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17 results for “relative brain size”
Coevolution of relative brain size and life expectancy in parrots
<p><span><span><span><span>Previous studies have demonstrated a correlation between longevity and brain size in a variety of taxa. Little research has been devoted to understanding this link in parrots; yet parrots are well-known for both their exceptionally long lives and cognitive complexity. We employed a large-scale comparative analysis that investigated the influence of brain size and life history variables on longevity in parrots. Specifically, we addressed two hypotheses for evolutionary drivers of longevity: the <em>Cognitive Buffer Hypothesis</em>, which proposes that increased cognitive abilities enable longer life spans, and the <em>Expensive Brain Hypothesis</em>, which holds that increases in life span are caused by prolonged developmental time of, and increased parental investment in, large-brained offspring<em>. </em>We estimated life expectancy from detailed zoo records for 133,818 individuals across 244 parrot species. Using a principled Bayesian approach that addresses data uncertainty and imputation of missing values, we found a consistent correlation between relative brain size and life expectancy in parrots. This correlation was best explained by a direct effect of relative brain size. Notably, we found no effects of developmental time, clutch size, or age at first reproduction. Our results suggest that selection for enhanced cognitive abilities in parrots have in turn promoted longer lifespans.</span></span></span></span></p>
Data from: Neuron numbers link innovativeness with both absolute and relative brain size in birds
<p>A long-standing issue in biology is whether the intelligence of animals can be predicted by absolute or relative brain size. However, progress has been hampered by an insufficient understanding of how neuron numbers shape internal brain organization and cognitive performance. Based on estimations of neuron numbers for 111 bird species, we show here that the number of neurons in the pallial telencephalon is positively associated with a major expression of intelligence: innovation propensity. The number of pallial neurons, in turn, is greater in brains that are larger in both absolute and relative terms, and positively co-varies with longer post-hatching development periods. Thus, our analyses show that neuron numbers link cognitive performance to both absolute and relative brain size through developmental adjustments. These findings help unify neuro-anatomical measures at multiple levels, reconciling contradictory views over the biological significance of brain expansion. The results also highlight the value of a life history perspective to advance our understanding of the evolutionary bases of the connections between brain and cognition.</p>
Data from: Relative brain size is associated with natal dispersal rate and species' vulnerability to climate change in seabirds
<p><span>The cognitive buffer hypothesis proposes that species with larger brains (relative to their body size) exhibit greater behavioural flexibility, conferring an advantage in unpredictable or novel environments. Therefore, behavioural flexibility – and relative brain size – are likely to be important predictors of a species' vulnerability to anthropogenic pressures and, ultimately, extinction risk. However, current evidence linking brain size to species vulnerability and extinction risk is inconclusive. Furthermore, studies examining the relationship between relative brain size and behavioural flexibility have mainly focused on foraging innovations, whilst other forms of behavioural flexibility remain unexplored. In this study, we collate species-specific information and examine links between relative brain size, rates of natal and adult dispersal (a measure of flexibility in breeding site fidelity), vulnerability to six anthropogenic threats and extinction risk for 131 species of seabird. We focused our study on seabirds, a highly threatened group that displays large variation in both relative brain size and dispersal behaviour. We found a significant positive relationship between relative brain size and natal dispersal rate, suggesting that relative brain size could enhance flexibility in breeding site choice in seabirds, consistent with the cognitive buffer hypothesis. However, this relationship does not persist when we consider adult dispersal, possibly reflecting constraints imposed by mate selection and knowledge transfer in seabirds. We also show that relative brain size is negatively associated with vulnerability to climate change. These findings have immediate application for predicting interspecific variation in species' vulnerability to climate change and identifying priority species for conservation.</span></p>
Data from: Relative brain size is associated with natal dispersal rate and species’ vulnerability to climate change in seabirds
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Social fish have larger brains and greater relative telencephalon sizes: support for the social brain hypothesis from wild, intraspecific comparisons
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Coevolution of relative brain size and life expectancy in parrots
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Relative brain size is predicted by the intensity of intrasexual competition in frogs
Competition over mates is a powerful force shaping trait evolution. For instance, better cognitive abilities may be beneficial in male−male competition and thus be selected for by intrasexual selection. Alternatively, investment in physical attributes favoring male performance in competition for mates may lower the resources available for brain development, and more intense male mate competition would coincide with smaller brains. To date, only indirect evidence for such relationships exists and most studies are heavily biased towards primates and other homoeothermic vertebrates. We tested the association between male brain size (relative to body size) and male−male competition across N=30 species of Chinese anurans. Three indicators of the intensity of male mate competition—operational sex ratio (OSR), spawning-site density and male forelimb muscle mass—were positively associated with relative brain size, whereas the absolute spawning-group size was not. The relationship with the OSR and male forelimb muscle mass was stronger for the male than the female brains. Taken together, our findings suggest that the increased cognitive abilities of larger brains are beneficial in male−male competition. This study adds taxonomic breadth to the mounting evidence for a prominent role of sexual selection in vertebrate brain evolution.
Relative brain size is predicted by the intensity of intrasexual competition in frogs
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Predation risk in relation to brain size in alternative prey of pygmy owls varies depending on the abundance of main prey
Large brains in prey may allow adoption of anti-predator behavior that facilitates escape. Prey species with relatively large brains have been shown to be less likely to fall prey to predators. This leads to the hypothesis that individuals that have been captured by predators on average should have smaller brains than sympatric individuals. We exploited the fact that Eurasian pygmy owls Glaucidium passerinum hoard small mammals and birds in cavities and nest-boxes for over-winter survival, allowing for comparison of the phenotype of prey with that of live conspecifics. In Northern Europe, main prey of pygmy owls are voles of the genera Myodes and Microtus , while forest birds and shrews are the most important alternative prey. Large fluctuations (amplitude 100-200-fold) in vole populations induce rapid numerical responses of pygmy owls in response to main prey populations, which in turn results in varying predation pressure on small birds. We found, weighed and measured 153 birds in food-stores of pygmy owls and mist-netted, weighed and measured 333 live birds of 12 species in central-western Finland during two autumns with low (2017) and high (2018) pygmy owl risk. In two autumns, individuals with large brains survived longer compared to individuals with small brains. Avian prey of pygmy owls had smaller heads than live birds in autumn 2018 when predation risk by pygmy owl was high, while a similar difference was not significant in 2017 when predation risk by pygmy owls was reduced. Finally, avian survivors were in better body condition than avian prey individuals. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that pygmy owls differentially prey on small birds that are in poor body condition and have small brains, and that predation risk imposed by pygmy owls on small birds in boreal forests varies depending on the abundance of the main prey (voles).
Data from: Selection for relative brain size affects context-dependent male preferences, but not discrimination, of female body size in guppies
Understanding what drives animal decisions is fundamental in evolutionary biology, and mate choice decisions are arguably some of the most important decisions in any individual's life. As cognitive ability can impact decision-making, elucidating the link between mate choice and cognitive ability is necessary to fully understand mate choice. To experimentally study this link, we used guppies (Poecilia reticulata) artificially selected for divergence in relative brain size and with previously demonstrated differences in cognitive ability. A previous test in our female guppy selection lines demonstrated the impact of brain size and cognitive ability on information processing during female mate choice decisions. Here we evaluated the effect of brain size and cognitive ability on male mate choice decisions. Specifically, we investigated the preferences of large-brained, small-brained, and non-selected guppy males for female body size, a key indicator of female fecundity in this species. For this, male preferences were quantified in dichotomous choice tests when presented to dyads of females with small, medium and large body size differences. All types of males showed preference for larger females but no effect of brain size was found in the ability to discriminate between differently sized females. However, we found that non-selected and large-brained males, but not small-brained males, showed context-dependent preferences for larger females depending on the difference in female size. Our results have two important implications. First, they provide further evidence that male mate choice occurs also in a species in which secondary sexual ornamentation occurs only in males. Second, they show that brain size and cognitive ability have important effects on individual variation in mating preferences and sexually selected traits.
Data from: Artificial selection on relative brain size reveals a positive genetic correlation between brain size and proactive personality in the guppy
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Data from: No gains for bigger brains: functional and neuroanatomical consequences of relative brain size in a parasitic wasp
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Data from: Selection for relative brain size affects context-dependent male preferences, but not discrimination, of female body size in guppies
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Predation risk in relation to brain size in alternative prey of pygmy owls varies depending on the abundance of main prey
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Data from: Evolution of brain region volumes during artificial selection for relative brain size
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Data from: Brain size in birds is related to traffic accidents
Estimates suggest that perhaps a quarter of a billion birds are killed by traffic annually across the world. This is surprising because birds have been shown to learn speed limits. Birds have also been shown to adapt to the direction of traffic and lane use, and this apparently results in reduced risks of fatal traffic accidents. Such behavioural differences suggest that individual birds that are not killed in traffic should have larger brains for their body size. We analysed the link between being killed by traffic and relative brain mass in 3521 birds belonging to 251 species brought to a taxidermist. Birds that were killed in traffic indeed had relatively smaller brains, while there was no similar difference for liver mass, heart mass or lung mass. These findings suggest that birds learn the behaviour of car drivers, and that they use their brains to adjust behaviour in an attempt to avoid mortality caused by rapidly and predictably moving objects.
Data from: Brain size in birds is related to traffic accidents
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.