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Semenov GA, Sonnenberg BR, Branch CL, Heinen VK, Welklin JF, Padula SR, Patel AM, Bridge ES, Pravosudov VV, Taylor SA. Genes and gene networks underlying spatial cognition in food-caching chickadees. Curr Biol 2024; 34:1930-1939.e4. [PMID: 38636515 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.03.058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
Substantial progress has been made in understanding the genetic architecture of phenotypes involved in a variety of evolutionary processes. Behavioral genetics remains, however, among the least understood. We explore the genetic architecture of spatial cognitive abilities in a wild passerine bird, the mountain chickadee (Poecile gambeli). Mountain chickadees cache thousands of seeds in the fall and require specialized spatial memory to recover these caches throughout the winter. We previously showed that variation in spatial cognition has a direct effect on fitness and has a genetic basis. It remains unknown which specific genes and developmental pathways are particularly important for shaping spatial cognition. To further dissect the genetic basis of spatial cognitive abilities, we combine experimental quantification of spatial cognition in wild chickadees with whole-genome sequencing of 162 individuals, a new chromosome-scale reference genome, and species-specific gene annotation. We have identified a set of genes and developmental pathways that play a key role in creating variation in spatial cognition and found that the mechanism shaping cognitive variation is consistent with selection against mildly deleterious non-coding mutations. Although some candidate genes were organized into connected gene networks, about half do not have shared regulation, highlighting that multiple independent developmental or physiological mechanisms contribute to variation in spatial cognitive abilities. A large proportion of the candidate genes we found are associated with synaptic plasticity, an intriguing result that leads to the hypothesis that certain genetic variants create antagonism between behavioral plasticity and long-term memory, each providing distinct benefits depending on ecological context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgy A Semenov
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
| | - Benjamin R Sonnenberg
- Department of Biology and Evolution, Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Carrie L Branch
- Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
| | - Virginia K Heinen
- Department of Biology and Evolution, Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Joseph F Welklin
- Department of Biology and Evolution, Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Sara R Padula
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Ajay M Patel
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Eli S Bridge
- Oklahoma Biological Survey, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Vladimir V Pravosudov
- Department of Biology and Evolution, Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Scott A Taylor
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
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2
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Branch CL, Welklin JF, Sonnenberg BR, Benedict LM, Heinen VK, Pitera AM, Bridge ES, Pravosudov VV. What's in a mate? Social pairing decisions and spatial cognitive ability in food-caching mountain chickadees. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231073. [PMID: 37700643 PMCID: PMC10498033 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023] Open
Abstract
While researchers have investigated mating decisions for decades, gaps remain in our understanding of how behaviour influences social mate choice. We compared spatial cognitive performance and food caching propensity within social pairs of mountain chickadees inhabiting differentially harsh winter climates to understand how these measures contribute to social mate choice. Chickadees rely on specialized spatial cognitive abilities to recover food stores and survive harsh winters, and females can discriminate among males with varying spatial cognition. Because spatial cognition and caching propensity are critical for survival and likely heritable, pairing with a mate with such enhanced traits may provide indirect benefits to offspring. Comparing the behaviour of social mates, we found that spatial cognitive performance approached a significant correlation within pairs at low, but not at high elevation. We found no correlation within pairs in spatial reversal cognitive performance at either elevation; however, females at high elevation tended to perform better than their social mates. Finally, we found that caching propensity correlated within pairs at low, while males cached significantly more food than their social mates at high elevations. These results suggest that cognition and caching propensity may influence social mating decisions, but only in certain environments and for some aspects of cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carrie L. Branch
- Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Benjamin R. Sonnenberg
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Lauren M. Benedict
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA
| | | | - Angela M. Pitera
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Eli S. Bridge
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Vladimir V. Pravosudov
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA
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Benedict LM, Heinen VK, Welklin JF, Sonnenberg BR, Whitenack LE, Bridge ES, Pravosudov VV. Food-caching mountain chickadees can learn abstract rules to solve a complex spatial-temporal pattern. Curr Biol 2023; 33:3136-3144.e5. [PMID: 37442137 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023]
Abstract
The use of abstract rules in behavioral decisions is considered evidence of executive functions associated with higher-level cognition. Laboratory studies across taxa have shown that animals may be capable of learning abstract concepts, such as the relationships between items, but often use simpler cognitive abilities to solve tasks. Little is known about whether or how animals learn and use abstract rules in natural environments. Here, we tested whether wild, food-caching mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) could learn an abstract rule in a spatial-temporal task in which the location of a food reward rotated daily around an 8-feeder square spatial array for up to 34 days. Chickadees initially searched for the daily food reward by visiting the most recently rewarding locations and then moving backward to visit previously rewarding feeders, using memory of previous locations. But by the end of the task, chickadees were more likely to search forward in the correct direction of rotation, moving away from the previously rewarding feeders. These results suggest that chickadees learned the direction rule for daily feeder rotation and used this to guide their decisions while searching for a food reward. Thus, chickadees appear to use an executive function to make decisions on a foraging-based task in the wild. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren M Benedict
- University of Nevada Reno, Department of Biology, Reno, NV 89557, USA; University of Nevada Reno, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
| | - Virginia K Heinen
- University of Nevada Reno, Department of Biology, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Joseph F Welklin
- University of Nevada Reno, Department of Biology, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Benjamin R Sonnenberg
- University of Nevada Reno, Department of Biology, Reno, NV 89557, USA; University of Nevada Reno, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Lauren E Whitenack
- University of Nevada Reno, Department of Biology, Reno, NV 89557, USA; University of Nevada Reno, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Eli S Bridge
- University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Biological Survey, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Vladimir V Pravosudov
- University of Nevada Reno, Department of Biology, Reno, NV 89557, USA; University of Nevada Reno, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, Reno, NV 89557, USA
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4
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Heinen VK, Pitera AM, Sonnenberg BR, Branch CL, Benedict LM, Welklin JF, Whitenack LE, Bridge ES, Pravosudov VV. Food-caching chickadees with specialized spatial cognition do not use scrounging as a stable strategy when learning a spatial task. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230900. [PMID: 37434529 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Social animals may use alternative strategies when foraging, with producer-scrounger being one stable dichotomy of strategies. While 'producers' search and discover new food sources, 'scroungers' obtain food discovered by producers. Previous work suggests that differences in cognitive abilities may influence tendencies toward being either a producer or a scrounger, but scrounging behaviour in the context of specialized cognitive abilities is less understood. We investigated whether food-caching mountain chickadees, which rely on spatial cognition to retrieve food caches, engage in scrounging when learning a spatial task. We analysed data from seven seasons of spatial cognition testing, using arrays of radio frequency identification-enabled bird feeders, to identify and quantify potential scrounging behaviour. Chickadees rarely engaged in scrounging, scrounging was not repeatable within individuals and nearly all scrounging events occurred before the bird learned the 'producer' strategy. Scrounging was less frequent in harsher winters, but adults scrounged more than juveniles, and birds at higher elevations scrounged more than chickadees at lower elevations. There was no clear association between spatial cognitive abilities and scrounging frequency. Overall, our study suggests that food-caching species with specialized spatial cognition do not use scrounging as a stable strategy when learning a spatial task, instead relying on learning abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia K Heinen
- Department of Biology and Evolution, University of Nevada, Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Angela M Pitera
- Department of Biology and Evolution, University of Nevada, Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Benjamin R Sonnenberg
- Department of Biology and Evolution, University of Nevada, Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Carrie L Branch
- Department of Biology and Evolution, University of Nevada, Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, Reno, NV 89557, USA
- Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5C2
| | - Lauren M Benedict
- Department of Biology and Evolution, University of Nevada, Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Joseph F Welklin
- Department of Biology and Evolution, University of Nevada, Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Lauren E Whitenack
- Department of Biology and Evolution, University of Nevada, Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | | | - Vladimir V Pravosudov
- Department of Biology and Evolution, University of Nevada, Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, Reno, NV 89557, USA
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Whitenack LE, Welklin JF, Branch CL, Sonnenberg BR, Pitera AM, Kozlovsky DY, Benedict LM, Heinen VK, Pravosudov VV. Complex relationships between climate and reproduction in a resident montane bird. R Soc Open Sci 2023; 10:230554. [PMID: 37351489 PMCID: PMC10282579 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
Animals use climate-related environmental cues to fine-tune breeding timing and investment to match peak food availability. In birds, spring temperature is a commonly documented cue used to initiate breeding, but with global climate change, organisms are experiencing both directional changes in ambient temperatures and extreme year-to-year precipitation fluctuations. Montane environments exhibit complex climate patterns where temperatures and precipitation change along elevational gradients, and where exacerbated annual variation in precipitation has resulted in extreme swings between heavy snow and drought. We used 10 years of data to investigate how annual variation in climatic conditions is associated with differences in breeding phenology and reproductive performance in resident mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) at two elevations in the northern Sierra Nevada mountains, USA. Variation in spring temperature was not associated with differences in breeding phenology across elevations in our system. Greater snow accumulation was associated with later breeding initiation at high, but not low, elevation. Brood size was reduced under drought, but only at low elevation. Our data suggest complex relationships between climate and avian reproduction and point to autumn climate as important for reproductive performance, likely via its effect on phenology and abundance of invertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren E. Whitenack
- Department of Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Joseph F. Welklin
- Department of Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Carrie L. Branch
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
| | - Benjamin R. Sonnenberg
- Department of Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Angela M. Pitera
- Department of Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Dovid Y. Kozlovsky
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA
| | - Lauren M. Benedict
- Department of Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Virginia K. Heinen
- Department of Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Vladimir V. Pravosudov
- Department of Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
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Sonnenberg BR, Heinen VK, Pitera AM, Benedict LM, Branch CL, Bridge ES, Ouyang JQ, Pravosudov VV. Natural variation in developmental condition has limited effect on spatial cognition in a wild food-caching bird. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221169. [PMID: 36196540 PMCID: PMC9532986 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Laboratory studies show that increased physiological burden during development results in cognitive impairment. In the wild, animals experience a wide range of developmental conditions, and it is critical to understand how variation in such conditions affects cognitive abilities later in life, especially in species that strongly depend on such abilities for survival. We tested whether variation in developmental condition is associated with differences in spatial cognitive abilities in wild food-caching mountain chickadees. Using tail feathers grown during development in juvenile birds, we measured feather corticosterone (Cortf) levels and growth rates and tested these birds during their first winter on two spatial learning tasks. In only 1 of the 3 years, higher feather Cortf was negatively associated with memory acquisition. No significant associations between feather Cortf and any other measurement of spatial cognition were detected in the other 2 years of the study or between feather growth rate and any measurement of cognition during the entire study. Our results suggest that in the wild, naturally existing variation in developmental condition has only a limited effect on spatial cognitive abilities, at least in a food-caching species. This suggests that there may be compensatory mechanisms to buffer specialized cognitive abilities against developmental perturbations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin R. Sonnenberg
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Virginia K. Heinen
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Angela M. Pitera
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Lauren M. Benedict
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Carrie L. Branch
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | | | - Jenny Q. Ouyang
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Vladimir V. Pravosudov
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
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Sonnenberg BR, Branch CL, Pitera AM, Benedict LM, Heinen VK, Pravosudov VV. Food-hoarding and nest-building propensities are associated in a cavity-nesting bird. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-021-03114-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
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8
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Benedict LM, Pitera AM, Branch CL, Sonnenberg BR, Heinen VK, Bridge ES, Pravosudov VV. Information maintenance of food sources is associated with environment, spatial cognition and age in a food-caching bird. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Heinen VK, Benedict LM, Pitera AM, Sonnenberg BR, Bridge ES, Pravosudov VV. Social dominance has limited effects on spatial cognition in a wild food-caching bird. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20211784. [PMID: 34784764 PMCID: PMC8596002 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Social dominance has long been used as a model to investigate social stress. However, many studies using such comparisons have been performed in captive environments. These environments may produce unnaturally high antagonistic interactions, exaggerating the stress of social subordination and any associated adverse consequences. One such adverse effect concerns impaired cognitive ability, often thought to be associated with social subordination. Here, we tested whether social dominance rank is associated with differences in spatial learning and memory, and in reversal spatial learning (flexibility) abilities in wild food-caching mountain chickadees at different montane elevations. Higher dominance rank was associated with higher spatial cognitive flexibility in harsh environments at higher elevations, but not at lower, milder elevations. By contrast, there were no consistent differences in spatial learning and memory ability associated with dominance rank. Our results suggest that spatial learning and memory ability in specialized food-caching species is a stable trait resilient to social influences. Spatial cognitive flexibility, on the other hand, appears to be more sensitive to environmental influences, including social dominance. These findings contradict those from laboratory studies and suggest that it is critical to investigate the biological consequences of social dominance under natural conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Angela M. Pitera
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | | | - Eli S. Bridge
- Oklahoma Biological Survey, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
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Branch CL, Semenov GA, Wagner DN, Sonnenberg BR, Pitera AM, Bridge ES, Taylor SA, Pravosudov VV. The genetic basis of spatial cognitive variation in a food-caching bird. Curr Biol 2021; 32:210-219.e4. [PMID: 34735793 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Revised: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Spatial cognition is used by most organisms to navigate their environment. Some species rely particularly heavily on specialized spatial cognition to survive, suggesting that a heritable component of cognition may be under natural selection. This idea remains largely untested outside of humans, perhaps because cognition in general is known to be strongly affected by learning and experience.1-4 We investigated the genetic basis of individual variation in spatial cognition used by non-migratory food-caching birds to recover food stores and survive harsh montane winters. Comparing the genomes of wild, free-living birds ranging from best to worst in their performance on a spatial cognitive task revealed significant associations with genes involved in neuron growth and development and hippocampal function. These results identify candidate genes associated with differences in spatial cognition and provide a critical link connecting individual variation in spatial cognition with natural selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carrie L Branch
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.
| | - Georgy A Semenov
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Dominique N Wagner
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Benjamin R Sonnenberg
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Angela M Pitera
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Eli S Bridge
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Scott A Taylor
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Vladimir V Pravosudov
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
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Heinen VK, Pitera AM, Sonnenberg BR, Benedict LM, Bridge ES, Farine DR, Pravosudov VV. Food discovery is associated with different reliance on social learning and lower cognitive flexibility across environments in a food-caching bird. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202843. [PMID: 34004135 PMCID: PMC8131126 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Social learning is a primary mechanism for information acquisition in social species. Despite many benefits, social learning may be disadvantageous when independent learning is more efficient. For example, searching independently may be more advantageous when food sources are ephemeral and unpredictable. Individual differences in cognitive abilities can also be expected to influence social information use. Specifically, better spatial memory can make a given environment more predictable for an individual by allowing it to better track food sources. We investigated how resident food-caching chickadees discovered multiple novel food sources in both harsher, less predictable high elevation and milder, more predictable low elevation winter environments. Chickadees at high elevation were faster at discovering multiple novel food sources and discovered more food sources than birds at low elevation. While birds at both elevations used social information, the contribution of social learning to food discovery was significantly lower at high elevation. At both elevations, chickadees with better spatial cognitive flexibility were slower at discovering food sources, likely because birds with lower spatial cognitive flexibility are worse at tracking natural resources and therefore spend more time exploring. Overall, our study supported the prediction that harsh environments should favour less reliance on social learning.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Angela M. Pitera
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | | | | | - Eli S. Bridge
- Oklahoma Biological Survey, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Damien R. Farine
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
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12
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Heinen VK, Pitera AM, Sonnenberg BR, Benedict LM, Branch CL, Bridge ES, Pravosudov VV. Specialized spatial cognition is associated with reduced cognitive senescence in a food-caching bird. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20203180. [PMID: 33784865 PMCID: PMC8059976 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.3180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 03/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Senescence, the gradual reduction and loss of function as organisms age, is a widespread process that is especially pronounced in cognitive abilities. Senescence appears to have a genetic basis and can be affected by evolutionary processes. If cognitive senescence is shaped by natural selection, it may be linked with selection on cognitive abilities needed for survival and reproduction, such that species where fitness is directly related to cognitive abilities should evolve delayed cognitive senescence likely resulting in higher lifetime fitness. We used wild food-caching mountain chickadees, which rely on specialized spatial cognition to recover thousands of food caches annually, to test for cognitive senescence in spatial learning and memory and reversal spatial learning and memory abilities. We detected no signs of age-related senescence in spatial cognitive performance on either task in birds ranging from 1 to 6 years old; older birds actually performed better on spatial learning and memory tasks. Our results therefore suggest that cognitive senescence may be either delayed (potentially appearing after 6 years) or negligible in species with strong selection on cognitive abilities and that food-caching species may present a useful model to investigate mechanisms associated with cognitive senescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia K Heinen
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Angela M Pitera
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | | | - Lauren M Benedict
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Carrie L Branch
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Eli S Bridge
- University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Biological Survey, Norman, OK 73019, USA
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13
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Branch CL, Sonnenberg BR, Pitera AM, Benedict LM, Kozlovsky DY, Bridge ES, Pravosudov VV. Testing the greater male variability phenomenon: male mountain chickadees exhibit larger variation in reversal learning performance compared with females. Proc Biol Sci 2020. [PMID: 32673560 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0895rspb20200895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The greater male variability phenomenon predicts that males exhibit larger ranges of variation in cognitive performance compared with females; however, support for this pattern has come exclusively from studies of humans and lacks mechanistic explanation. Furthermore, the vast majority of the literature assessing sex differences in cognition is based on studies of humans and a few other mammals. In order to elucidate the underpinnings of cognitive variation and the potential for fitness consequences, we must investigate sex differences in cognition in non-mammalian systems as well. Here, we assess the performance of male and female food-caching birds on a spatial learning and memory task and a reversal spatial task to address whether there are sex differences in mean cognitive performance or in the range of variation in performance. For both tasks, male and female mean performance was similar across four years of testing; however, males did exhibit a wider range of variation in performance on the reversal spatial task compared with females. The implications for mate choice and sexual selection of cognitive abilities are discussed and future directions are suggested to aid in the understanding of sex-related cognitive variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carrie L Branch
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Benjamin R Sonnenberg
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Angela M Pitera
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Lauren M Benedict
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Dovid Y Kozlovsky
- Department of Biology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA
| | - Eli S Bridge
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Vladimir V Pravosudov
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
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14
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Branch CL, Sonnenberg BR, Pitera AM, Benedict LM, Kozlovsky DY, Bridge ES, Pravosudov VV. Testing the greater male variability phenomenon: male mountain chickadees exhibit larger variation in reversal learning performance compared with females. Proc Biol Sci 2020. [PMID: 32673560 DOI: 10.5061/dryad.j6q573nb4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The greater male variability phenomenon predicts that males exhibit larger ranges of variation in cognitive performance compared with females; however, support for this pattern has come exclusively from studies of humans and lacks mechanistic explanation. Furthermore, the vast majority of the literature assessing sex differences in cognition is based on studies of humans and a few other mammals. In order to elucidate the underpinnings of cognitive variation and the potential for fitness consequences, we must investigate sex differences in cognition in non-mammalian systems as well. Here, we assess the performance of male and female food-caching birds on a spatial learning and memory task and a reversal spatial task to address whether there are sex differences in mean cognitive performance or in the range of variation in performance. For both tasks, male and female mean performance was similar across four years of testing; however, males did exhibit a wider range of variation in performance on the reversal spatial task compared with females. The implications for mate choice and sexual selection of cognitive abilities are discussed and future directions are suggested to aid in the understanding of sex-related cognitive variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carrie L Branch
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Benjamin R Sonnenberg
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Angela M Pitera
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Lauren M Benedict
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Dovid Y Kozlovsky
- Department of Biology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA
| | - Eli S Bridge
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Vladimir V Pravosudov
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
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15
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Branch CL, Sonnenberg BR, Pitera AM, Benedict LM, Kozlovsky DY, Bridge ES, Pravosudov VV. Testing the greater male variability phenomenon: male mountain chickadees exhibit larger variation in reversal learning performance compared with females. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200895. [PMID: 32673560 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The greater male variability phenomenon predicts that males exhibit larger ranges of variation in cognitive performance compared with females; however, support for this pattern has come exclusively from studies of humans and lacks mechanistic explanation. Furthermore, the vast majority of the literature assessing sex differences in cognition is based on studies of humans and a few other mammals. In order to elucidate the underpinnings of cognitive variation and the potential for fitness consequences, we must investigate sex differences in cognition in non-mammalian systems as well. Here, we assess the performance of male and female food-caching birds on a spatial learning and memory task and a reversal spatial task to address whether there are sex differences in mean cognitive performance or in the range of variation in performance. For both tasks, male and female mean performance was similar across four years of testing; however, males did exhibit a wider range of variation in performance on the reversal spatial task compared with females. The implications for mate choice and sexual selection of cognitive abilities are discussed and future directions are suggested to aid in the understanding of sex-related cognitive variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carrie L Branch
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Benjamin R Sonnenberg
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Angela M Pitera
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Lauren M Benedict
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Dovid Y Kozlovsky
- Department of Biology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA
| | - Eli S Bridge
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Vladimir V Pravosudov
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Graduate Program, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA
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Branch CL, Pitera AM, Kozlovsky DY, Sonnenberg BR, Benedict LM, Pravosudov VV. Elevation-related differences in the age structure of breeding birds suggest stronger selection at harsher elevations. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2750-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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17
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Bridge ES, Wilhelm J, Pandit MM, Moreno A, Curry CM, Pearson TD, Proppe DS, Holwerda C, Eadie JM, Stair TF, Olson AC, Lyon BE, Branch CL, Pitera AM, Kozlovsky D, Sonnenberg BR, Pravosudov VV, Ruyle JE. An Arduino-Based RFID Platform for Animal Research. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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18
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Sonnenberg BR, Branch CL, Pitera AM, Bridge E, Pravosudov VV. Natural Selection and Spatial Cognition in Wild Food-Caching Mountain Chickadees. Curr Biol 2019; 29:670-676.e3. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2018] [Revised: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 01/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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Abstract
Parkinsonism-Plus Syndrome (PPS) is a rare, degenerative disorder involving the subcortical structures of the brain. Little is known of the cognitive impairment, if any, that accompanies this syndrome. Initially PPS patients were thought to be cognitively intact; however, more recent research has suggested the presence of a frontal-lobe-like syndrome of intellectual deterioration. A battery of neuropsychological tests sensitive to subcortical dementia and frontal lobe deficit was administered to 4 female PPS patients aged between 35-49 years. The results of this pilot study indicated a distinct profile of memory dysfunction in PPS. The pattern observed differs from that seen in cortical disorders but is similar to that found in subcortical disorders. The hypothesis that a prominent frontal-lobe-like deficit exists in PPS was not supported.
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Affiliation(s)
- M D Lucas
- Department of Psychiatry, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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