Artificial selection on brain size leads to matching changes in overall number of neurons.

ABSTRACT: Neurons are the basic computational units of the brain, but brain size is the predominant surrogate measure of brain functional capacity in comparative and cognitive neuroscience. This approach is based on the assumption that larger brains harbor higher numbers of neurons and their connections, and therefore have a higher information-processing capacity. However, recent studies have shown that brain mass may be less strongly correlated with neuron counts than previously thought. Till now, no experimental test has been conducted to examine the relationship between evolutionary changes in brain size and the number of brain neurons. Here, we provide such a test by comparing neuron number in artificial selection lines of female guppies (Poecilia reticulata) with >15% difference in relative bra

SUBMITTER: Marhounova L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6772110 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature