| The economy of winter: phenotypic plasticity in behavior and brain structure. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 8776845 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Mobile animals must learn the spatial distributions of resources. The cost of foraging increases dramatically for temperate-zone animals during the winter. Two strategies may be used to balance the energetic budget: reducing costs of foraging and reducing need to forage. Both strategies are correlated with changes in brain structure, specifically in the hippocampus, a fore-brain structure used by birds and mammals to map spatial distributions of resources. Small mammals that reduce their need to forage, through hibernation or reduction in body size, show a specific reduction in the structure and size of the hippocampus. The costs of foraging can be also decreased by migration to better foraging conditions or by food-storing, both of which decrease the temporal heterogeneity of food resources. Both of these latter strategies are associated with increased hippocampal structure; for food-storing birds, this increase is a seasonal phenomenon. Thus not only behavior, but also learning ability and even brain structures in adult animals, may be phenotypically plastic in response to the changing demands of the environment. |
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Authors:
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L F Jacobs |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; Review |
Journal Detail:
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Title: The Biological bulletin Volume: 191 ISSN: 0006-3185 ISO Abbreviation: Biol. Bull. Publication Date: 1996 Aug |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 1996-10-17 Completed Date: 1996-10-17 Revised Date: 2006-11-15 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 2984727R Medline TA: Biol Bull Country: UNITED STATES |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 92-100 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley 94720-1650, USA. |
Export Citation:
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APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Adaptation, Physiological* Animals Behavior, Animal / physiology* Feeding Behavior / physiology Hippocampus / anatomy & histology* Neuronal Plasticity Seasons* |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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