Journal article
Comparative analysis of constraints and caste differences in brain investment among social paper wasps
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, v 108(17), pp 7107-7112
26 Apr 2011
PMID: 21482775
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
We compared species mean data on the size of functionally distinct brain regions to test the relative rates at which investment in higher-order cognitive processing (mushroom body calyces) versus peripheral sensory processing (optic and antennal lobes) increased with increasing brain size. Subjects were eusocial paper wasps from queen and worker castes of 10 species from different genera. Relative investment in central processing tissue increased with brain size at a higher rate than peripheral structure investment, demonstrating that tissue devoted to higher-order cognitive processing is more constrained by brain size. This pattern held for raw data and for phylogenetically independent contrasts. These findings suggest that there is a minimum necessary investment in peripheral sensory processing brain tissue, with little to gain from additional investment. In contrast, increased brain size provides opportunities to invest in additional higher-order cognitive processing tissue. Reproductive castes differed within species in brain tissue investment, with higher central-to-peripheral brain tissue ratios in queens than in workers. Coupled with previous findings that paper wasp queen, but not worker, brain architecture corresponds to ecological and social variation, queen brain evolution appears to be most strongly shaped by cognitive demands, such as social interactions. These evolutionary patterns of neural investment echo findings in other animal lineages and have important implications, given that a greater investment in higher-order processing has been shown to increase the prevalence of complex and flexible behaviors across the animal kingdom.
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Details
- Title
- Comparative analysis of constraints and caste differences in brain investment among social paper wasps
- Creators
- Sean O'Donnell - Departments of Psychology and Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. sodonnel@uw.eduMarie CliffordYamile Molina
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, v 108(17), pp 7107-7112
- Publisher
- PNAS; United States
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000289888500080
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-79955558174
- Other Identifier
- 991014877675904721
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- Multidisciplinary Sciences