Avian Models for Social Cohesion

Animals living in groups are often linked to group or family members stronger than to other conspecifics, and form stronger coalitions (often based on genetic relatedness) within such groups. Effective cooperation within a group requires the preference for proximity of group members, suppression of aggression toward conspecifics, an ability to perceive and respond to social signals and to change (often synchronize) behavior accordingly. Birds have long been used for a number of investigations involving sensory perception, learning, feeding strategies and vocal communication. Recently, they have been proposed as ideal model species even for psychiatric disorders affecting social cohesion, such as autism spectrum disorder. The physiological mechanisms and neural systems underlying different forms of sociability (sexual and parental bonding, group preference, nesting, care for offspring, migration) can often be studied easier in birds, since their social behavioral repertoire, as a taxon (but sometimes also as individuals), is more diverse than that of mammals. By contrast with laboratory rodents, birds rely less on olfactory cues. Rather, they tend to use visual and acoustic signals for social interactions, much like humans. Comparative approach and evolutionary relevance of studies using avian species have already yielded valuable results in several fields of neuroscience: learning and memory (imprinting), acoustic communication (birdsong), neurogenesis (seasonal changes in the song network). With the advent of robust novel methods in molecular biology, genomics and proteomics, information technology and electronic engineering; and also based upon an ever improving battery of behavioral tests, avian research in social cohesion has likely gained a new impetus.