Variation in inhibitory control does not influence social rank, foraging efficiency, or risk taking, in red junglefowl females

Abstract

Individual variation in cognition, seen in many taxa, is not well understood, despite its potential evolutionary consequences. Inhibitory control is an aspect of cognition which differs between individuals. However, how selection could act on this variation remains unclear. First, individual consistency over time of behaviours affected by inhibitory control, and how these behaviours relate to each other, is not well understood. Second, consequences in ecologically relevant contexts of variation in behaviours affected by inhibitory control, are scarcely investigated. Therefore, we explored the temporal consistency and inter-relatedness of two behaviours influenced by inhibitory control (impulsive action and persistence) and how these link to social rank, foraging efficiency, and risk taking in adult female red junglefowl (Gallus gallus). We measured impulsive action in a detour test, and persistence in both a detour test and a foraging test. Impulsive action and persistence, measured in a detour test, were moderately consistent over time, and positively correlated. This implies that selection could act on inhibitory control via these behaviours, and selection on one behaviour could affect the other. However, we found no evidence of links between inhibitory control and social rank, foraging efficiency, or risk taking. This implies that selection may not act on inhibitory control via these measures, and that, in general, there may be a lack of strong selection on inhibitory control. This, in turn, could help explain individual variation in this aspect of cognition. Future research should explore the specificity of when inhibitory control has implications for individuals, and continue to investigate how variation in cognitive traits influences how individuals behave in contexts with potential evolutionary implications.

Increased dietary 5-hydroxytryptophan reduces fearfulness in red junglefowl hens (Gallus gallus)

“…All hens were tested individually and had previously taken part in behavioural studies and were used to human presence and handling ( Rubene and Løvlie, 2021 ; Garnham et al, 2022a ). During testing, all hens were exposed to a tonic immobility test (see below) twice: once on the day before the experimental dietary manipulation began and once on the day after the final dose (i.e., 5 days later).…”

Executive Functions in Birds

“…Cognitive Flexibility [26,158] Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) Inhibition [38,56,109,131] Cognitive Flexibility [37,140] Domestic Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) Inhibition [6,7,24,25,165,177,[295][296][297][298][299] Working Memory [98,[222][223][224]243] Cognitive Flexibility [26,158,280] Guinea Fowl (Numididae) Cognitive Flexibility [158] Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) Working Memory [130] Quail (Coturnix sp.) Working Memory [225] Partridge (Alectoris sp.)…”

How Inhibitory Control Relates to Positive and Negative Affective States in Red Junglefowl

“…For each age, each bird was only tested once. Inhibitory control shows moderate temporal consistency between younger and older chicks in this population [Cohort 3 used in this study, (51)], and in adults (52).…”

“…Chickens are one of the world's most intensively farmed animals [reviewed by (47,48)], and face severe welfare issues such as feather pecking, vent pecking, and cannibalism (27,49). The population of junglefowl we used for this study are known to show individual variation in inhibitory control [e.g., (40,50)], which can show temporal consistency across time in both chicks (51) and adults (52). Fowl are known to show easily discernable tonic immobility reactions (53), thus tonic immobility can be used to measure negative affective states in this species.…”