Animals housed in naturalistic social groups with access to automated cognitive testing vary in whether and how much they participate in cognitive testing. Understanding how demographic, seasonal, and social factors relate to participation is essential to evaluating the usefulness of these systems for studying cognition and in assessing the data produced. We evaluated how sex, age, reproductive experience, seasonality, and rank related to patterns of participation in a naturalistic group of rhesus monkeys over a 4-year period. Females interacted with the touchscreen systems more than males and were more likely to complete initial training. Age was positively correlated with touchscreen activity through adolescence in females, at which point seasonality and reproductive experience were stronger associates of participation. While monkeys in different rank categories did not differ in how much they interacted with the touchscreen systems, monkeys of different ranks tended not to work at the same times, perhaps reflecting avoidance of high ranking animals by those of lower rank. Automated cognitive testing systems for naturalistic social groups of rhesus monkeys can yield quality cognitive data from individuals of all ages and ranks, but participation biases may make it difficult to study sex differences or seasonal variation in cognition.
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Albert Liu;
Kenneth Coleman;
Kelly Bojan;
Pedro Alonso Serrano;
Temitope Oyedele;
Amayvis Garcia;
Elizabeth Enriquez-Bruce;
Patricia Emmanuel;
Jeb Jones;
Patrick S Sullivan;
Lisa Hightow-Weidman;
Susan Buchbinder;
Hyman Scott
BACKGROUND: Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in the United States have among the highest incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) and the lowest uptake of HIV and STI testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Nearly universal mobile phone ownership among youth provides an opportunity to leverage mobile health apps to increase HIV/STI testing and PrEP uptake among YMSM. OBJECTIVE: The goals of this project are to develop and refine LYNX, a novel mobile app to support linkage to HIV/STIs testing and PrEP services among YMSM in the United States, and to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of LYNX in a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT). METHODS: This research protocol will be conducted in 3 phases: an iterative development phase with a series of 3 focus groups among 20 YMSM to refine the LYNX app; an open technical pilot among 15 YMSM to optimize usability of the app; and then a 6-month pilot RCT among 60 HIV-uninfected YMSM at risk for HIV acquisition. Developed using the Information, Motivation, and Behavioral skills theoretical model, the LYNX app includes an electronic diary to track sexual behaviors (information), a personalized risk score to promote accurate risk perception (information/motivation), testing reminders (motivation/behavioral skills), and access to home-based HIV/STI testing options and geospatial-based HIV/STI testing care sites (behavioral skills). Feasibility and acceptability will be assessed through app analytics of usage patterns and acceptability scales administered via computer-assisted self-interview at 3 and 6 months. We will also evaluate preliminary efficacy by comparing the proportion of YMSM who test at least once during the 6-month pilot and the proportion who successfully link to a PrEP provider in the intervention versus control groups. RESULTS: Formative work is currently underway. The LYNX pilot RCT will begin enrollment in October 2018, with study results available in 2019. CONCLUSIONS: The LYNX app is one of the first mobile apps designed to increase HIV/STI testing and PrEP uptake among YMSM. As low-perceived risk is a barrier to HIV/STI testing and PrEP use among youth, the personalized risk assessment and interactive sexual diary in LYNX could assist YMSM in better understanding their HIV risk and providing motivation to test for HIV/STIs and initiate PrEP. Coupled with community-based recruitment, this novel mobile app has great potential to reach and engage YMSM not currently involved in care and increase rates of HIV/STI testing and PrEP uptake in this vulnerable population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03177512; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03177512 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/73c917wAw). INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/10659.
Pair housing of macaques has become a widely implemented compromise between meeting the social needs of the monkeys and allowing for their use in biomedical research. While beneficial to the animals, pair housing can provide challenges for those caring for them. Drawing from both scientific literature and direct experience, this paper provides a review of practical aspects of pair housing including partner selection, pairing methodologies, staff education, and equipment considerations. Recommendations include selecting a pairing method appropriate to the facility and the individual animals being paired, educating staff on social behavior, and establishing a pair monitoring program to facilitate long-term pair maintenance. Assessment of behavior is essential in determining the compatibility of new pairs and in identifying established pairs that may need interventions to enhance their long-term compatibility. The pair housing program at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center is described as one model of a successful program.
HIV/AIDS is a chronic, highly stigmatized illness that requires significant lifestyle adjustments, including consistent adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in order for People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWH) to survive and maintain good immune health. PLWH often report poor or moderate Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) that is worse than the general population. This may be related to the psychological and physiological demands of HIV disease and the sociodemographic stressors associated with it. The role of religious coping, religiosity, and social support in the mental and physical dimensions of HRQoL is less known, although recent studies highlight that PLWH rely on spirituality/religion to cope with HIV-associated stressors. This study examined the effects of religious coping, religiosity, depressive symptoms, medication adherence, and social support satisfaction in various dimensions of Health- Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in a sample of 292 PLWH. Majority of participants were African-American (90.1%) and 56.2% were male. Mean age was 45 years and, on average, participants lived with HIV for nearly 11 years. Descriptive statistics, correlations, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and hierarchical multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data. Income, sex (β= .14), age (β= -.14), depressive symptoms (β= -.27), and social support satisfaction (β= .17) significantly predicted physical HRQoL. Results indicate that income (β= .13), sex (β= .14), medication adherence (β= .13), negative religious coping (β= -.18), religious attendance (β= .13), religiousness (β= .16), and social support satisfaction (β= .27) significantly predicted mental HRQoL. Depressive symptoms (β= -.38), positive religious coping (β= .24), and social support satisfaction (β= .16) significantly predicted general HRQoL. Participants, who were female, prayed less than daily, attended religious services less than weekly or who were non/less religious had significantly poorer HRQoL. The findings confirm the importance of religion, mental health, medication adherence and social support in the HRQoL of PLWH, which should all be routinely assessed by clinicians.
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Elizabeth A. Amadei;
Zachary V. Johnson;
Yong Jun Kwon;
Aaron C. Shpiner;
Varun Saravanan;
Wittney D. Mays;
Steven J. Ryan;
Hasse Walum;
Donald Rainnie;
Larry J Young;
Robert C Liu
Adult pair bonding involves dramatic changes in the perception and valuation of another individual. One key change is that partners come to reliably activate the brain's reward system, although the precise neural mechanisms by which partners become rewarding during sociosexual interactions leading to a bond remain unclear. Here we show, using a prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) model of social bonding, how a functional circuit from the medial prefrontal cortex to nucleus accumbens is dynamically modulated to enhance females' affiliative behaviour towards a partner. Individual variation in the strength of this functional connectivity, particularly after the first mating encounter, predicts how quickly animals begin affiliative huddling with their partner. Rhythmically activating this circuit in a social context without mating biases later preference towards a partner, indicating that this circuit's activity is not just correlated with how quickly animals become affiliative but causally accelerates it. These results provide the first dynamic view of corticostriatal activity during bond formation, revealing how social interactions can recruit brain reward systems to drive changes in affiliative behaviour.
Few interventions have succeeded in reducing psychosocial risk among pregnant women. The objective of this study was to determine whether an integrated group prenatal care intervention already shown to improve perinatal and sexual risk outcomes can also improve psychosocial outcomes compared to standard individual care. This randomised controlled trial included pregnant women ages 14-25 from two public hospitals (N=1047) who were randomly assigned to standard individual care, group prenatal care or integrated group prenatal care intervention (CenteringPregnancy Plus, CP+). Timing and content of visits followed obstetrical guidelines, from 18-week gestation through birth. Each 2-h group prenatal care session included physical assessment, education/skills building and support via facilitated discussion. Using intention-to-treat models, there were no significant differences in psychosocial function; yet, women in the top tertile of psychosocial stress at study entry did benefit from integrated group care. High-stress women randomly assigned to CP+ reported significantly increased self-esteem, decreased stress and social conflict in the third trimester of pregnancy; social conflict and depression were significantly lower 1-year postpartum (all p-values < 0.02). CP+ improved psychosocial outcomes for high-stress women. This 'bundled' intervention has promise for improving psychosocial outcomes, especially for young pregnant women who are traditionally more vulnerable and underserved.
Social learning varies among primate species. Macaques only copy the product of observed actions, or emulate, while humans and chimpanzees also copy the process, or imitate. In humans, imitation is linked to the mirror system. Here we compare mirror system connectivity across these species using diffusion tensor imaging. In macaques and chimpanzees, the preponderance of this circuitry consists of frontal–temporal connections via the extreme/external capsules. In contrast, humans have more substantial temporal–parietal and frontal–parietal connections via the middle/inferior longitudinal fasciculi and the third branch of the superior longitudinal fasciculus. In chimpanzees and humans, but not in macaques, this circuitry includes connections with inferior temporal cortex. In humans alone, connections with superior parietal cortex were also detected. We suggest a model linking species differences in mirror system connectivity and responsivity with species differences in behavior, including adaptations for imitation and social learning of tool use.
Purpose: This article, based on analysis of data from a mixed methods study, builds on a growing body of assisted living (AL) research focusing on the link between residents’ social relationships and health. A key aim of this analysis, which uses the social convoy model as a conceptual and methodological framework, was to examine the relative importance of coresident relationships and other network ties to residents’ subjective well-being. Design and Methods: We analyzed data from structured face-to-face interviews and social network mapping conducted with 192 AL residents in 9 AL facilities in Georgia. Results: Having a higher proportion of family ties in one’s network was the single most important predictor of well-being, whereas possessing some ties to coresidents and nonfamily members outside AL also had a positive effect. Findings showed that relationships among coresidents generally were important although not emotionally close. Having more close ties was associated with lower well-being, suggesting that not all close ties are beneficial. The majority (84%) of residents’ closet ties were with family members. Implications: Findings illuminate the crucial role families play in residents’ overall health and well-being and demonstrate the importance of helping residents develop and maintain a range of network ties, including “weak” ties with coresidents and nonfamily outside AL.
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Toni-Kim Clarke;
Andrew H. Smith;
Joel Gelernter;
Henry R. Kranzler;
Lindsay A. Farrer;
Lynsey S. Hall;
Ana M. Fernandez-Pujals;
Donald J. MacIntyre;
Blair H. Smith;
Lynne J. Hocking;
Sandosh Padmanabhan;
Caroline Hayward;
Pippa A. Thomson;
David J. Porteous;
Ian J. Deary;
Andrew M. McIntosh;
Alicia K Smith
Addiction Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction. Alcohol dependence is frequently co-morbid with cognitive impairment. The relationship between these traits is complex as cognitive dysfunction may arise as a consequence of heavy drinking or exist prior to the onset of dependence. In the present study, we tested the genetic overlap between cognitive abilities and alcohol dependence using polygenic risk scores (PGRS). We created two independent PGRS derived from two recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of alcohol dependence (SAGE GWAS: N = 2750; Yale-Penn GWAS: N = 2377) in a population-based cohort, Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS:SFHS) (n = 9863). Data on alcohol consumption and four tests of cognitive function [Mill Hill Vocabulary (MHV), digit symbol coding, phonemic verbal fluency (VF) and logical memory] were available. PGRS for alcohol dependence were negatively associated with two measures of cognitive function: MHV (SAGE: P = 0.009, β = -0.027; Yale-Penn: P = 0.001, β = -0.034) and VF (SAGE: P = 0.0008, β = -0.036; Yale-Penn: P = 0.00005, β = -0.044). VF remained robustly associated after adjustment for education and social deprivation; however, the association with MHV was substantially attenuated. Shared genetic variants may account for some of the phenotypic association between cognitive ability and alcohol dependence. A significant negative association between PGRS and social deprivation was found (SAGE: P = 5.2 × 10-7, β = -0.054; Yale-Penn: P = 0.000012, β = -0.047). Individuals living in socially deprived regions were found to carry more alcohol dependence risk alleles which may contribute to the increased prevalence of problem drinking in regions of deprivation. Future work to identify genes which affect both cognitive impairment and alcohol dependence will help elucidate biological processes common to both disorders.