{"id":12526,"date":"2026-04-03T12:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T10:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.isir.upmc.fr\/?post_type=isir_news&p=12526"},"modified":"2026-04-03T12:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T10:01:10","slug":"social-roles-are-neither-predetermined-nor-set-in-stone","status":"publish","type":"isir_news","link":"https:\/\/www.isir.upmc.fr\/news\/social-roles-are-neither-predetermined-nor-set-in-stone\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Social roles are neither predetermined nor set in stone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source of the article: CNRS<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In animal societies as in human ones, some individuals regularly produce resources while others appropriate them. Contrary to what evolutionary theories(1) had previously suggested, these social roles do not depend solely on innate individual predispositions. On the contrary, a study in mice conducted by scientists from CNRS(2) and Sorbonne Universit\u00e9 shows that the distribution and stabilisation of these roles within groups arise from a collective dynamic shaped by random early interactions and by learning. Social roles are therefore not set in stone, but dynamic and highly flexible, allowing each individual to switch roles when the system in which it operates changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These findings, which have just been published in the journal Nature<\/em><\/a> under the title \u00ab\u00a0Dopaminergic mechanisms of dynamical social specialisation\u00a0\u00bb<\/strong>, are based on an analysis of the roles taken on by mice in a semi-natural environment in which food can be obtained by pressing a lever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By distinguishing between individuals displaying \u00ab\u00a0producer\u00a0\u00bb behaviour, producing more than they consume; \u00ab\u00a0scrounger\u00a0\u00bb behaviour, consuming more than they produce; and \u00ab\u00a0storer\u00a0\u00bb behaviour, pressing the lever frequently but delaying food retrieval, the research team made the unexpected finding that, in the mouse groups studied, the distribution of social roles is driven by different dynamics in male and female groups. Whereas a division of labour based on competition emerges in male groups, female groups, by contrast, remain remarkably homogeneous, with no specialisation taking hold: each individual behaves in much the same way, without attempting to exploit the resources produced by its peers. However, introducing a single male into a group of females may be enough to shift them towards competitive behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the brain level, the scientists observed that dopamine is involved in the stabilisation of social roles: a surge in dopamine activity, which is involved in reward-based learning(3), is recorded in \u00ab\u00a0producer\u00a0\u00bb individuals when they themselves press the lever that provides access to food, whereas in \u00ab\u00a0scroungers\u00a0\u00bb this surge occurs when another individual uses that same lever. Dopamine does not determine which social role individuals adopt, but it is the mechanism through which group dynamics reinforce a role initially set in motion by the experience of early interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Notes<\/strong>
(1) Evolutionary theories have long viewed this phenomenon as a stable equilibrium between strategies, which can give the impression that roles are predefined.
(2) Working at the Brain Plasticity laboratory (CNRS\/ESPCI Paris \u2013 PSL) and the Institut des Syst\u00e8mes Intelligents et de Robotique (ISIR) (CNRS\/Sorbonne Universit\u00e9), as well as at the Institut de G\u00e9nomique Fonctionnelle (CNRS\/Inserm\/University of Montpellier) and the Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions laboratory (CNRS\/Institut Pasteur).
(3) Dopamine does not directly trigger happiness but plays a role in reward anticipation.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Bibliography<\/strong>
    Dopaminergic mechanisms of dynamical social specialization.\u00a0<\/strong>C. Soli\u00e9, A. Nicolson, R. Justo, Y. Layadi, B. Morin, C. Batifol, L.M. Reynolds, T. Le Borgne, S.L. Fayad, A. Gulmez, Y. Rodriguez Quevedo, J. Allegret-Vautrot, G. Centene Guglielmi, F. de Chaumont, S. Didienne, N. Debray, J-P. Hardelin, B. Girard, A. Mourot, J. Naud\u00e9, C. Viollet, F. Marti, B. Delord et P. Faure.\u00a0Nature<\/em>, 1st<\/sup>\u00a0April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    Contacts<\/strong>:
    – Philippe Faure<\/strong>, CNRS Researcher,     phfaure@gmail.com<\/a>
    – Bruno Delord<\/strong>, Lecturer and Researcher at ISIR\/Sorbonne University,     bruno.delord@gmail.com<\/a>
    – Aur\u00e9lie Meilhon<\/strong>, CNRS Press Officer, +33 1 44 96 43 90,     aurelie.meilhon@cnrs.fr<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Find out more about the research paper: \u00ab\u00a0Dopaminergic mechanisms of dynamical social specialization\u00a0\u00bb dans la revue Nature<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    Published on 3 April 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12525,"template":"","isir_news_categories":[259,252,256],"class_list":["post-12526","isir_news","type-isir_news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","isir_news_categories-parution","isir_news_categories-research","isir_news_categories-resultat-scientifique"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isir.upmc.fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/isir_news\/12526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isir.upmc.fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/isir_news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isir.upmc.fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/isir_news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isir.upmc.fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isir.upmc.fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"isir_news_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isir.upmc.fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/isir_news_categories?post=12526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}