Heritability and correlations among learning and inhibitory control traits
dc.contributor.author | Langley, EJG | |
dc.contributor.author | Adams, G | |
dc.contributor.author | Beardsworth, CE | |
dc.contributor.author | Dawson, DA | |
dc.contributor.author | Laker, PR | |
dc.contributor.author | van Horik, JO | |
dc.contributor.author | Whiteside, MA | |
dc.contributor.author | Wilson, AJ | |
dc.contributor.author | Madden, JR | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2020-04-28T13:53:04Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2020-03-29 | |
dc.description.abstract | To understand the evolution of cognitive abilities, we need to understand both how selection acts upon them and their genetic (co)variance structure. Recent work suggests that there are fitness consequences for free-living individuals with particular cognitive abilities. However, our current understanding of the heritability of these abilities is restricted to domesticated species subjected to artificial selection. We investigated genetic variance for, and genetic correlations among four cognitive abilities: inhibitory control, visual and spatial discrimination, and spatial ability, measured on >450 pheasants, Phasianus colchicus, over four generations. Pheasants were reared in captivity but bred from adults that lived in the wild and hence, were subject to selection on survival. Pheasant chicks are precocial and were reared without parents, enabling us to standardize environmental and parental care effects. We constructed a pedigree based on 15 microsatellite loci and implemented animal models to estimate heritability. We found moderate heritabilities for discrimination learning and inhibitory control (h2 = 0.17–0.23) but heritability for spatial ability was low (h2 = 0.09). Genetic correlations among-traits were largely positive but characterized by high uncertainty and were not statistically significant. Principle component analysis of the genetic correlation matrix estimate revealed a leading component that explained 69% of the variation, broadly in line with expectations under a general intelligence model of cognition. However, this pattern was not apparent in the phenotypic correlation structure which was more consistent with a modular view of animal cognition. Our findings highlight that the expression of cognitive traits is influenced by environmental factors which masks the underlying genetic structure. | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | European Research Council (ERC) | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Published online 29 March 2020 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1093/beheco/araa029 | |
dc.identifier.grantnumber | 616474 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.grantnumber | NBAF1050 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/120836 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) for International Society for Behavioral Ecology | en_GB |
dc.rights | © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. | en_GB |
dc.subject | animal model | en_GB |
dc.subject | cognitive abilities | en_GB |
dc.subject | genetic correlations | en_GB |
dc.subject | general intelligence | en_GB |
dc.subject | heritability | en_GB |
dc.subject | pheasant | en_GB |
dc.title | Heritability and correlations among learning and inhibitory control traits | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2020-04-28T13:53:04Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1045-2249 | |
dc.description | This is the final version. Available on open access from Oxford University Press via the DOI in this record | en_GB |
dc.description | Data accessibility: Analyses reported in this article can be reproduced using the data provided by Langley et al. (2020). | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | Behavioral Ecology | en_GB |
dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | en_GB |
dcterms.dateAccepted | 2020-03-13 | |
exeter.funder | ::European Commission | en_GB |
rioxxterms.version | VoR | en_GB |
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate | 2020-03-29 | |
rioxxterms.type | Journal Article/Review | en_GB |
refterms.dateFCD | 2020-04-28T13:51:06Z | |
refterms.versionFCD | VoR | |
refterms.dateFOA | 2020-04-28T13:53:12Z | |
refterms.panel | A | en_GB |
Files in this item
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),
which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.