Koki Mimura

Familiarity perception call elicited under restricted sensory cues in peer-social interactions of the domestic chick.

Social cognitive mechanisms are central to understanding developmental abnormalities, such as autistic spectrum disorder. Peer relations besides parent-infant or pair-bonding interactions are pivotal social relationships that are especially well developed in humans. Cognition of familiarity forms the basis of peer socialization. Domestic chick (Gallus gallus) studies have contributed to our understanding of the developmental process in sensory-motor cognition but many processes remain unknown. In this report, we used chicks, as they are precocial birds, and we could therefore focus on peer interaction without having to consider parenting. The subject chick behavior towards familiar and unfamiliar reference peers was video-recorded, where the subject and the reference were separated by either an opaque or transparent wall. Spectrogram and behavior correlation analyses based on principal component analysis, revealed that chicks elicited an intermediate contact call and a morphologically different distress call, more frequently towards familiar versus unfamiliar chicks in acoustic only conditions. When both visual and acoustic cues were present, subject chicks exhibited approaching and floor pecking behavior, while eliciting joyful (pleasant) calls, irrespective of whether reference peers were familiar or unfamiliar. Our result showed that chicks recognized familiarity using acoustic cues and expressed cognition through modified distress calls. These finding suggests that peer affiliation may be established by acoustic recognition, independent of visual face recognition, and that eventually, both forms of recognition are integrated, with modulation of acoustic recognition.

Reading marmoset behavior 'semantics' under particular social context by multi-parameters correlation analysis.

Social interactions are a fundamental aspect of human and animal behavior. Although neuroimaging and other non-invasive methods have progressed recently, the neurobiology of social behavior requires the use of animal models. Here, we introduced a multi-behavior parameter integration method and applied it to female-male interaction of adult common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Based on the correlated parameters and meeting context, we found that the behavioral endpoints clustered in four distinct categories, which could be interpreted as active, freeze, alert, and affinity emotional states. The relevance of this interpretation was supported as the female behavior category change positively correlated with serum cortisol and progesterone levels after social interaction. Thus, our multi-behavior parameter integration method may be useful to evaluate social emotionality in animal models, as well as to quantify social behavior in human psychiatric disorders.

Peer attachment formation by systemic redox regulation with social training after a sensitive period

Attachment formation is the most pivotal factor for humans and animals in the growth and development of social relationships. However, the developmental processes of attachment formation mediated by sensory-motor, emotional, and cognitive integration remain obscure. Here we developed an animal model to understand the types of social interactions that lead to peer-social attachment formation. We found that the social interaction in a sensitive period was essential to stabilise or overwrite the initially imprinted peer affiliation state and that synchronised behaviour with others based on common motivations could be a driver of peer social attachment formation. Furthermore, feeding experience with supplementation of ubiquinol conferred peer social attachment formation even after the sensitive period. Surprisingly, the experience of feeding beyond the cage window was also effective to reduce the required amount ubiquinol, suggesting that peri-personal space modulation may affect socio-emotional cognition and there by lead to attachment formation.

Socio-emotional development evaluated by Behaviour Output analysis for Quantitative Emotional State Translation (BOUQUET): Towards early diagnosis of individuals with developmental disorders

For citation purposes: Koshiba M, Nakamura S, Mimura K, Senoo A, Karino G, Amemiya S, et al. Socio-emotional development evaluated by Behaviour Output analysis for Quantitative Emotional State Translation (BOUQUET): towards early diagnosis of individuals with developmental disorders. OA Autism 2013 Jul 21;1(2):18. Co m pe tin g in te re st s: n on e de cl ar ed . C on fli ct o f i nt er es ts : n on e de cl ar ed .

A flexion period for attachment formation in isolated chicks to unfamiliar peers visualized in a developmental trajectory space through behavioral multivariate correlation analysis.

Attachment formation is crucial for social animals to survive in natural environments. Predisposition and imprinting mechanisms have been well documented as a process of con-specific affiliation development. However, it is unclear how neonatal stage attachment formation leads to juvenile peer sociality. Here we have developed an animal model (Gallus gallus domesticus) and a method of quantitative behavioral analysis, to study the developmental trajectory from postnatal day (P) 3 through to P21. Domestic chicks were raised in either group or isolated conditions and we focused on social behavior during a two-minute meeting context with unfamiliar group peers at P3, 7, 13, 16, and 21. Results showed that relative to isolated chicks, group reared chicks were more active behaviorally, when facing peers at P3 and that this activity declined slightly over development, up to P13. Isolated chicks that had not met any animals except humans, exhibited a major change in social behavior around P7, in particular, with increasing activity (head moving velocity and rotation velocity) and distress calls. This modulation disappeared after P13, suggesting the existence of a sensitive window for behavior toward peers around P7. These findings in isolated chicks suggest the maturation of new neuronal substrates for peer-social emotion and cognition, resulting in a new combination of behavioral modules.

Multivariate Correlation Analysis Suggested High Ubiquinol and Low Ubiquinone in Plasma Promoted PrimateâÂÂs Social Motivation and IR Detected Lower Body Temperature

Mental problems caused by various kinds of stress induce neurotoxic damage through biological mechanisms like oxidation or metabolic unbalancing. We evaluated the dietary supplementation of antioxidant and nutrition, ubiquinol with milk in normal isolated adult common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) as a preliminary preclinical study. The primates were fed with milk with or without ubiquinol every day for three months and after a two-month-interval, the treatment conditions were alternated. Psycho-physiological state was evaluated by video-recording of social behavior, body temperature detection by a simple IR thermal camera and a blood glucose chip-sensor. Furthermore, social behavior data were information-processed by technology to integrate multiple factors, ‘Behavior output analysis for quantification of emotional state translation’ abbreviated as BOUQUET, which visualized a statistical partial space where the status of high ubiquinol and low ubiquinone in plasma strongly correlated with high frequency of social approaching behavior and lower body temperatures in a social meeting context. This analysis also suggested that high frequency of face direction to a peer correlated with the high ubiquinol-low ubiquinone and high variation of body temperature. Blood glucose seemed weakly relevant to alert behavior in this multiple correlation. These results imply that unbiquinol supplementation promotes social motivation. Finally, the result that the BOUQUET and the sensor systems revealed the implicit psycho-physiological information suggests its applicability in various toxico-psychopathological studies as quantitative manner.

A cross-species socio-emotional behaviour development revealed by a multivariate analysis

Recent progress in affective neuroscience and social neurobiology has been propelled by neuro-imaging technology and epigenetic approach in neurobiology of animal behaviour. However, quantitative measurements of socio-emotional development remains lacking, though sensory-motor development has been extensively studied in terms of digitised imaging analysis. Here, we developed a method for socio-emotional behaviour measurement that is based on the video recordings under well-defined social context using animal models with variously social sensory interaction during development. The behaviour features digitized from the video recordings were visualised in a multivariate statistic space using principal component analysis. The clustering of the behaviour parameters suggested the existence of species- and stage-specific as well as cross-species behaviour modules. These modules were used to characterise the behaviour of children with or without autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). We found that socio-emotional behaviour is highly dependent on social context and the cross-species behaviour modules may predict neurobiological basis of ASDs.

Multivariate PCA Analysis Combined with WardâÂÂs Clustering for Verification of Psychological Characterization in Visually and Acoustically Social Contexts

The development of the nervous system is a process of gene-environment interaction through prenatal and neonatal stages. The chemical environment may cause mal-development of the social brain network leading to developmental disorders. Thus, we need to develop a new behavioral method which distinguishes the subtle difference in early stage development of sensory-motor, socio-emotional, and cognitive processing in humans and animal models. Here, we have developed an innovative tool for signal processing to structuralize the behavioral elements from a large body of complex information via the multivariate analysis (principal components analysis combined with Ward’s clustering) using an animal model (domestic chicks) and found dynamical differences of combined behavioral parameters over social contexts between socially affiliated chicks and isolated chicks. We prepared two groups each containing six subjects, each group had its peer-social environments regulated, either isolated or grouped, and then their social interaction was tested through a series of social contexts consisting of four serial contexts, 1) firstly isolation, 2) acoustical interaction, 3) acoustical and visual meeting with the reference peers, and lastly 4) isolation again. Results show the juveniles’ social cognition and emotion was visualized as specific clustering structures with active and affective behavioral factors that were seen only in context three with unfamiliar peers visually and acoustically but were not seen in isolation or the social auditory without visual context. These results suggest the usefulness of the combined multivariate analysis under sensory cued-restricted contexts to quantitatively reveal a subtle difference of socio-emotional behavior.

A Sensitive Period of Peer-Social Learning

A critical period has been found in various sensory-motor learning system, for instance, vision, auditory, somatosensory, and language development. This report provides evidence that there may be a sensitive period also in peer-social learning. For consideration of brain toxicology during development, we should know the transient neurobiological process when gene-environment interaction is crucial for development and vulnerability to stress over lifelong. Here we developed an animal model (Gallus gallus domesticus) to study behavioral development of socialization with peers. By a multivariate analysis using principal components analysis, we found that there existed a sensitive period in which social environment was essential for peer social affiliation developmental. The behavioral features of this sensitive period learning were suggested in the head rotation and frequency of freezing in the meeting context with unfamiliar peers. This pre-clinical model of a sensitive period learning may contribute to develop orthomolecular therapy, behavioral and cognitive intervention for social disabilities in developmental psychiatry.

Susceptible period of socio-emotional development affected by constant exposure to daylight

As a diurnal experimental primate, the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) has recently contributed to numerous kinds of studies of neurobiological psychiatry as an essential pre-clinical model. The marmoset matures sexually within one or two years after birth. Thus, we can observe how the primate learns and develops psycho-cognitive functions through experiences in experimental environment for a much shorter period compared to that of humans. Longer daylight exposure may affect psychological development of children. In our research, we focus on raising marmosets under constant daylight from birth until various ages. In order to quantitatively evaluate the development of higher-ordered psychological functions, we designed a system of socio-behavioral tests and multivariate correlation analysis methods based on principal component analysis. With reference to the call and typical body movement expressed during a particular social context, we statistically inferred the emotional features of the subjects. In the current literature, we review our published results showing increased alert behaviors by constant light, and then, attempted to extend our additional analysis to seek age-dependent susceptibility to constant light. We then present the neurobiological mechanisms with reference to previous research reports. The current review suggests possible existence of a susceptible period earlier than three to five month-old in the environment-induced developmental disorder model, supposedly like attention deficit hyperactive disorders (ADHD) or oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).