Collaborative Research: Social brains and solitary bees: A phylogenetic test of the effect of social behavior on brain evolution across multiple gains and losses of sociality

合作研究：社交大脑和独居蜜蜂：社会行为对大脑进化影响的系统发育测试，涉及社交性的多种得失

• 批准号: 1755342
• 负责人: Marc Seid
• 金额: $ 20.07万
• 依托单位: University of Scranton
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-04-01 至 2024-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1755342&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Social; brains; solitary

How do social interactions drive brain size? Living in a social group with other animals may require a bigger brain in order to deal with the cognitive challenge of maintaining social relationships. Alternatively, animals in social groups may have smaller brains because members of social groups can work together, thus reducing the cognitive challenge faced by each individual. This research will measure brain size in closely related species of social and solitary bees. Social cooperation has evolved many times in bees, and has also been lost many times: some solitary bees evolved from social ancestors. This project will also measure levels of neurotransmitters and hormones in bee brains that are associated with aggression and reproduction. Scientists still do not have a clear understanding of how even relatively simple brain differences are associated with the evolution of complex behavioral traits. This research will use the small brains of bees and the multiple comparisons between many different social and solitary species to investigate how living in a cooperative social group affects the brain. The scientists involved in the project will mentor students through internships in their labs, and will write versions of their research publications aimed at middle- and high-school aged students that will be made freely available on the web for education and outreach. This project tests the hypothesis that the evolution of social cooperation leads to increased brain size. This research focuses on measuring changes in the volume of the mushroom body (an area of the insect brain), and biogenic amines of the brains of social and solitary bees. The researchers focus on the sweat bees (Halictidae) because this group is ancestrally solitary with three evolutionary origins of sociality and multiple evolutionary losses from within the social clades. Also, many species are socially polymorphic, exhibiting both social and solitary behavior. This allows for multiple phylogenetically independent social-solitary comparisons. The researchers focus on mushroom body volume because this area of the brain is used for learning, memory, and sensory integration. They measure biogenic brain amines because these chemicals are involved in regulating aggressive, social, and reproductive behavior, and thus likely involved in the evolution of social cooperation. Lastly, they test whether changes in levels of brain amines are mechanistically linked to changes in brain size, and also measure changes in amine receptor density associated with social behavior. This work uses a phylogenetic comparative approach, confocal microscopy measurements of brain volume, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) measurements of amine titers, and antibody staining of amine-reactive neurons to test how evolutionary gains and losses of social cooperation affect the brain. This work addresses issues of broad public appeal - brain evolution and cooperation. As part of the broader impacts of this project, researchers will work with professional editors to create open-access adaptations of their studies for use in classrooms or other educational or outreach purposes. They will also train graduate and undergraduate students across five different institutions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

社会互动是如何影响大脑大小的？与其他动物生活在一个社会群体中，可能需要更大的大脑来应对维持社会关系的认知挑战。另外，群居动物的大脑可能更小，因为群居动物可以一起工作，从而减少了个体所面临的认知挑战。这项研究将测量密切相关的群居蜜蜂和独居蜜蜂的大脑大小。蜜蜂的社会合作已经进化了很多次，也已经失去了很多次：一些独居的蜜蜂是从社会祖先进化而来的。该项目还将测量蜜蜂大脑中与攻击性和繁殖有关的神经递质和激素的水平。即使是相对简单的大脑差异是如何与复杂行为特征的进化联系在一起的，科学家们仍然没有一个清晰的认识。这项研究将利用蜜蜂的小大脑，并在许多不同的群居和独居物种之间进行多次比较，以调查生活在一个合作的社会群体中是如何影响大脑的。参与该项目的科学家将通过在实验室实习来指导学生，并将撰写针对中学生和高中生的研究出版物，这些出版物将在网上免费提供，用于教育和推广。这个项目测试了社会合作的进化导致大脑体积增大的假设。这项研究的重点是测量蘑菇体（昆虫大脑的一个区域）体积的变化，以及群居和独居蜜蜂大脑中的生物胺。研究人员专注于汗蜂（Halictidae），因为这个群体在祖先上是孤独的，有三个社会性的进化起源，并且在社会分支中有多次进化损失。此外，许多物种是社会多态的，既表现出社会行为，也表现出孤独行为。这允许多个系统独立的社会孤独比较。研究人员之所以关注蘑菇的身体体积，是因为大脑的这个区域用于学习、记忆和感觉整合。他们测量生物脑胺，因为这些化学物质与调节攻击性、社交和生殖行为有关，因此可能与社会合作的进化有关。最后，他们测试了脑胺水平的变化是否与大脑大小的变化有机械联系，并测量了与社会行为相关的胺受体密度的变化。这项工作使用系统发育比较方法，共聚焦显微镜测量脑容量，高效液相色谱（HPLC）测量胺滴度，以及胺反应神经元的抗体染色来测试社会合作的进化得失如何影响大脑。这项工作解决了公众广泛关注的问题——大脑进化和合作。作为该项目更广泛影响的一部分，研究人员将与专业编辑合作，创建开放获取的研究改编版本，用于课堂或其他教育或推广目的。他们还将在五个不同的机构培训研究生和本科生。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Differential investment in brain regions for a diurnal and nocturnal lifestyle in Australian Myrmecia ant

澳大利亚 Myrmecia 蚂蚁白天和夜间生活方式对大脑区域的差异投资

• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: The Journal of comparative neurology
• 作者: Sheehan, Z Kamhi

The influence of sociality, caste, and size on behavior in a facultatively eusocial bee

社会性、种姓和体型对兼性社会性蜜蜂行为的影响

• DOI: 10.1007/s00040-018-00679-4
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Insectes sociaux
• 影响因子: 1.3
• 作者: Smith, AR Simons

Brain differences between social castes precede group formation in a primitively eusocial bee.

在原始社会性蜜蜂中，社会种姓之间的大脑差异先于群体形成。

• DOI: 10.1007/s00114-019-1644-7
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: The science of nature
• 作者: Pahlke, S Jaumann

Stimulus-dependent learning and memory in the neotropical ant Ectatomma ruidum

新热带蚂蚁 Ectatomma ruidum 的刺激依赖性学习和记忆

• DOI: 10.1242/jeb.238535
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Journal of Experimental Biology
• 影响因子: 2.8
• 作者: Riveros, Andre J.;Entler, Brian V.;Seid, Marc A.
• 通讯作者: Seid, Marc A.

Feeding specialization and longer generation time are associated with relatively larger brains in bees

蜜蜂的摄食专业化和较长的世代时间与相对较大的大脑有关

• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0762
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• 作者: Sayol, Ferran;Collado, Miguel Á.;Garcia-Porta, Joan;Seid, Marc A.;Gibbs, Jason;Agorreta, Ainhoa;San Mauro, Diego;Raemakers, Ivo;Sol, Daniel;Bartomeus, Ignasi
• 通讯作者: Bartomeus, Ignasi