Neurogenomic mechanisms of social plasticity

Resource type
Authors/contributors
Title
Neurogenomic mechanisms of social plasticity
Abstract
Skip to Next Section Group-living animals must adjust the expression of their social behaviour to changes in their social environment and to transitions between life-history stages, and this social plasticity can be seen as an adaptive trait that can be under positive selection when changes in the environment outpace the rate of genetic evolutionary change. Here, we propose a conceptual framework for understanding the neuromolecular mechanisms of social plasticity. According to this framework, social plasticity is achieved by rewiring or by biochemically switching nodes of a neural network underlying social behaviour in response to perceived social information. Therefore, at the molecular level, it depends on the social regulation of gene expression, so that different genomic and epigenetic states of this brain network correspond to different behavioural states, and the switches between states are orchestrated by signalling pathways that interface the social environment and the genotype. Different types of social plasticity can be recognized based on the observed patterns of inter- versus intra-individual occurrence, time scale and reversibility. It is proposed that these different types of social plasticity rely on different proximate mechanisms at the physiological, neural and genomic level.
Publication
Journal of Experimental Biology
Volume
218
Issue
1
Pages
140-149
Date
2015/01/01
Language
en
DOI
10.1242/jeb.106997
ISSN
0022-0949, 1477-9145
Accessed
2/10/21, 10:45 AM
Library Catalog
Rights
© 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
Extra
81 citations (Crossref) [2022-09-21] Publisher: The Company of Biologists Ltd Section: EPIGENETICS IN PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY AND HERITABILITY PMID: 25568461
Citation
Cardoso, S. D., Teles, M. C., & Oliveira, R. F. (2015). Neurogenomic mechanisms of social plasticity. Journal of Experimental Biology, 218(1), 140–149. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.106997