Presentation Details
| Gut microbiome linked to spatial memory but not cognitive flexibility in wild food-caching chickadees A A H Richmond1, B R Sonnenberg2, L E Whitenack3, C L Branch4, S M Haley5, B K Trevelline6, E S Bridge7, V V Pravosudov8. 1University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, USA.2University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, USA.3University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, USA.4University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.5University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, USA.6Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA.7University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.8University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, USA |
Abstract
Understanding cognitive variation is critical for understanding the evolution of cognition. The gut microbiome (GM) appears to contribute in lab models, but it remains unclear whether GM differences contribute to cognitive variation in wild populations where cognition has known fitness consequences. We addressed this gap using food-caching mountain chickadees in the Sierra Nevada, where spatial memory predicts overwinter survival. We profiled the GM of 41 free-living chickadees and tested if GM variation was associated with spatial learning and memory and reversal learning performance. Overall community structure and diversity were not associated with performance, but differential abundance analyses identified specific taxa whose relative abundance covaried with spatial learning and memory, but not reversal learning. Better-performing birds had bacteria associated with short-chain fatty acid production, linked to improved cognition, while worse-performing birds carried higher relative abundances of environmental taxa. Our results suggest that some variation in spatial cognitive abilities may be driven by GM differences in wild birds.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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