Evidence that flocking behavior is rewarded by singing, flock mates, and mu opioid receptors in the nucleus accumbens.

ABSTRACT: It has been proposed that social groups are maintained both by reward resulting from positive social interactions and by the reduction of a negative state that would otherwise be caused by social separation. European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, develop strong conditioned place preferences for places associated with the production of song in flocks outside the breeding season (gregarious song) and singers are motivated to rejoin the flock following removal. This indicates that the act of singing in flocks is associated with a positive affective state and raises the possibility that reward induced by song in flocks may play a role in flock maintenance. The goal of this study was to begin to test this hypothesis. We found that birds that sang full songs developed stronger conditioned place p

SUBMITTER: Maksimoski AN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11774370 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature