UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
	     COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM

			    presents


    "Adaptation and the Social Salience Hypothesis of Oxytocin:
	    Early Experiments in a Simulated Agent Environment"



			    Imran Khan

		(Adaptive Systems Research Group,
     School of Computer Science, University of Hertfordhshire)

		     19 April 2018 (Thursday)

			   1 - 2 pm


		  Hatfield, College Lane Campus
			Seminar Room C408

		  Everyone is Welcome to Attend

		  Refreshments will be available

Abstract:

Allostasis is a mechanism that permits adaptation of an organism as a
response to changing (physical or social) environmental conditions. It
is driven by a number of factors, including regulation through hormonal
mechanisms. Oxytocin (OT) is a hormone that has been found to play a
role in regulating social behaviours and adaptation, although its precise
effects remain unclear and controversial. One proposed effect is on the
attention paid to social cues (social salience). Two opposing hypotheses
have been proposed - one that adaptation is achieved by *increasing*
attention to social cues (increased salience); the other that adaptation
is achieved by *decreasing* attention to social cues (decreased salience).

In this talk, I present the early experimental results of an agent
simulation that tests these two contrasting hypotheses under three
different environmental conditions related to food availability. Our
results showed that for the particular conditions modeled, increased
social salience through the release of simulated oxytocin presents
significant advantages in challenging (physical) conditions.



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Hertfordshire Computer Science Research Colloquium
http://cs-colloq.cs.herts.ac.uk