Collaborative Research: How Do Social and Habitat Complexities Shape Brain Structure?

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Caroly A. Shumway1, Hans A. Hofmann21New England Aquarium; 2Harvard UniversityCollaborative Research: How Do Social and Habitat Complexities Shape Brain Structure?The human brain is larger than that of any other primate species. As humans evolved, what environmental or social forces caused our own brain expansion? If an animal lives in an extended family group, does the need to identify individual members within the group lead to a better ability to recognize faces, compared with species that are more solitary? Since most vertebrate groups offer only a limited number of species for comparison, these questions will be studied in the species-rich African cichlid fishes that live in diverse habitats and show an astonishing range of social behaviors. The principal investigators have found that complex behaviors occur more often in complex rock environments than in simpler sand habitats. Because of the large numbers of closely related but behaviorally diverse species in each lake (which makes cichlids the "gold standard" for comparative studies exploring how brain and behavior evolved), one factor (e.g., social behavior) can be kept constant in a comparative study while varying the other (e.g., habitat). In this way it has been possible to show that both factors - environment and social - are important evolutionary forces. In the present study brain structures and cognitive abilities (such as individual recognition and spatial memory) of species differing in social behavior or habitat will be compared. Ultimately, this work will shed light on how environmental and social factors like monogamy and familial groups shape brain structure and function. The complex behaviors being studied, such as spatial memory and recognition, are of direct relevance to humans.