Collaborative Research: Brain Size, Metabolism and Sociality in Ants

大脑是一个产生行为的极其复杂的器官。了解大脑的大小、结构和功能是最重要的科学前沿。大脑的大小被认为受到社交生活的影响，但这种关系尚不清楚。这项研究将解决两个重要问题：大脑如何随身体大小变化，以及大脑功能如何受到物种社会性质的影响。这些问题将通过比较不同种类的蚂蚁来解决，这些蚂蚁的大小和社会生活都有显著的差异。蚂蚁大脑的大小将使用一种新的方法来计算，一种新的高度敏感的技术将允许测量个体大脑的能量消耗。通过比较表现出较大规模和分工的群体与较少社会复杂性的小群体，可以理解社会生活对大脑大小和能量使用的影响。对影响所有动物大脑进化的因素，包括人类，将获得广泛的见解。该项目将培养下一代科学家，使其成为熟练的研究人员，并将动员教师和学生改善K-12科学教育的体验。芝加哥大学实验室学院以及波士顿、凤凰城和普罗维登斯地区学校的代表人数不足的群体和不同少数民族的学生的科学课程将得到丰富。该项目将广泛解决提高科学素养和激励职业选择的关键国家需求，这将增强美国的全球竞争力。复杂的社会生活选择了更大的大脑大小和适应性的隔室异速生长来支持神经行为的假设是有争议的，并继续受到测试和辩论。重要的是，操作大脑的能量成本几乎是未知的。群居昆虫为解决这些大脑进化问题提供了极好的模型。PI将对蚂蚁物种的大脑大小、比例和新陈代谢进行强有力的采样，这些物种在社会复杂性(群体大小、物理种姓)和工蚁身体大小方面存在很大差异，以检验蚂蚁脑组织的能量与工蚁身体大小、形态种姓或物种无关的假设，因此规模与脑大小成正比。将评估大脑大小和新陈代谢--以及具有社会功能的大脑区域的代谢率--与工人身体大小和群体大小的比例关系。将测量个体工蚁大脑和个体工蚁的呼吸频率，以确定在蚂蚁社会进化的背景下管理大脑大小、结构和功能进化的综合生理学原理。使用连接研究机构和主要是本科生机构的实验室的集成工作流程，来自共焦图像的大脑模板将通过计算构建以自动化，从而快速量化大脑大小和结构。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The brain is an extraordinarily complex organ that generates behavior. Understanding brain size, structure, and function are among the most important frontiers of science. Brain size is considered to be influenced by social life, but the relationship is unclear. The research will address two significant questions: how does the brain change with body size, and how is brain function affected by the social nature of species. These questions will be addressed by comparing different species of ants, which are remarkably variable in size and social life. Ant brain sizes will be computed using a novel method and a new highly sensitive technique will allow energy use in individual brains to be measured. By comparing colonies that exhibit large size and division of labor with less socially complex small colonies, the effects of social life on brain size and energy use can be understood. Broad insights into the factors that affect brain evolution in all animals, including humans, will be gained. The project will train the next generation of scientists to become skilled in research, and will engage teachers and students to improve the experience of K-12 science education. The science curriculum of students from underrepresented groups and diverse minorities at the Laboratory Schools of the University of Chicago and Boston-, Phoenix-, and Providence-area schools will be enriched. The project will broadly address critical national needs to improve science literacy and inspire career choices that will enhance the global competitiveness of the United States.The hypothesis that complex social life selects for increased brain size and adaptive compartmental allometries to neurally support behavior is controversial and continues to be tested and debated. Importantly, the energetic cost of operating the brain is virtually unknown. Eusocial insects offer excellent models to address these questions of brain evolution. The PIs will robustly sample brain size, scaling, and metabolism in ant species that range widely in social complexity (colony size, physical caste) and worker body size to test the hypothesis that the energetics of ant brain tissue are independent of worker body size, morphological caste, or species, and thus scale in direct proportion to brain size. Scaling relationships of brain size and metabolism - and metabolic rates of brain regions that have social functions - with worker body size and colony size will be assessed. Respiration rates of individual worker brains and individual workers will be measured to determine the integrative physiological principles governing the evolution of brain size, structure, and function in the context of ant social evolution. Employing an integrated workflow connecting labs between research and primarily undergraduate institutions, brain templates from confocal images will be computationally constructed to automate and thus rapidly quantify brain size and structure. Scaling relationships of functionally differentiated brain regions and estimates of brain and body metabolic rates will be determined.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.