二，本项目将研究是否强大的债券缓冲青少年从社会逆境中，降低收到的侵略率，在竞争性的遭遇，并减少生理压力的措施，增加联盟。最后，本研究将探讨应激反应对先天免疫和适应性免疫的影响。虽然社会隔离和相关的生理压力可能会损害免疫功能批发，它反而可能会导致这两个子系统之间的权衡，优先考虑立即有益的先天免疫防御。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

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.