GROOMING PREFERENCE & GENDER

兼容的社会接触应该是环境丰富计划的一部分，以促进实验室灵长类动物的心理健康。我们继续研究“梳理接触”（G-C）棒，它允许身体接触，但防止攻击性的追求。这种设计允许梳理和“选择”接触（由到G-C开口的距离决定）。我们研究了雄性和雌性猕猴与其他雄性猕猴的视觉接触是否会改变它们的尿皮质醇分泌和攻击性。我们同时研究了当其他配对出现时，熟悉的橡胶玩具（Kong）作为笼子富集和攻击目标的使用是否会改变，以及Kong的存在是否会影响皮质醇和攻击水平。8名受试者被安置在装有G-C杆的配对笼中，在以下条件下进行观察：(1)无接触；(2)有梳理接触组有梳理接触，但没有看到其他猴子；(3) G-C Plus Mirror在8个笼子对面的镜子上，每一对都能看到另外三对。一半的受试者在每4周的最后2周有Kong玩具，一半在前2周有Kong玩具。我们从1000小时到1500小时测量了5小时内尿液的皮质醇水平，并对同一时期的行为进行了录像（尚未编码）。皮质醇水平因条件而异，在初始暴露于其他组时显著较高；G-C（无镜像）和no Contact（无接触）之间的水平没有显著差异，Kong和no Kong之间也没有显著差异。因此，视觉社会刺激对皮质醇的影响是显著但短暂的。研究人员从录像带中对猴子的行为进行编码，以确定对其他猴子的攻击性和咀嚼金刚玩具是否会随着社交刺激的增加而增加。我们之前相关研究收集的数据正在分析中，稿件准备工作仍在继续。

Compatible social contact should be a part of an environmental enrichment plan to promote psychological well-being of laboratory primates. We continued our investigation of "grooming-contact" (G-C) bars, which allow physical contact but prevent aggressive pursuit. This design allows grooming and "choice" of contact (determined by distance to the G-C opening). We investigated whether visual contact of male-female pairs of Macaca fascicularis with other pairs produced changes in urinary cortisol excretion and aggression. We simultaneously investigated whether the use of a familiar rubber toy (Kong) used as cage enrichment and aggression target changed when other pairs were visible, and whether Kong presence affected cortisol and aggression levels. Eight subjects housed in paired cages with G-C bars were observed under conditions of (1) No Contact; (2) Grooming-Contact pairs had grooming contact but saw no other monkeys; (3) G-C Plus Mirror mirrors opposite the bank of eight cages allowed each pair to see three other pairs. Half the subjects had Kong toys during the last 2 weeks of each 4-week condition and half had Kong toys during the first 2 weeks. We measured cortisol levels from urine excreted over 5 hours from 1000h to 1500h and videotaped behavior during the same period (not yet coded). Cortisol level varied by condition and was significantly higher during initial exposure to the other pairs; levels did not differ significantly between G-C (no mirror) and No Contact, nor between Kong and No Kong. Thus, the effects of visual social stimulation on cortisol were significant but transitory. Behavior is being coded from videotapes to determine whether aggression toward other monkeys and chewing of the Kong toy increased with increased social stimulation. Data collected in our previous related studies are under analysis and manuscript preparation continues.