Social complexity
We study social organization and social behaviour in rodents, birds, non-human primates and humans with regard to positive effects of social relationships e.g. cooperation (primates, humans) or social support (greylag geese) and social challenges, confrontations or dominance hierarchies with their relation to behavioural and physiological stress responses. Behavioural observations and experiments are combined with physiological and genetic analyses.
- Effects of polyunsaturated (PUFA) and saturated fatty acids (SFA) on social behaviour, reproduction, stress physiology and juvenile development in guinea pigs
- Social behaviour and physiology in semi-tame and free-living Greylag geese and Northern bald ibis
- Effects of genetic polymorphisms on hierarchy in Japanese macaques
- Influences of hierarchy on prosocial behaviour in humans
- Does mesotocin facilitate cooperative behaviour in birds?
- Physiological determinants of peer interactions in the kindergarten
- Should I stay or should I pair? The benefits of pair-formation in geese