A test of the adaptive specialization hypothesis: Population differences in caching, memory, and the hippocampus in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapilla).

Pravosudov, Vladimir V.; Clayton, Nicola S.

doi:10.1037/0735-7044.116.4.515

Cited by 233 publications

(263 citation statements)

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“…Future studies should consider subspecies and within-subspecies population differences as cowbird space use appears to depend on a number of habitat, habitat use, and population size dimensions (Darley, 1982(Darley, , 1983Dufty, 1982;Lowther, 1993;Rothstein, Verner, & Steven, 1984;Rothstein et al, 1986). Precedents for such within-species population differences are found in black-capped chickadees (P. atricapilla).A larger Hp in Alaskan chickadees compared to those from Colorado is thought to reflect adaptations to the limited and unpredictable food supply in Alaska (Pravosudov & Clayton, 2002). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex differences in the effects of captivity on hippocampus size in brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater obscurus).

Day

Guerra²,

Schlinger³

et al. 2008

Behavioral Neuroscience

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In brood parasitic cowbirds, hippocampus (Hp) size is correlated with environmental spatial memory demands. Searching for host nests is the presumed causal factor influencing cowbird Hp size, because Hp volumes vary across species, sexes, and seasons according to nest-searching participation. Brownheaded cowbirds have female-only nest searching and, at least in the eastern subspecies, a larger Hp in females than in males, suggesting that nest searching influences cowbird Hp size. We predicted that female brown-headed cowbirds housed in aviaries lacking host nests would have a smaller Hp than wild-caught females whereas males would be unaffected. We found that the Hp was smaller in captive females, but not males, compared to their wild-caught counterparts. This did not appear to be due to general effects of an impoverished environment on all brain regions. Our results imply that interruption of nest searching in cowbirds prevents seasonal increase in Hp size in females. Future studies should isolate which behavioral differences between wild and captive birds contributed to captivity-induced changes in Hp volume in females while not affecting males. Keywordscowbird; hippocampus; sex differences; brain plasticity; brood parasitism Variation in environmental spatial demands is related to variation in hippocampus (Hp) size among closely related species, between sexes, and across seasons in mammalian, avian, and reptilian species. For example, food-storing behaviors in birds (Clayton, 1995a;Hampton, Sherry, Shettleworth, Kurgel, & Ivy, 1995;Hampton & Shettleworth, 1996;Healy & Krebs, 1992;Krebs, Sherry, Healy, Perry, & Vaccarion, 1989;Sherry, Vaccarino, Buckenham, & Herz, 1989;Volman, Grubb, & Schuett, 1997) and rodents (Jacobs, 1992;Jacobs & Spencer, 1994), foraging-related rate of movement in lacertid lizards (Day, Crews, & Wilczynski, 1999), home-range size in voles (Gaulin, 1992;Jacobs, Gaulin, Sherry, & Hoffman, 1990 Sherry, Jacobs, & Gaulin, 1992), and breeding-habitat complexity in petrels (Abbott, Walsh, Storey, Stenhause, & Harley, 1999) are all associated with enlarged Hp size, presumably due to the demands of spatial memory. In addition, seasonal variation in food-storing demands is associated with seasonal changes in Hp volume (Smulders, Sasson, & DeVoogd, 1995) in black-capped chickadees and rodents (Jacobs, 1996). Males have a larger Hp than females in a vole species in which males have larger home ranges but not in vole species that do not have sex differences in home range (Gaulin, 1992). These results provide evidence that environmental or experiential seasonal changes can alter Hp volume and that natural and sexual selection on a variety of spatial-related skills has produced a larger Hp in some species or sexes than in others.Although correlations of Hp volume with ecological demands for spatial ability are numerous, the specific mechanisms that contribute to such adult variation in the volume of the Hp are not well understood. We do know that species-specific reactions to spatial experience...

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confidence: 99%

Sex differences in the effects of captivity on hippocampus size in brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater obscurus).

Day

Guerra²,

Schlinger³

et al. 2008

Behavioral Neuroscience

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“…Why do animals hoard food? Studies of birds indicate that food hoarding is an adaptive strategy for animals living in an environment with an unpredictable food supply (Pravosudov & Clayton 2002), and this may be true for all species to some degree (for a review, see Vander Wall 1990). For birds that fly, food hoarding appears to make sense physically because storage of calories for future use as lipid energy in white adipose tissue (WAT) can hamper takeoff for flight (Brodin 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physiological mechanisms for food-hoarding motivation in animals

Keen-Rhinehart

Dailey

Bartness

2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The study of ingestive behaviour has an extensive history, starting as early as 1918 when Wallace Craig, an animal behaviourist, coined the terms 'appetitive' and 'consummatory' for the two-part sequence of eating, drinking and sexual behaviours. Since then, most ingestive behaviour research has focused on the neuroendocrine control of food ingestion (consummatory behaviour). The quantity of food eaten, however, is also influenced by the drive both to acquire and to store food (appetitive behaviour). For example, hamster species have a natural proclivity to hoard food and preferentially alter appetitive ingestive behaviours in response to environmental changes and/or metabolic hormones and neuropeptides, whereas other species would instead primarily increase their food intake. Therefore, with the strong appetitive component to their ingestive behaviour that is relatively separate from their consummatory behaviour, they seem an ideal model for elucidating the neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying the control of food hoarding and foraging. This review focuses on the appetitive side of ingestive behaviour, in particular food hoarding, attempting to integrate what is known about the neuroendocrine mechanisms regulating this relatively poorly studied behaviour. An hypothesis is formed stating that the direction of 'energy flux' is a unifying factor for the control of food hoarding.

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“…Black-capped chickadees that live further north, in harsher climates (e.g., Alaska), store more food, perform better on spatial tasks, and have a larger hippocampus than birds living further south (e.g., Colorado) (Pravosudov and Clayton, 2002; but see Brodin et al, 1996). Similar population differences may exist in other species.…”

Section: The Hippocampus In Food-storing Birdsmentioning

confidence: 99%