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之一。大脑大小被认为受到社会生活的影响，但两者之间的关系尚不清楚。这项研究将解决两个重要的问题：大脑如何随着体型的变化而变化，以及物种的社会性质如何影响大脑功能。这些问题将通过比较不同种类的蚂蚁来解决，这些蚂蚁在大小和社会生活上都有很大的不同。蚂蚁大脑的大小将用一种新的方法计算，一种新的高灵敏度技术将允许测量个体大脑的能量消耗。通过比较大的群体和社会不太复杂的小群体，社会生活对大脑大小和能量使用的影响可以理解。将获得对影响包括人类在内的所有动物大脑进化的因素的广泛见解。该项目将培养下一代科学家，使他们在研究方面变得熟练，并将吸引教师和学生来改善K-12科学教育的体验。芝加哥大学实验学校、波士顿、凤凰城和普罗维登斯地区学校中来自代表性不足的群体和不同少数民族学生的科学课程将得到充实。该项目将广泛地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增加的大脑大小和适应性隔室异速来进行神经支持行为的假设是有争议的，并将继续进行测试和辩论。重要的是，大脑运作的能量消耗实际上是未知的。社会性昆虫为解决这些大脑进化问题提供了极好的模型。pi将对社会复杂性（群体大小、生理等级）和工蚁体型差异很大的蚂蚁物种的大脑大小、缩放和新陈代谢进行抽样，以检验蚂蚁脑组织的能量学与工蚁体型、形态等级或物种无关的假设，从而与大脑大小成正比。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新陈代谢率）与工蜂体型和蜂群大小之间的比例关系。将测量个体工蚁大脑和个体工蚁的呼吸速率，以确定蚂蚁社会进化背景下控制大脑大小、结构和功能进化的综合生理原理。采用集成的工作流程连接实验室之间的研究和主要的本科院校，从共聚焦图像的大脑模板将计算构建自动化，从而快速量化大脑的大小和结构。将确定功能分化脑区域的缩放关系以及脑和身体代谢率的估计。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。

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.