Social environment affects inhibitory control via developmental plasticity in a fish

During embryonic life, individuals should adjust their phenotype to the conditions that they will encounter after birth, including the social environment, if they have access to (social) cues that allow them to forecast future conditions. In birds, evidence indicates that embryos are sensitive to cues from clutch mates, but whether embryos adjust their development to cope with the expected level of sibling competition has not hitherto been investigated. To tackle this question, we performed a ‘match versus mismatch' experimental design where we manipulated the presence of clutch mates (i.e. clutch size manipulation) and the real (postnatal) level of sibling competition (i.e. brood size manipulation) in the yellow-legged gull ( Larus michahellis) . We provide evidence that the prenatal cues of sibling presence induced developmental changes (such as epigenetic profiles) that had programming effects on chick begging behaviour and growth trajectories after hatching. While receiving mismatching information favoured chick begging and growth, this came at the cost of reduced antioxidant defences and a premature loss of telomeres. Our findings highlight the role of the prenatal social environment in developmental plasticity and suggest that telomere attrition may be an important physiological cost of phenotype–environment mismatch.

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Development rate rather than social environment influences cognitive performance in Australian black field crickets, Teleogryllus commodus

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.3563 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. e3563 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Caitlin L. Anderson ◽

Michael M. Kasumovic

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Ability ◽

Social Environment ◽

Morris Water Maze ◽

Water Maze ◽

Developmental Plasticity ◽

Individual Performance ◽

Cognitive Differences ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Teleogryllus Commodus ◽

Black Field

Cognitive functioning is vital for enabling animals of all taxa to optimise their chances of survival and reproductive success. Learning and memory in particular are drivers of many evolutionary processes. In this study, we examine how developmental plasticity can affect cognitive ability by exploring the role the early social environment has on problem solving ability and learning of female black field crickets, Teleogryllus commodus. We used two learning paradigms, an analog of the Morris water maze and a novel linear maze, to examine cognitive differences between individuals reared in two acoustic treatments: silence or calling. Although there was no evidence of learning or memory, individuals that took longer to mature solved the Morris water maze more quickly. Our results suggest that increased investment into cognitive development is likely associated with increased development time during immature stages. Inconsistent individual performance and motivation during the novel linear maze task highlights the difficulties of designing ecologically relevant learning tasks within a lab setting. The role of experimental design in understanding cognitive ability and learning in more natural circumstances is discussed.

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Rebound acid hypersecretion after ranitidine is not due to impaired inhibitory control

Gastroenterology ◽

10.1016/s0016-5085(01)80780-0 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 120 (5) ◽

pp. A158-A158 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

D GILLEN ◽

A WIRZ ◽

K MCCOLL

Keyword(s):

Inhibitory Control ◽

Acid Hypersecretion

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Predictors of Problematic Video Game Usage in Childhood and Adolescence

SUCHT - Zeitschrift für Wissenschaft und Praxis / Journal of Addiction Research and Practice ◽

10.1024/0939-5911.a000247 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 59 (3) ◽

pp. 153-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Thomas Mößle ◽

Florian Rehbein

Keyword(s):

Social Environment ◽

School Children ◽

Video Game ◽

Video Gaming ◽

Control Group ◽

Childhood And Adolescence ◽

Longitudinal Control ◽

Peer Problems ◽

Media Usage ◽

Usage Patterns

Aim: The aim of this article is to work out the differential significance of risk factors of media usage, personality and social environment in order to explain problematic video game usage in childhood and adolescence. Method: Data are drawn from the Berlin Longitudinal Study Media, a four-year longitudinal control group study with 1 207 school children. Data from 739 school children who participated at 5th and 6th grade were available for analysis. Result: To explain the development of problematic video game usage, all three areas, i. e. specific media usage patterns, certain aspects of personality and certain factors pertaining to social environment, must be taken into consideration. Video game genre, video gaming in reaction to failure in the real world (media usage), the children’s/adolescents’ academic self-concept (personality), peer problems and parental care (social environment) are of particular significance. Conclusion: The results of the study emphasize that in future – and above all also longitudinal – studies different factors regarding social environment must also be taken into account with the recorded variables of media usage and personality in order to be able to explain the construct of problematic video game usage. Furthermore, this will open up possibilities for prevention.

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Do Young Children Modulate Their Cognitive Control?

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000320 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 63 (2) ◽

pp. 117-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Solène Ambrosi ◽

Patrick Lemaire ◽

Agnès Blaye

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Inhibitory Control ◽

Age Range ◽

Stroop Tasks ◽

And Task

Abstract. Dynamic, trial-by-trial modulations of inhibitory control are well documented in adults but rarely investigated in children. Here, we examined whether 5-to-7 year-old children, an age range when inhibitory control is still partially immature, achieve such modulations. Fifty three children took flanker, Simon, and Stroop tasks. Above and beyond classic congruency effects, the present results showed two crucial findings. First, we found evidence for sequential modulations of congruency effects in these young children in the three conflict tasks. Second, our results showed both task specificities and task commonalities. These findings in young children have important implications as they suggest that, to be modulated, inhibitory control does not require full maturation and that the precise pattern of trial-by-trial modulations may depend on the nature of conflict.

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