Roth Timothy C, Pravosudov Vladimir V
Department of Biology; University of Nevada; Reno, NV USA.
Commun Integr Biol. 2009 May;2(3):236-8. doi: 10.4161/cib.2.3.8099.
Memory is crucial for survival in many animals. Spatial memory in particular is important for food-caching species and may be influenced by selective pressures such as climate. The influence of climate on memory may be facilitated through the hippocampus (Hp), the part of the brain responsible in part for spatial memory. In a recent paper, we conducted the first large-scale test of the relationship between memory, the climate and the brain in a single food-caching species, the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus). We found that birds from more harsh northern climates had significantly larger hippocampal volumes and more neurons than those from more mild southern latitudes. This work suggests that environmental pressures are capable of influencing specific brain regions, which may result in enhanced memory, and hence survival, in harsh climates. This work gives us a better understanding of how the brain responds to different environments and how animals can adapt to their environment in general.
记忆对许多动物的生存至关重要。特别是空间记忆对食物储存物种很重要，并且可能受到气候等选择压力的影响。气候对记忆的影响可能通过海马体（Hp）来实现，海马体是大脑中部分负责空间记忆的区域。在最近的一篇论文中，我们对单一食物储存物种黑头山雀（Poecile atricapillus）的记忆、气候和大脑之间的关系进行了首次大规模测试。我们发现，来自气候更恶劣的北方地区的鸟类比来自气候更温和的南方地区的鸟类具有明显更大的海马体体积和更多的神经元。这项研究表明，环境压力能够影响特定的脑区，这可能会增强在恶劣气候下的记忆，从而提高生存几率。这项研究让我们更好地理解大脑如何应对不同环境，以及动物总体上如何适应它们的环境。
