Multiple dimensions of social motivation in adult female degus.

ABSTRACT: Many animals become more motivated to interact after a period of isolation. This phenomenon may involve general drives, e.g. for social touch or companionship, as well as drives that are specific to particular peers, and which ultimately serve to reestablish relationships between the individuals. Female degus are known to be affiliative with multiple other individuals, including unrelated and unfamiliar conspecifics, offering an opportunity to study social motivation independent from exclusive pair-bonds or overt, same-sex competition. We attempted to disentangle factors driving peer interaction by examining reunion behavior across several social isolation and separation manipulations. High levels of interaction were observed between adult females who had been separated even without isolat

SUBMITTER: Lidhar NK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8059823 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature