Doctoral Dissertation Research: Patterns of social bonds and developmental outcomes in juvenile primates

Suny At Stony Brook, Stony Brook NY

Investigators

Abstract

Although a growing body of research has pinpointed how strong social bonds improve survival and health across both human and nonhuman primates, the importance of social connections in early life has been comparatively understudied. This doctoral dissertation project will integrate behavioral, hormonal, and immune data to quantify early-life social bonds and assess their developmental consequences in a wild primate. By studying these connections in a nonhuman primate species, this research will provide comparative data for investigations of early-life social bonds in humans. The investigator will engage in mentorship and education programs both in the U.S. and abroad, mentoring undergraduates in crafting research projects, designing science programs for libraries in underserved neighborhoods, and leading conservation education activities with local communities. This research project will examine the role of early-life social bonds in wild, juvenile gelada monkeys. Geladas inhabit complex societies in which immatures play with both familiar groupmates and unfamiliar neighbors. First, this project will determine whether maternal dominance rank, the number of close relatives, and the presence/absence of a sibling predict the quality and/or quantity of social bonds, taking into account potential sex differences in these patterns. Second, this project will examine whether strong bonds buffer juveniles from social adversity, reducing rates of received aggression, increasing alliances during competitive encounters, and decreasing physiological stress measures. Lastly, this project will investigate the stress response’s impact on both innate immunity and adaptive immunity. While social isolation and associated physiological stress may impair immune function wholesale, it may instead lead to trade-offs between these two sub-systems, prioritizing immediately beneficial, innate immune defenses. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.