Development rate rather than social environment influences cognitive performance in Australian black field crickets, Teleogryllus commodus.

ABSTRACT: Cognitive functioning is vital for enabling animals of all taxa to optimise their chances of survival and reproductive success. Learning and memory in particular are drivers of many evolutionary processes. In this study, we examine how developmental plasticity can affect cognitive ability by exploring the role the early social environment has on problem solving ability and learning of female black field crickets, Teleogryllus commodus. We used two learning paradigms, an analog of the Morris water maze and a novel linear maze, to examine cognitive differences between individuals reared in two acoustic treatments: silence or calling. Although there was no evidence of learning or memory, individuals that took longer to mature solved the Morris water maze more quickly. Our results sugge

SUBMITTER: Anderson CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5511702 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature