Sex differences in cognitive ageing: Testing predictions derived from life-history theory in a dioecious nematode

Zwoinska, Martyna K.; Kolm, Niclas; Maklakov, Alexei A.

doi:10.1016/j.exger.2013.09.008

Cited by 12 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…; Zwoinska et al. ). In C. elegans , a single sensory neuron (AWC) is known to respond to these odorants, and evidence suggests that it may also play a role in other steps of butanone olfactory learning (Troemel and Kimmel ; Torayama et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…; Zwoinska et al. ). To aid the investigation of IaSC, we selected on one sex only—females, as they are easier to handle than males.…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The sexually dimorphic olfactory learning performance in the dioecious nematode worm C. remanei (Zwoinska et al. ) offers such opportunity.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…We used the nematode worm C. remanei , which exhibits sex‐specific learning performance (Zwoinska et al. ). Locating females requires detecting female sex pheromone, which in turn requires male‐specific cephalic neurons (Chasnov et al.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Selection on learning performance results in the correlated evolution of sexual dimorphism in life history

et al. 2016

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The evolution of learning can be constrained by trade-offs. As male and female life histories often diverge, the relationship between learning and fitness may differ between the sexes. However, because sexes share much of their genome, intersexual genetic correlations can prevent males and females from reaching their sex-specific optima resulting in intralocus sexual conflict (IaSC). To investigate if IaSC constraints sex-specific evolution of learning, we selected Caenorhabditis remanei nematode females for increased or decreased olfactory learning performance and measured learning, life span (in mated and virgin worms), reproduction, and locomotory activity in both sexes. Males from downward-selected female lines had higher locomotory activity and longer virgin life span but sired fewer progeny than males from upward-selected female lines. In contrast, we found no effect of selection on female reproduction and downward-selected females showed higher locomotory activity but lived shorter as virgins than upward-selected females. Strikingly, selection on learning performance led to the reversal of sexual dimorphism in virgin life span. We thus show sex-specific trade-offs between learning, reproduction, and life span. Our results support the hypothesis that selection on learning performance can shape the evolution of sexually dimorphic life histories via sex-specific genetic correlations.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…; Zwoinska et al. ). To aid the investigation of IaSC, we selected on one sex only—females, as they are easier to handle than males.…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The sexually dimorphic olfactory learning performance in the dioecious nematode worm C. remanei (Zwoinska et al. ) offers such opportunity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Selection on learning performance results in the correlated evolution of sexual dimorphism in life history

et al. 2016

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“…Even less information is available about sex differences in personality traits, which have been documented in only a handful of fish and bird species [26][27][28][29]. Finally, scarcely any attention at all has been paid to studying sexual differences in the existence and form of cognitive-behavioural types [24,30], despite the fact that there are sound theoretical reasons to expect them. In the context of the risk-reward hypothesis, for example, males may frequently be forced to adopt more risky reproductive strategies than females because of their different sexual roles, and this could lead to general sex differences in learning, personality traits and their covariation [31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex and boldness explain individual differences in spatial learning in a lizard

et al. 2014

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Understanding individual differences in cognitive performance is a major challenge to animal behaviour and cognition studies. We used the Eastern water skink (Eulamprus quoyii) to examine associations between exploration, boldness and individual variability in spatial learning, a dimension of lizard cognition with important bearing on fitness. We show that males perform better than females in a biologically relevant spatial learning task. This is the first evidence for sex differences in learning in a reptile, and we argue that it is probably owing to sex-specific selective pressures that may be widespread in lizards. Across the sexes, we found a clear association between boldness after a simulated predatory attack and the probability of learning the spatial task. In contrast to previous studies, we found a nonlinear association between boldness and learning: both 'bold' and 'shy' behavioural types were more successful learners than intermediate males. Our results do not fit with recent predictions suggesting that individual differences in learning may be linked with behavioural types via high -low-risk/reward trade-offs. We suggest the possibility that differences in spatial cognitive performance may arise in lizards as a consequence of the distinct environmental variability and complexity experienced by individuals as a result of their sex and social tactics.

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