Some strains of Lymnaea are smarter than others: why and what are the consequences.

某些 Lymnaea 菌株比其他菌株更聪明：为什么以及后果是什么。

• 批准号: 227993-2013
• 负责人: Lukowiak, Ken
• 金额: $ 3.31万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=546872
• 关键词: Some; strains; Lymnaea; smarter; than

Animals use cognition (defined here as learning and the subsequent formation of memory) on a daily basis. However, some strains remember much better than others. That is, some animals of the same species are 'smarter' than others. This may be very important in predicting how animals will respond to environmental changes. We have demonstrated that the pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, is the first invertebrate species found with significant differences in memory formation amongst natural populations, providing an exciting opportunity and a new model system to study cognitive evolution. My research using neurobiological and behavioural techniques developed in my lab places me in a unique position to elucidate factors shaping cognitive variation in natural populations and elucidate the role cognition plays in responses to environmental change. The ability of animals to alter behaviour in response to their environment enables them to adapt to changes in predator threat (including new introduced species), food availability or food quality and remember conspecific interactions that may alter social status or mate preference, all of which will directly affect an animal's 'fitness'. Hence, it seems intuitive that an enhanced ability to remember past experience should always be selected for; however, the ability to remember may also carry energetic costs that could outweigh the benefits gained from remembering aspects of the environment. Our proposed studies will elucidate the factors that limit the evolution of cognition, currently an area of debate in psychology, neurobiology and behavioural science, and provide the first direct evidence of the role cognition plays in allowing a species to adapt to novel environments.

动物每天都会使用认知（此处定义为学习和随后形成的记忆）。然而，有些菌株的记忆力比其他菌株好得多。也就是说，同一物种的某些动物比其他动物“更聪明”。这对于预测动物如何应对环境变化可能非常重要。我们已经证明，池塘蜗牛（Lymnaea stagnalis）是第一个在自然种群中发现记忆形成存在显着差异的无脊椎动物物种，为研究认知进化提供了令人兴奋的机会和新的模型系统。我使用实验室开发的神经生物学和行为技术进行的研究使我处于独特的地位，可以阐明自然群体认知变化的影响因素，并阐明认知在对环境变化的反应中所发挥的作用。动物根据环境改变行为的能力使它们能够适应捕食者威胁（包括新引入的物种）、食物供应或食物质量的变化，并记住可能改变社会地位或配偶偏好的同种相互作用，所有这些都会直接影响动物的“健康”。因此，从直觉上看，应该始终选择增强记忆过去经验的能力；然而，记忆能力也可能带来能量成本，这可能超过记住环境的各个方面所获得的好处。我们提出的研究将阐明限制认知进化的因素，这是目前心理学、神经生物学和行为科学争论的一个领域，并提供第一个直接证据，证明认知在让物种适应新环境中所发挥的作用。