Walking soccer, a modified version of traditional soccer designed for individuals with limited mobility, offers an innovative approach to teaching tactical and technical skills in physical education (PE). This non-contact sport, which prohibits running and physical contact, makes it accessible and safe for a wide range of participants, including older adults and children. The sport has been widely used in various settings since its establishment in 2011, with key modifications including no running, no contact, and no offside rule. This article explores the integration of walking soccer into primary PE curricula to enhance tactical literacy among students ages 6-12. Through the lens of invasion-game principles, walking soccer serves as an effective pedagogical tool for developing students’ cognitive, social, and physical abilities. The article presents a detailed lesson plan designed to improve students’ tactical understanding and technical skills, demonstrating walking soccer's potential as a valuable educational tool in PE.

A hemoglobin-derived peptide, VD-hemopressin, activates hypothalamic oxytocin neurons and promotes social approach behavior in mice.

Affiliative behaviours in pigs can enhance group cohesion and lower stress levels, ultimately improving individual welfare. Individual factors such as dominance rank, sex or kinship may play a key role in shaping the expression of social behaviours, but there is a lack of knowledge on the contribution of these variables. The aim of this study was to identify social behavioural profiles in pigs, based on putative affiliative behaviours, and evaluate the extent to which dominance rank, sex, and kinship influence their expression. Agonistic interactions were recorded on 212 male and female domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) to calculate dominance ranks within 16 groups. Based on this, 96 pigs (six pigs per group) were selected for observations on detailed social nosing behaviours, allogrooming, spatial proximity and social play. Principal components analysis was used to assess the presence of behavioural profiles, followed by mixed model analysis to evaluate the influence of individual factors on each principal component (PC). Snout contact constituted the majority of interactions and was exhibited by all pigs. Lying in body contact and snout-snout proximity were also frequent and were expressed by more than 95% of individuals. Allogrooming and social play were observed in 29.2 and 33.3% of pigs, respectively, and represented less than 1% of the total interaction frequency. Three PCs had eigenvalues > 1 and together explained 60.9% of the variance. The PCs related to social contact (PC1), proximity (PC2) and social engagement (PC3). Sex, dominance status and kinship had no effect on PC1 or PC3, but sex and kinship had a limited effect on PC2, with entire males showing more snout proximity than females (P <0.001) and pigs showing less snout proximity behaviours towards their kin (P=0.044). This study shows that the expression of putatively affiliative social behaviours can be clustered into profiles and is under commercial settings only marginally influenced by individual factors such as dominance and kinship, suggesting their general relevance to pigs' social life.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of physiological regulation, increases during infancy, and is associated with concurrent and later social abilities. However, little is known about the moment-by-moment, bidirectional dynamics of RSA and social behaviors. This is particularly relevant to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in which altered RSA may underly social deficits. The current study investigated the dynamic relationship between RSA and social behaviors in very young infants with and without ASD. Infants (N = 74) at elevated (EL) or low (LL) familial likelihood for ASD who were later classified as typically developing (TD) or having ASD were included in analyses. These infants completed a dyadic, face-to-face interaction with their caregivers at 3, 4, and 6-months. Infant social behaviors (looking and smiling) and RSA during the interaction were quantified. Granger causality analyses determined if RSA significantly "forecasted" social behaviors and vice versa. Social behavior, especially looking to the caregiver, significantly forecasted moment-to-moment changes RSA in more infants than the converse. Smiles forecasted RSA in more EL infants than LL infants. Looks forecasted RSA in more infants with ASD than TD infants. We found a bidirectional relationship between RSA and social behavior, with social behavior more often forecasting RSA. Infants later diagnosed with ASD showed a greater likelihood for social attention to forecast RSA than TD infants, suggesting early differences in dynamic behavior-physiology processes. Additionally, EL infants showed a greater likelihood for smiling to forecast RSA than LL infants, suggesting that ASD likelihood may influence early physiological and social dynamics, regardless of outcome. SUMMARY: We explored the dynamic and bidirectional relationship between social behavior and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in infants with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Infant social behavior, especially looking to the parent, significantly forecasted moment-to-moment changes in RSA in more infants than the converse. Smiles forecasted RSA in more infants at elevated than low likelihood for ASD, suggesting that ASD likelihood may influence early physiological and social dynamics. Looks forecasted RSA in more infants with ASD than TD infants, suggesting early differences in dynamic behavior-physiology processes.

Stress-related disorders encompass diverse behavioral alterations, including impaired social functioning. The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a valuable model for studying these phenomena, particularly because of its robust and ethologically conserved social behaviors. Unpredictable chronic stress (UCS) produces behavioral, physiological, and molecular changes in zebrafish that parallel core features of human anxiety and depressive disorders; however, its impact on social outcomes remains unclear. Here, we examined whether a 14-day UCS protocol alters social behavior in adult zebrafish using two complementary assays: the social preference test and the shoal cohesion test. Across two independent experiments, UCS did not elicit detectable changes in individual social approach or group-level cohesion. In contrast, UCS induced clear anxiety-like behavior in the novel tank test, validating the stress manipulation, with stressed fish displaying reduced vertical exploration and decreased time in the upper zone. Distance-based shoal dispersion measures increased over time in both groups, indicating reduced shoal cohesion, consistent with habituation to the testing environment rather than a stress-specific effect. Together, these results suggest that social behavior in adult zebrafish is relatively resilient to UCS under the conditions tested, whereas anxiety-like responses are markedly affected. Future work should investigate whether factors such as stressor intensity, developmental stage, sex composition, or social hierarchy modulate the sensitivity of social behavior to chronic stress.

The gut microbiome has profound influences on brain activity and complex behaviours. Research across diverse animal species, in both natural environments and laboratory settings, has identified biological mechanisms that underlie gut-brain interactions. An emerging central theme is that the gut microbiome is shaped by, and actively contributes to, sociability throughout the lifespan. In this Review, we highlight recent literature revealing the effects of the microbiome on early neurodevelopment, immune modulation, stress responses and microorganism-mediated metabolism that affect social behaviour. Studies investigating the cellular and molecular pathways that underlie microbial influences on social behaviour have implicated brain regions and circuits that mediate critical aspects of animal behaviours, including bonding, mating, defence, aggression and social learning. Gut microbiome-brain research using animal models of social deficits and ecological studies in the wild, as well as investigations of human conditions comorbid with impaired social behaviour, could offer new and natural avenues for improved quality of life in individuals and social groups.

Unlocking interbrain neural signatures differences during triadic cooperation and competition: Evidence from EEG hyperscanning.

The effects of oxytocin on social behavior and eye gaze: Insights from dog-human partnership.

Glucocorticoids mediate behavioral and physiological responses to environmental stressors, supporting individuals' survival and fitness. Corticosterone, as the primary avian glucocorticoid, modulates these physiological responses. We focus on the common waxbill Estrilda astrild, a highly social and gregarious passerine that feeds and flocks together year-round, providing an excellent model to explore the impact of glucocorticoids on social behavior, especially in aggression. To investigate this, we conducted a correlational study in captive birds, examining baseline corticosterone plasma levels and three behavioral assays: 1) the tonic immobility test, a standard indicator of fear; 2) the mirror test, an assay to assess the reactive-proactive personality axis; and 3) food competition tests, which evaluate social behavior and aggression. Subsequently, we experimentally manipulated the common waxbill corticosterone levels by using exogenous high and low dosages of corticosterone to induce a short-term glucocorticoid challenge and evaluate its effects on behavior. Our results revealed that birds with higher baseline corticosterone plasma levels were less aggressive, but an acute increase in corticosterone levels increased aggression. Furthermore, corticosterone receptor antagonist reduced activity but did not affect feeding. These results suggest that corticosterone can influence aggression and activity in common waxbills, leading to a role in regulating social behavior in both sexes of this gregarious passerine species.

The association of gestational phthalate exposure with social skills and problem behaviors in adolescents.

Facilitating effective group collaboration is a major challenge in contemporary educational and professional contexts, and digital environments may support this goal by structuring collaborative processes through explicit instructions. The present experimental study examined the effects of collaboration instructions based on constructive controversy principles on group collaboration. These instructions were delivered via a digital environment during an initial training task. Both immediate effects on the training task and delayed effects on a subsequent transfer task were assessed. Measures included group performance (synergy), perceptions of group processes (epistemic and relational conflict regulation), perceived social skills, and communication behaviors. Results indicated that the collaboration instructions positively affected conflict regulation processes and group synergy during the training task only. In addition, perceived social skills and communication behaviors increased from the training task to the transfer task, but only for groups that received the instructions. Overall, these findings suggest that providing structured collaboration instructions through a digital environment can enhance group collaboration and, to a lesser extent, support the development of social skills and communication behaviors across tasks.

L-tryptophan (TRP), the precursor to serotonin (5-HT), modulates stress responsiveness and social behaviour in vertebrates. In cleaner fish such as lumpfish ( Cyclopterus lumpus ), these traits are integral to sea lice control in Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) farming. We tested whether a TRP-enriched diet attenuates the stress response during commercial sea transfer and affects early cohabitation performance. Lumpfish were fed a control (5.2 g kg −1 ) or TRP-enriched diet (24 g kg −1 , 4.6× control TRP) for 7 d, fasted for 2 d before transport, and then fed for 14 d after deployment in commercial net pens. Post-transfer stress was assessed using plasma cortisol concentrations. Telencephalic 5-HT neurochemistry was quantified as [5-HT], its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid [5-HIAA], and 5-HIAA/5-HT. Performance was evaluated based on growth, stomach content, and survival. TRP feeding increased 5-HIAA/5-HT after the pre-transfer phase, indicating increased serotonergic turnover, and reduced post-transport plasma cortisol, consistent with reduced HPI-axis reactivity. During 16 d of salmon cohabitation, TRP-fed fish showed a higher proportion of empty stomachs and slightly reduced growth, while cumulative survival did not differ between treatments. By the end of cohabitation, telencephalic 5-HIAA had converged back to similar means, while 5-HT remained significantly elevated in the TRP group. Overall, short-term dietary TRP enrichment reduced acute handling and transport stress in lumpfish without compromising survival, but prolonged exposure was associated with reduced feeding and growth. Dietary TRP enrichment thus appears promising as a pre-conditioning strategy to enhance lumpfish robustness during critical husbandry stages, although potential trade-offs with feeding motivation, growth, and cleaning behaviour require further study. • Seven days of TRP feeding increased telencephalon serotonergic activity. • TRP-fed lumpfish showed a clear reduction in transport-induced cortisol. • Extended TRP exposure during cohabitation lowered growth despite elevated 5-HT. • TRP-treated fish displayed signs of altered feeding motivation at sea. • Short-term TRP supplementation appears promising to build stress resilience

Chronic constriction of the sciatic nerve does not induce mood-related comorbidities in female mice.

Cellular mechanisms regulating the timing of organizational effects of sex steroid hormones.

Modelling social fear in mice: advancements in social fear conditioning and social defeat paradigms.

Universal screening for social-emotional and behavioral health risk is a key part of a comprehensive multitiered system of support. This study was conducted to examine the incremental predictive validity of the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS) on spring academic outcomes and to examine the disproportionate identification of students using SAEBRS. To answer these questions, we used data from a single elementary school and conducted mixed-effects models to account for students nested in teachers. SAEBRS risk status did not significantly predict spring reading scores; however, being at risk on the SAEBRS predicted lower spring math scores (B = -0.210) after controlling for fall math scores, attendance, grade level, and special education status. When examining race/ethnicity, biological sex, and special education status on SAEBRS risk status, only special education status significantly predicted risk on the SAEBRS (B = 1.004; odds ratio = 2.728). Limitations, future research, and implications are explained. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Lactate restores PGC1α and BDNF expression rescuing cognitive impairments in a mouse model for schizophrenia.

The influence of relational mobility on social exclusion behavior: The mediating role of social participation intention

Beyond genetics: A rare case of childhood disintegrative disorder following psychosocial trauma.

Oxytocin and direct reciprocity in rats.