CAREER: From ecology to neurobiology: spatial cognition in rainforest frogs

职业：从生态学到神经生物学：雨林青蛙的空间认知

• 批准号: 1845651
• 负责人: Lauren O'Connell
• 金额: $ 120万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1845651&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; ecology; neurobiology; spatial; cognition

Many animals, including humans, need navigation skills for finding mates and food, or when returning home for shelter and to care for offspring. Successfully navigating the environment requires the brain to be capable of learning and remembering specific features of the environment. In mammals, males tend to have better spatial memory, and for decades, scientists have explained this as a necessity for males to navigate over larger areas in search of mates. However, this hypothesis has never been directly tested, and other researchers have recently suggested that male superiority in spatial abilities might be a side-effect of testosterone. Rainforest frogs will be used to test between these alternative hypotheses. In contrast to mammals, frogs have both the species where males roam larger rainforest areas and species where females have larger home ranges than males. Potential sex differences in navigational ability will be measured across a range of species in the field by tracking their ability to return home after displacements. Then, standardized behavioral assays will be used in the lab to detect any sex differences across various species and identify the brain regions used for spatial memory. Finally, the neuroanatomy of the amphibian hippocampus will be investigated to determine if frogs use similar or different brain mechanisms for navigation compared to mammals. Comparing these mechanisms will shed light on the evolution of spatial capabilities in animals, including humans. These research activities will be integrated into education by collaborating with Stanford undergraduates and Canada Community College students to perform behavior experiments.The ability to navigate the environment is essential for survival and reproductive success. Sex differences in spatial abilities have been documented in many taxa. In mammals, males often outperform females and this superiority in spatial ability has been attributed to sex differences in life history strategies where polygamous males maintain larger home ranges. Recent challenges to this theory suggest that improved spatial ability is a byproduct of high testosterone in males rather than an adaptation to different life history strategies. The authors will directly test these alternative hypotheses using an amphibian clade with contrasting life histories and spatial strategies of males and females through three aims: 1) Examine sex differences in navigational ability by tracking translocated frogs in the wild in three species with sex differences in home range size. 2) Test for species variation and the role of androgens in spatial memory. Additional experiments will test the influence of androgens on task performance and link performance differences to patterns of neural activity. 3) Define the neuroanatomy of the amphibian medial pallium (homolog of the mammalian hippocampus) using single nuclei sequencing, sequencing active neurons, and tract tracing to examine potential sex and species differences in pallial connectivity. Together, this work will contrast and test life-history adaptation and testosterone spill-over hypotheses using ecologically-relevant behavioral assays in the wild, controlled behavioral assays in the laboratory, and neuroanatomical studies. This research will be integrated into education with courses and internship opportunities developed for undergraduate students at Stanford University and Canada Community College.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.

包括人类在内的许多动物都需要导航技能来寻找配偶和食物，或者回家寻找住所和照顾后代。成功地在环境中导航需要大脑能够学习和记住环境的特定特征。在哺乳动物中，雄性往往有更好的空间记忆，几十年来，科学家们解释说，这是雄性在寻找配偶时在更大的区域航行的必要条件。然而，这一假设从未得到直接验证，其他研究人员最近提出，男性在空间能力方面的优势可能是睾丸激素的副作用。雨林蛙将被用来测试这些替代假设。与哺乳动物相比，青蛙既有雄性在更大的雨林地区漫游的物种，也有雌性比雄性有更大的家园范围的物种。导航能力的潜在性别差异将通过跟踪一系列物种在流离失所后返回家园的能力来测量。然后，标准化的行为分析将在实验室中使用，以检测不同物种之间的任何性别差异，并确定用于空间记忆的大脑区域。最后，两栖动物海马的神经解剖学将进行调查，以确定是否青蛙使用类似或不同的大脑机制相比，哺乳动物的导航。比较这些机制将有助于了解包括人类在内的动物空间能力的进化。这些研究活动将通过与斯坦福大学本科生和加拿大社区学院的学生合作进行行为实验来融入教育。驾驭环境的能力对生存和繁殖成功至关重要。空间能力的性别差异在许多分类群中都有记载。在哺乳动物中，男性往往优于女性，这种优势的空间能力已被归因于性别差异的生活史策略，一夫多妻制的男性保持较大的家庭范围。最近对这一理论的挑战表明，空间能力的提高是男性高睾酮的副产品，而不是对不同生活史策略的适应。作者将直接测试这些替代假设使用两栖类分支与对比的生活史和空间策略的男性和女性通过三个目标：1）检查性别差异的导航能力，通过跟踪易位青蛙在野外在三个物种的家域大小的性别差异。2)测试物种差异和雄激素在空间记忆中的作用。其他实验将测试雄激素对任务表现的影响，并将表现差异与神经活动模式联系起来。3)定义神经解剖学的两栖动物内侧palaleal（同源的哺乳动物海马）使用单核测序，测序活跃的神经元，并跟踪检查潜在的性别和物种的差异，在paleal连接。总之，这项工作将对比和测试生活史适应和睾酮溢出假说使用生态相关的行为测定在野外，在实验室中的控制行为测定，和神经解剖学研究。这项研究将被纳入教育与课程和实习机会开发的本科生在斯坦福大学和加拿大社区学院。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

项目成果

Bringing immersive science to undergraduate laboratory courses using CRISPR gene knockouts in frogs and butterflies

• DOI: 10.1242/jeb.208793
• 发表时间: 2020-02
• 期刊: Journal of Experimental Biology
• 影响因子: 2.8
• 作者: Arnaud Martin;Nora S. Wolcott;L. O’Connell

Argentine ant extract induces an osm-9 dependent chemotaxis response in C. elegans.

阿根廷蚂蚁提取物诱导秀丽隐杆线虫的 osm-9 依赖性趋化反应。

• DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.000745
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: microPublication biology
• 作者: Alfonso, Sebastian A;Arango Sumano, Daniel;Bhatt, Dhruv A;Cullen, Aidan B;Hajian, Cyrus M;Huang, Winnie;Jaeger, Emma L;Li, Emily;Maske, A Kaile;Offenberg, Emma G;Ta, Vy;Whiting, Waymon W;Adebogun, Grace T;Bachmann, Annabelle E;Callan, Ashlyn A;Khan, Ummara;Lewis, Amaris R;Pollock, Alexa C;Ramirez, Dave;Bradon, Nicole;Fiocca, Katherine;Cote, Lauren E;Sallee, Maria D;McKinney, Jordan;O'Connell, Lauren A
• 通讯作者: O'Connell, Lauren A

The plant terpenoid carvone is a chemotaxis repellent for C. elegans.

植物萜类香芹酮是秀丽隐杆线虫的趋化性驱避剂。

• DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.000231
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: microPublication biology
• 作者: Ellington, CT;Hayden, AJ;LaGrange, ZB;Luccioni, MD;Osman, MAM;Ramlan, LIE;Vogt, MA;Guha, S;Goodman, MB;O’Connell, LA.
• 通讯作者: O’Connell, LA.

Albino Xenopus laevis tadpoles prefer dark environments compared to wild type.

• DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.000750
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: microPublication biology
• 作者: Adebogun, Grace T;Bachmann, Annabelle E;Callan, Ashlyn A;Khan, Ummara;Lewis, Amaris R;Pollock, Alexa C;Alfonso, Sebastian A;Arango Sumano, Daniel;Bhatt, Dhruv A;Cullen, Aidan B;Hajian, Cyrus M;Huang, Winnie;Jaeger, Emma L;Li, Emily;Maske, A Kaile;Offenberg, Emma G;Ta, Vy;Whiting, Waymon W;McKinney, Jordan E;Butler, Julie;O'Connell, Lauren A
• 通讯作者: O'Connell, Lauren A