Many examples of genetic factors of social behavior have been derived from a bottom-up method of altering a gene and observing the change it produces in an organism.
Of particular interest are differential gene expression of mRNA (transcriptomics) and protein transcription (proteomics) that correspond to changes in behavior.
To examine higher insect social order, researchers looked into the potential evolutionary history of a “foraging gene” in honey bees (Apis mellifera).
Also applying to A. mellifera; by looking at the degree of genetic linkage and chromosomal recombination rates, light may be shed on the consequence of group selection on a eusocial insect colony.
While contested, recombination activity might originate from the influence of group selection acting on developing eusocial organization in haplodiploids, where colonies that can best maintain a stable coefficient of relatedness are favored.
Special feeding leads to an increase of metabolic rate for larval queen to facilitate the energy requirement to develop their larger body size.
It is thought that the purpose of this genetic response to social stimuli is to update the brain's catalog of the changing natural environment.
In contrast, for the species of highly social cichlid fish A. burtoni, the egr1 gene plays an indirect role in reproduction.
If the alpha male is removed from the group, a previous subordinate starts exhibiting dominant behavior and egr1 is expressed in hypothalamus neurons that are responsible for producing a neuropeptide linked to sexual reproduction.
With higher capacity screening techniques, the expression of many genes simultaneously in response to social stimuli will provide a more complete picture.
The current interest in neurobiology is trying to understand the neural circuits that provide the basis of action selection—how the brain maps sensory input, internal states, and individual experience to behavioral decisions.
In turn, the OSNs grow axons that will connect to the glomerulus DA1 in the antennal lobe, which is analogous to the olfactory bulb in mammals.
Its respective pathway conveys pheromones from odors in both sexes, and when the genetics of the involved neurons is changed, male courtship is delayed.
The mushroom bodies are a probable site for this experience-dependent modulation of pheromones, as disrupting fru in neurons in this area reduces short term courtship behavior.
Analogous to OSNs, the female's Johnston's organ neurons (JONs) distinguish the quality of the song, and a distinct mechanical stimuli projects signals to specific regions of the brain, which can lead to mating.
Future research in this area hopes to further explain how the chemical and auditory signals are processed and mapped to behaviors in the fly's brain.
The relative simplicity of fly nervous systems could eventually hint at how neural circuits solve complex behavioral decision making.
In the past few decades, it has been discovered that oxytocin and vasopressin neuropeptides have key roles in the regulation of social cognition and behavior in mammals.