[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-591511-105":59,"doc-detail-591511-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","the-function-of-play-in-the-development-of-the-social-brain","the Function of Play in the Development of the social Brain","","Rough-and-tumble play in young mammals is driven by layered neural control: subcortical systems shape motivation and behavior, while cortical mechanisms adjust how play changes with age and context. These cortical modulations help explain adaptive brain benefits by enhancing exposure to specific experiences during juvenile critical periods and by altering development of other cortical regions. Such cortical changes are linked to refined social skill development, making juvenile players more socially competent in adulthood. The text also frames why identifying play’s adaptive value is difficult, including multifunctionality, delayed versus immediate benefits, and context dependence.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-function-of-play-in-the-development-of-the-social-brain/591511/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-function-of-play-in-the-development-of-the-social-brain/591511.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"supergirl","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What neural systems control play fighting in young mammals?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Subcortical mechanisms mediate motivation and behavior, while cortical mechanisms modulate how play changes with age and context.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does play influence the development of social skills?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Cortically induced changes in the content of play affect development of other cortical areas that mediate refinement of social skills, leading to greater adult social competence.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why is it difficult to identify the adaptive value of play?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Play may be multifunctional, benefits may be delayed or immediate, and the opportunity to play depends on context such as food and environmental stressors, complicating definitive comparisons and experiments.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},591511,1792165260,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":56,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},962088121634,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","the Function of Play in the Development of the social Brain  \n•  \nSergio M. Pellis, Vivien C. Pellis, and Heather C. Bell  \nRough-and-tumble play, or play fighting, is common in the young of many mammals. Research on play fighting among rats shows that there are many levels of neural control over this behavior: subcortical mechanisms mediate the motivation and behavior of such play, and the cortex provides mechanisms by which the play changes with age and context. The cortical mechanisms help to explain the advantages playing offers the brain. The cortically induced modulations of the content of play with age ensure that exposure to particular kinds of experiences are enhanced during the critical juvenile period. These experiences, in turn, modify the development of other areas of the cortex. Such cortical changes appear to mediate the effects of play on the refinement of social skills. As a result, rats that play as juveniles are more socially competent as adults. This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.  \nIntroduction  \nWhy do animals play? The question has perplexed scientists for over a century (Burghardt 2005; Smith 1978) . Attempts to answer it have often confounded two definitions of why something happens in a biological system (Fagen 1981) . The claim that play occurs because animals are happy and stress free usually makes reference to some of the psychological and physiological processes that foster play. In turn, the claim that animals play because it offers some beneficial outcome, such as the refinement of motor skills, points to the possible reasons such behavior evolved. Note that the two explanations are not mutually exclusive. An animal can play because it is happy and because its motor skills benefit from doing so. The first seeks to explain the behavior by the mechanisms within the animal or by the context that promotes it. The second seeks to explain the  \n© 2010 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois  \nbehavior by its beneficial consequences. These beneficial consequences, acted upon by natural selection, give an advantage to those members of the population that play over those that do not (Alcock 2005). Such a process leads to the spread within the population of psychological and physiological mechanisms that promote the occurrence of play, and the consequences of selective advantage can be thought of as the adaptive value of play.  \nWhile the two explanations are not mutually exclusive, real problems emerge within each category. There is a growing body of work that has identified and characterized many of the psychological and physiological mechanisms necessary either to produce play or modify its content (Burghardt 2001; Panksepp 1998; Pellis and Pellis 1998; Siviy 1998; Vanderschuren et al. 1997). Currently, there are many conflicting theories regarding the relative role or importance of any one of the factors, and some researchers wonder if stressful situations invariably diminish play or if such situations actually enhance play (Pellis and Pellis 2009). Even more difficult has been the quest to find explanations regarding the benefits of play. Many such benefits have been proposed (Baldwin 1986), but few have garnered convincing support (Martin and Caro 1985).  \nThere are three likely reasons for this difficulty with identifying the adaptive value of play. First, play is likely to be multifunctional. That is, it may have more than one adaptive benefit, and any given species may evidence some, all, or none of the benefits. This being the case, cross-species comparisons can be troublesome. What may appear a promising explanation in one species may not be replicable in another (Burghardt 2005; Pellis and Pellis 2009) .  \nSecond, the benefits accrued from playing may be either immediate or delayed. Given that play most often occurs in immature animals, the majority of theories relate","cbCaikwyqFxwqxtw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikwyqFxwqxtw","pdf",476031,"English","# Introduction\n## Why do animals play?\n## Limits in identifying the adaptive value of play\n## Multifunctionality and cross-species comparisons\n## Delayed vs immediate benefits\n## Context dependence and the non-essential role of play","[{\"question\":\"What neural systems control play fighting in young mammals?\",\"answer\":\"Subcortical mechanisms mediate motivation and behavior, while cortical mechanisms modulate how play changes with age and context.\"},{\"question\":\"How does play influence the development of social skills?\",\"answer\":\"Cortically induced changes in the content of play affect development of other cortical areas that mediate refinement of social skills, leading to greater adult social competence.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is it difficult to identify the adaptive value of play?\",\"answer\":\"Play may be multifunctional, benefits may be delayed or immediate, and the opportunity to play depends on context such as food and environmental stressors, complicating definitive comparisons and experiments.\"}]","the Function of Play in the Development of the social Brain | PDF",1792072633,48]