Sex differences in cognitive performance, style and domain relationships in mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis)

Abstract

1 2 1 3 2 Highlights 1 4-Males and females perform at similar levels in associative learning and cognitive 1 5 flexibility assays, but females tend to outperform males on a spatio-temporal learning 1 6 task.1 7 -Female performance in associative learning trials (numerical discrimination task) can be 1 8 predicted by cognitive style behaviors (exploration, reaction time, and activity); whereas 1 9 male performance cannot. 2 0 -Males, but not females, show a predictive relationship between associative learning and 2 1 cognitive flexibility performance.2 2 -Our results demonstrate that sex differences in cognition extend beyond performance 2 3 into cognitive style and domain relationships, suggesting that investigations into animal 2 4 personality and cognition require more comprehensive characterization. Abstract 2 7Given that the sexes often differ in their ecological and sexual selection pressures, sex 2 8 differences in cognitive properties are likely. While research on sexually dimorphic cognition 2 9often focuses on performance, it commonly overlooks how sexes diverge across multiple 3 0 cognitive tasks (cognitive domains) and in behaviors associated with cognitive performance 3 1 (cognitive style). We tested male and female western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) in three 3 2 cognitive tasks: associative learning (numerical discrimination), cognitive flexibility (detour 3 3 task), and spatio-temporal learning (shuttlebox). We characterized statistical relationships 3 4 between cognitive performances and cognitive style during the associative learning task with 3 5 measures of anxiety, boldness, exploration, reaction time, and activity. We found sex 3 6 differences in performance, cognitive style, and the relationships between cognitive domains. 3 7