Stress alleviation in monkeys and apes
Filippo Aureli
Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Many factors can produce an increase of stress. Several of these factors, especially those of a social nature, have been studied in monkeys and apes. Various measures have been used to quantify stress. There are physiological measures such as the increase in cortisol or heart rate. More recently, self-directed activities, such as self-scratching and self-grooming, have been successfully used as behavioral measures of stress. Whereas stress is an adaptive response preparing the organism for appropriate actions, the prolonged activation of such response can be deleterious. Thus, mechanisms for coping with stress are expected to have been selected for. In some of these mechanisms the individual perceiving stress actively seeks ways to reduce it. Other mechanisms, however, are provided by third parties. Less is known about these latter mechanisms, but they are particularly interesting for their potential altruistic nature and cognitive underpinnings. The relative effectiveness of both types of mechanisms in stress alleviation will be evaluated along with the cognitive abilities involved.