Necessity or capacity? Physiological state predicts problem-solving performance in house sparrows

Bókony, V ✉ [Bókony, Veronika (viselkedésökológi...), author]; Lendvai, ÁZ [Lendvai, Ádám Zoltán (Viselkedésökológia), author] Biológia Intézeti Tanszék (NYF / KI); Vágási, CI [Vágási, István Csongor (Evolúcióbiológia), author] MTA-DE Behavioural Ecology Research Group (UD); Pătraș, L; Pap, PL [Pap, Péter László (állatökológia), author]; Németh, J; Vincze, E [Vincze, Ernő (Biológia), author]; Papp, S; Preiszner, B [Preiszner, Bálint (Biológia), author]; Seress, G [Seress, Gábor (Viselkedésökológia), author] Department of Limnology (UP / FE / IAESL); Liker, A [Liker, András (Viselkedésökológia), author] Department of Limnology (UP / FE / IAESL)

English Article (Journal Article) Scientific
Published: BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY 1045-2249 1465-7279 25 (1) pp. 124-135 2014
  • SJR Scopus - Animal Science and Zoology: D1
Identifiers
Subjects:
  • Animal and Dairy science
  • Biological sciences
  • Earth and related Environmental sciences
  • Psychology
  • Zoology, Ornithology, Entomology, Behavioural sciences biology
Innovative behaviors such as exploiting novel food sources can grant significant fitness benefits for animals, yet little is known about the mechanisms driving such phenomena, and the role of physiology is virtually unexplored in wild species. Two hypotheses predict opposing effects of physiological state on innovation success. On one hand, poor physiological condition may promote innovations by forcing individuals with poor competitive abilities to invent alternative solutions. On the other hand, superior physiological condition may ensure greater cognitive capacity and thereby better problem-solving and learning performance. To test these hypotheses, we studied the behavior of wild-caught house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in 4 novel tasks of food acquisition, one of which was presented to the birds in repeated trials, and we investigated the relationships of individual performance with relevant physiological traits. We found that problem-solving performance across the 4 tasks was moderately consistent within individuals. Birds with lower integrated levels of corticosterone, the main avian stress hormone, solved the most difficult task faster and were more efficient learners in the repeated task than birds with higher corticosterone levels. Birds with higher concentration of total glutathione, a key antioxidant, solved 2 relatively easy tasks faster, whereas birds with fewer coccidian parasites tended to solve the difficult task more quickly. Our results, thus, indicate that aspects of physiological state influence problem-solving performance in a context-dependent manner, and these effects on problem-solving capacity, probably including cognitive abilities, are more likely to drive individual innovation success than necessity due to poor condition.
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2024-10-10 03:01