TY - JOUR
T1 - Alternative model systems for cognitive variation
T2 - eusocial-insect colonies
AU - Navas-Zuloaga, M. Gabriela
AU - Pavlic, Theodore P.
AU - Smith, Brian H.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Dr Federico Sanabria and Dr Yun Kang for their helpful comments on the initial draft of the manuscript. No interests are declared.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - Understanding the origins and maintenance of cognitive variation in animal populations is central to the study of the evolution of cognition. However, the brain is itself a complex, hierarchical network of heterogeneous components, from diverse cell types to diverse neuropils, each of which may be of limited use to study in isolation or prohibitively challenging to manipulate in situ. Consequently, highly tractable alternative model systems may be valuable tools. Eusocial-insect colonies display emergent cognitive-like properties from relatively simple social interactions between diverse subunits that can be observed and manipulated while operating collectively. Here, we review the individual-scale mechanisms that cause group-level variation in how colonies solve problems analogous to cognitive challenges faced by brains, like decision-making, attention, and search.
AB - Understanding the origins and maintenance of cognitive variation in animal populations is central to the study of the evolution of cognition. However, the brain is itself a complex, hierarchical network of heterogeneous components, from diverse cell types to diverse neuropils, each of which may be of limited use to study in isolation or prohibitively challenging to manipulate in situ. Consequently, highly tractable alternative model systems may be valuable tools. Eusocial-insect colonies display emergent cognitive-like properties from relatively simple social interactions between diverse subunits that can be observed and manipulated while operating collectively. Here, we review the individual-scale mechanisms that cause group-level variation in how colonies solve problems analogous to cognitive challenges faced by brains, like decision-making, attention, and search.
KW - alternative model systems
KW - collective behavior
KW - collective cognition
KW - eusocial insects
KW - networks
KW - variation
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U2 - 10.1016/j.tics.2022.06.011
DO - 10.1016/j.tics.2022.06.011
M3 - Review article
C2 - 35864031
AN - SCOPUS:85134566402
SN - 1364-6613
VL - 26
SP - 836
EP - 848
JO - Trends in Cognitive Sciences
JF - Trends in Cognitive Sciences
IS - 10
ER -