Reinhard Katja, Vastenavondt Rani, Crevits Benjamin, De Boever Sybren, Liao Po-Yu, Tortella Lorenza, Farrow Karl
Neuroelectronics Research Flanders, VIB, Leuven, Belgium.
KU Leuven, Department of Biology & Leuven Brain Institute, Leuven, Belgium.
bioRxiv. 2025 May 18:2025.05.14.653927. doi: 10.1101/2025.05.14.653927.
Animals encounter predators and prey under diverse lighting conditions that signal different risks and opportunities, yet how ambient illumination shapes innate approach and avoidance behaviors remains poorly understood. Here we have systematically tested the visually guided behaviors of New-World (North American ) and Old-World (Eurasian ) mice under conditions mimicking bright daylight or dim moonlit environments. We identified common and species-specific adaptations to the different lighting conditions. Across species, dim light enhanced the speed and vigor of escape responses to predator-like looming stimuli. However, species diverged in their reactions to non-threatening stimuli, with and increasing aversive behaviors under dim light, while showed stronger avoidance under bright conditions. Finally, although ambient light levels had a common effect on exploratory behavior, these changes were not predictive of subsequent visually evoked behaviors. Our findings reveal that ambient lighting profoundly and differentially shapes innate behavioral strategies across species, and demonstrate that these context-specific survival responses are inherited rather than learned.
动物在各种光照条件下遭遇捕食者和猎物，这些光照条件预示着不同的风险和机遇，但环境光照如何塑造先天的接近和回避行为仍知之甚少。在这里，我们系统地测试了新大陆（北美）和旧大陆（欧亚）小鼠在模拟明亮日光或昏暗月光环境的条件下的视觉引导行为。我们确定了对不同光照条件的共同和物种特异性适应。在所有物种中，昏暗的光线提高了对类似捕食者的逼近刺激的逃避反应速度和活力。然而，物种对非威胁性刺激的反应存在差异，[具体物种1]和[具体物种2]在昏暗光线下增加厌恶行为，而[具体物种3]在明亮条件下表现出更强的回避。最后，尽管环境光照水平对探索行为有共同影响，但这些变化并不能预测随后的视觉诱发行为。我们的研究结果表明，环境光照深刻且不同地塑造了跨物种的先天行为策略，并证明这些特定情境的生存反应是遗传而非习得的。
