AI Article Synopsis
- Vertebrates show significant diversity in brain size, traditionally thought to be influenced by ecological factors like predation.
- Recent findings indicate that higher predator-related mortality affects brain size evolution in varying ways, though the exact mechanisms are not fully understood.
- A study on Trinidadian killifish compared fish from guppy-present and guppy-absent environments but found no evidence that guppy predation influenced the evolution of brain size, suggesting juvenile mortality might not impact adult brain size selection.
Article Abstract
Vertebrates exhibit extensive variation in brain size. The long-standing assumption is that this variation is driven by ecologically mediated selection. Recent work has shown that an increase in predator-induced mortality is associated with evolved increases and decreases in brain size. Thus, the manner in which predators induce shifts in brain size remains unclear. Increased predation early in life is a key driver of many adult traits, including life-history and behavioral traits. Such results foreshadow a connection between age-specific mortality and selection on adult brain size. Trinidadian killifish, are found in sites with and without guppies, . The densities of drop dramatically in sites with guppies because guppies prey upon juvenile . Previous work has shown that guppy predation is associated with the evolution of adult life-history traits in . In this study, we compared second-generation laboratory-born from sites with and without guppies for differences in brain size and associated trade-offs between brain size and other components of fitness. Despite the large amount of existing research on the importance of early-life events on the evolution of adult traits, and the role of predation on both behavior and brain size, we did not find an association between the presence of guppies and evolutionary shifts in brain size. Such results argue that increased rates of juvenile mortality may not alter selection on adult brain size.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5288286 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2668 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
TRIM9 Controls Growth Cone Responses to Netrin Through DCC and UNC5C.
J Neurochem
January 2025
Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
The guidance cue netrin-1 promotes both growth cone attraction and growth cone repulsion. How netrin-1 elicits diverse axonal responses, beyond engaging the netrin receptor DCC and UNC5 family members, remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that murine netrin-1 induces biphasic axonal responses in cortical neurons: Attraction at lower concentrations and repulsion at higher concentrations using both a microfluidic-based netrin-1 gradient and bath application of netrin-1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFluorofurimazine, a novel NanoLuc substrate, enhances real-time tracking of influenza A virus infection without altering pathogenicity in mice.
Microbiol Spectr
January 2025
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, USA.
Unlabelled: Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) using engineered bioluminescent viruses has emerged as a powerful tool for real-time, noninvasive monitoring of viral replication in living animals. While traditional luciferase-based systems, such as firefly luciferase, have been widely used, the NanoLuc luciferase system offers distinct advantages, including its significantly smaller gene size, increased brightness, and independence from ATP as a cofactor, allowing for extracellular detection. However, the utility of NanoLuc has been limited by its traditional substrate, furimazine, which exhibits poor water solubility and potential cytotoxicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding the balance between plastic and persistent traits in the dyslexic brain is critical for developing effective interventions. This longitudinal intervention study examines the Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) in dyslexic and typical readers, exploring how this key component of the brain's reading circuitry changes with learning. We found that dyslexic readers show significant differences in VWFA presence, size, and tuning properties compared to typical readers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe idea of self-organized signal processing in the cerebral cortex has become a focus of research since Beggs and Plentz reported avalanches in local field potential recordings from organotypic cultures and acute slices of rat somatosensory cortex. How the cortex intrinsically organizes signals remains unknown. A current hypothesis was proposed by the condensed matter physicists Bak, Tang, and Wiesenfeld when they conjectured that if neuronal avalanche activity followed inverse power law distributions, then brain activity may be set around phase transitions within self-organized signals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeripheral DNA Methylation of Cortisol- and Serotonin-Related Genes Predicts Hippocampal Volume in a Pediatric Population.
Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci
March 2025
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.
Background: Hippocampal volume increases throughout early development and is an important indicator of cognitive abilities and mental health. However, hippocampal development is highly vulnerable to exposures during development, as seen by smaller hippocampal volume and differential epigenetic programming in genes implicated in mental health. However, few studies have investigated hippocampal volume in relation to the peripheral epigenome across development, and even less is known about potential genetic moderators.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!