"Living in groups has many advantages for individuals, such as access to social information or protection against predators. The function and evolution of sociality and social information use have received abundant attention in the past years. However, the neural mechanisms underlying these processes have not been as widely examined across taxa, which is crucial to understand their evolution in vertebrates. In this thesis, I explored the neuroendocrinal mechanisms of grouping and the neural mechanisms of social information use in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a species with extremely well-studied evolutionary ecology. In Chapter 2, I compared immediate early-gene (IEG) expression across brain areas of the social decision-making network when guppies were exposed to a large or small group of conspecifics, or isolated. I found higher IEG expression in the preoptic area when guppies were exposed to the large group, compared to control (isolated guppies). The preoptic area regulates social behaviour in vertebrates and is also the only region in the teleost brain producing the nonapeptides isotocin and vasotocin. Since nonapeptide homologues modulate grouping behaviour in birds and are neuromodulators of mammalian social behaviour, I hypothesized vasotocin and isotocin would have effects on grouping in fish. Thus, in Chapter 3, I developed a technique to centrally administer nonapeptides in the brain of guppies and investigated their effects on grouping. I found opposing effects of the two nonapeptides, with isotocin increasing and vasotocin reducing grouping, at 90 minutes after administration, consistent with these neuromodulators playing a role in a fundamental social behaviour in fish. An advantage of grouping behaviour is that it may facilitate the transmission of information between conspecifics. Thus, in Chapter 4, I explored the neural mechanisms of social information use by studying the brain areas activated when 'demonstrator' guppies were exposed directly to alarm substance (i.e., a reliable social cue released from damaged skin) and when they observed a conspecific reacting to alarm substance. I found that alarm substance provoked typical antipredator behaviour such as freezing and area avoidance, while visual exposure to alarmed conspecifics induced a preference to use the same area as the alarmed conspecifics. I examined patterns of IEG expression across six areas of the brain, finding that the demonstrators had higher overall expression of egr-1 compared to observers and control fish, and different patterns of correlated expression in demonstrators and observers, suggesting that coordinated activation across regions is involved in processing and modulating responses to social alarm cues in guppies. In summary, my thesis 1) establishes a basis for the study of the neural mechanisms of grouping and social information use in teleosts by highlighting the brain areas activated during these processes, 2) provides evidence of the conserved effects of nonapeptides on grouping in a vertebrate lineage different than birds, and 3) provides novel approaches for studies of behavioural neuroscience in small prey fish amenable to experimental studies of evolution and development." --

"Social learning, i.e., learning from others, can be essential for rapidly adapting to changing environments, particularly those involving novel risks. The functional importance of learning from others has been examined across a diversity of contexts and taxa, but the neural mechanisms underlying social learning remain poorly understood. A better understanding of these neural mechanisms could help us attribute differences in social learning propensities across taxa to either evolutionary or experiential variation and provide us with a more complete understanding about the determinants, distribution and impacts of social learning. In this thesis, I explore the behavioural and neural processes underlying learning about novel dangers in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), using two types of conspecific (social) information: alarm cues, which are chemicals released during tissue damage as part of a predation event, and cues from experienced conspecifics. To gain insight about which brain regions contribute to social learning, I quantified pS6 expression as a measure of neuronal activity in key forebrain areas that are implicated in various forms of learning or social behaviour. In Chapter 2, I demonstrate that guppies learn to associate a novel light stimulus with alarm cue and that learning leads to significant increases in activity in the ventral part of the ventral telencephalon (area Vv; a putative homologue to the lateral septum) as well as in the preoptic area. In Chapter 3, I found that guppies socially learned an aversion to an originally neutral light stimulus via interactions with previously trained conspecific ‘demonstrators.’ However, I did not observe differences in neural activity in response to learning. Taken together, these results show that guppies can learn about novel dangers from both alarm cue and alarmed conspecifics but raise the possibility that forebrain circuits differentially contribute to these forms of social learning. I discuss how cue variability and social context might affect learning rates, and whether some forms of social learning could be mediated by changes in activity in certain neuronal subpopulations. Overall, this thesis underscores the importance of taking a multifaceted approach towards exploring the neural substrates of social learning and lays foundations for exciting future studies into the neural mechanisms of adaptive behaviours"--

Many animals, including humans, acquire valuable skills and knowledge by copying others. Scientists refer to this as social learning. It is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of behavioral research and sits at the interface of many academic disciplines, including biology, experimental psychology, economics, and cognitive neuroscience. Social Learning provides a comprehensive, practical guide to the research methods of this important emerging field. William Hoppitt and Kevin N. Lala define the mechanisms thought to underlie social learning and demonstrate how to distinguish them experimentally in the laboratory. They present techniques for detecting and quantifying social learning in nature, including statistical modeling of the spatial distribution of behavior traits. They also describe the latest theory and empirical findings on social learning strategies, and introduce readers to mathematical methods and models used in the study of cultural evolution. This book is an indispensable tool for researchers and an essential primer for students. Provides a comprehensive, practical guide to social learning research Combines theoretical and empirical approaches Describes techniques for the laboratory and the field Covers social learning mechanisms and strategies, statistical modeling techniques for field data, mathematical modeling of cultural evolution, and more

This handbook lays out the science behind how animals think, remember, create, calculate, and remember. It provides concise overviews on major areas of study such as animal communication and language, memory and recall, social cognition, social learning and teaching, numerical and quantitative abilities, as well as innovation and problem solving. The chapters also explore more nuanced topics in greater detail, showing how the research was conducted and how it can be used for further study. The authors range from academics working in renowned university departments to those from research institutions and practitioners in zoos. The volume encompasses a wide variety of species, ensuring the breadth of the field is explored.

As animals navigate through their environment, they must integrate external stimuli with previous experience to guide behavioral decisions. In group living animals, these decisions are embedded in a social context that influences their interactions, access to resources, and ultimately, their behavior. To acquire and learn new information that is vital to their survival, individuals must successfully navigate social interactions that are often embedded in dominance hierarchies. Such hierarchies arise from dyadic relationships between dominant and subordinate individuals and confer fitness benefits to those of high rank. A great deal is known regarding the ultimate underpinnings of dominance, especially as it pertains to differences between dominant and subordinate individuals (reviewed in Chapter 1, along with a summary of the social learning field). However, we have much to learn regarding the neurobiological mechanisms through which individuals navigate these social hierarchies in order to learn and acquire new information that is critical for their survival, such as finding food. To begin to address this knowledge gap in understanding the neurobiology of learning in dynamic social groups, I conducted a series of experiments using the African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni. Males of this species form dominance hierarchies which are vital for gaining territories and access to reproductive opportunities. In chapter 2, I examined the unique social traits that differentiate dominant and subordinate males in social groups, and how these traits influence group learning and decision-making. In chapter 3, I examined the neural activity patterns that drive learning in a social and asocial context by quantifying immediate-early gene expression at different time points during the learning process. Finally, in chapter 4, I examined how these neural activity patterns in key brain regions, the putative homologues of the basolateral amygdala and hippocampus, vary with the extent of social stability during the learning process. Taken together, my research offers important new insights into the behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying social learning and suggests several directions for future study

The Routledge International Handbook of Comparative Psychology is an international reference work that offers scientists and students a balanced overview of current research in the field of comparative psychology and animal behavior. The book takes an integrative approach to animal behavior, with most of the chapters discussing research involving both proximate (developmental and mechanistic) and ultimate (functional and phylogenetic) levels of analysis. Chapters cover the major ideas of core topics in the field and examine emerging research trends to provide readers deeper understanding of these ideas. One of the strengths of this book is its the coverage of core topics in comparative psychology and animal behavior from different – and diverse – perspectives. The diverse perspectives come from the wide range of focal species studied by chapter authors, a range traditionally quite atypical for comparative psychology, and from the widespread international representation of the authors and the diversity of departments and research centers at which these authors work in. The first part of the Handbook examines historical and foundational principles and theories in the field. The second part focuses on individual behavior systems. The final part of the book is devoted to a diversity of ideas that extend our understanding of behavior into new directions. The Routledge International Handbook of Comparative Psychology is an essential resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and established academics, as well as others who are interested in comparative psychology and animal behavior.

Understanding how the brain functions is one of the most ambitious current scientific goals. This challenge will only be accomplish by a multidisciplinary approach involving genetics, molecular biology, optics, ethology, neurobiology and mathematics and using tractable model systems. The zebrafish larva is a transparent genetically tractable small vertebrate, ideal for the combination state-of-the- art imaging techniques (e.g. two-photon scanning microscopy, single-plane illumination microscopy, spatial light modulator microscopy and lightfield microscopy), bioluminiscence and optogenetics to monitor and manipulate neuronal activity from single specific neurons up to the entire brain, in an intact behaving organism. Furthermore, the zebrafish model offers large and increasing collection of mutant and transgenic lines modelling human brain diseases. With these advantages in hand, the zebrafish larva became in the recent years, a novel animal model to study neuronal circuits and behaviour, taking us closer than ever before to understand how the brain controls behaviour.