Feeding motivation as a personality trait in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus): role of serotonergic neurotransmission
Consistent individual variation in behaviour and physiology (i.e. animal personality or coping style) has emerged as a central topic in many biological disciplines. Yet, underlying mechanisms of crucial personality traits like feeding behaviour in novel environments remain unclear. Comparative studi...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Fish physiology and biochemistry 2014-10, Vol.40 (5), p.1547-1557 |
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Sprache: | eng |
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Zusammenfassung: | Consistent individual variation in behaviour and physiology (i.e. animal personality or coping style) has emerged as a central topic in many biological disciplines. Yet, underlying mechanisms of crucial personality traits like feeding behaviour in novel environments remain unclear. Comparative studies, however, reveal a strong degree of evolutionary conservation of neural mechanisms controlling such behaviours throughout the vertebrate lineage. Previous studies have indicated duration of stress-induced anorexia as a consistent individual characteristic in teleost fishes. This study aims to determine to what degree brain 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, serotonin) activity pertains to this aspect of animal personality, as a correlate to feed anticipatory behaviour and recovery of feed intake after transfer to a novel environment. Crucial to the definition of animal personality, a strong degree of individual consistency in different measures of feeding behaviour (feeding latency and feeding score), was demonstrated. Furthermore, low serotonergic activity in the hypothalamus was highly correlated with a personality characterized by high feeding motivation, with feeding motivation represented as an overall measure incorporating several behavioural parameters in a Principle Component Analyses (PCA). This study thus confirms individual variation in brain 5-HT neurotransmission as a correlate to complex behavioural syndromes related to feeding motivation. |
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ISSN: | 0920-1742 1573-5168 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s10695-014-9947-2 |