# Neural investigations into cooperative social interactions in marmoset dyads

> **NIH NIH R21** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $209,375

## Abstract

Project Summary
Advanced social cognition permits cooperative and reciprocal interactions with other group members, making it
possible for us and other highly social animals to capitalize on various benefits associated with prosociality.
However, investigating the neural bases of cooperative interactions is quite challenging largely due to the fact
that standard laboratory animal models of neuroscience do not overtly or reliably exhibit cooperative behaviors,
let alone reciprocity based on altruism. Marmosets are cooperatively breeding non-human primates known for
their prosociality and socially tolerant characteristics making them a model system with strong potential for use
towards understanding complex social behaviors. Marmosets also provide strong promise for generating
transgenic primates, and their flat cortices allow easy access to brain regions with high-density electrodes. In
this exploratory R21 proposal, we will capitalize on recent advances in video-based continuous tracking of facial
features and body orientations using a deep learning network to rigorously characterize cooperative interactions
of marmoset dyads. Further, we will study neural activity from the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the dorsolateral
prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) – the two prefrontal regions centrally implicated in cooperation based on human
functional magnetic resonance imaging studies – using wireless and high-density neural recording, allowing
examinations of neural activity during naturalistic social interactions that are not accessible in traditional head-
restrained electrophysiology experiments. We will apply these novel approaches in a cooperative behavioral
paradigm inspired by marmoset behavioral ethology and primatology. We hypothesize that neurons in the OFC
process reinforcing properties of cooperation, whereas neurons in the dlPFC strategically implement cooperation
decisions. Overall, our proposal uniquely allows studying neural dynamics with precise, naturalistic, behavioral
data, overcoming the difficulty of using naturalistic behaviors in experimental settings and of collecting neural
data in observational field studies. The data from this R21 proposal will be critical for developing a larger research
program in the future with multiple scopes and causal elements for understanding the neural mechanisms
underlying cooperative social interaction.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10551217
- **Project number:** 5R21MH126072-02
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Steve W. C. Chang
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $209,375
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-02-01 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10551217

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10551217, Neural investigations into cooperative social interactions in marmoset dyads (5R21MH126072-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10551217. Licensed CC0.

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