Brain gain—Is the cognitive performance of domestic hens affected by a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene?
The serotonin transporter (5-HTT) plays an important role in regulating serotonergic transmission via removal of serotonin (5-HT) from synaptic clefts. Alterations in 5-HTT expression and subsequent 5-HT transmission have been found to be associated with changes in behaviour, such as fearfulness or...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.901022/full |
| _version_ | 1798001141841133568 |
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| author | Anissa Dudde Loc Phi Van Lars Schrader Arnd J. Obert E. Tobias Krause |
| author_facet | Anissa Dudde Loc Phi Van Lars Schrader Arnd J. Obert E. Tobias Krause |
| author_sort | Anissa Dudde |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The serotonin transporter (5-HTT) plays an important role in regulating serotonergic transmission via removal of serotonin (5-HT) from synaptic clefts. Alterations in 5-HTT expression and subsequent 5-HT transmission have been found to be associated with changes in behaviour, such as fearfulness or activity, in humans and other vertebrates. In humans, alterations in 5-HTT expression have been suggested to be able to lead to better learning performance, with more fearful persons being better at learning. Similar effects of the variation in the 5-HTT on fearfulness have been found in chickens, and in this study, we investigated effects on learning. Therefore, we tested 52 adult laying hens, differing in their functional 5-HTT genotype (W/W, W/D and D/D) in an operant learning paradigm in three different phases (initial learning, reversal learning and extinction) and in a tonic immobility test for fearfulness. We found that the 5-HTT polymorphism affects the initial learning performance of laying hens, with homogeneous wild-type (W/W) hens being the slowest learners, and the most fearful birds. W/W hens, showed significantly more choices to solve the initial learning task (LME, p = 0.031) and had the highest latencies in a tonic immobility test (p = 0.039), indicating the highest fearfulness. Our results provide interesting first insights into the role of 5-HTT in chickens and its sensitive interaction with the environment. We further suggest that the 5-HTT gene can be an interesting target gene for future breeding strategies as well as for further experimental studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:31:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-43e79cadb9e445098ea8c165c9a8b749 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:31:19Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-43e79cadb9e445098ea8c165c9a8b7492022-12-22T04:26:08ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-09-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.901022901022Brain gain—Is the cognitive performance of domestic hens affected by a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene?Anissa Dudde0Loc Phi Van1Lars Schrader2Arnd J. Obert3E. Tobias Krause4Institute of Animal Welfare and Animal Husbandry, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Celle, GermanyInstitute of Animal Welfare and Animal Husbandry, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Celle, GermanyInstitute of Animal Welfare and Animal Husbandry, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Celle, GermanyHannover Medical School, Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Hannover, GermanyInstitute of Animal Welfare and Animal Husbandry, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Celle, GermanyThe serotonin transporter (5-HTT) plays an important role in regulating serotonergic transmission via removal of serotonin (5-HT) from synaptic clefts. Alterations in 5-HTT expression and subsequent 5-HT transmission have been found to be associated with changes in behaviour, such as fearfulness or activity, in humans and other vertebrates. In humans, alterations in 5-HTT expression have been suggested to be able to lead to better learning performance, with more fearful persons being better at learning. Similar effects of the variation in the 5-HTT on fearfulness have been found in chickens, and in this study, we investigated effects on learning. Therefore, we tested 52 adult laying hens, differing in their functional 5-HTT genotype (W/W, W/D and D/D) in an operant learning paradigm in three different phases (initial learning, reversal learning and extinction) and in a tonic immobility test for fearfulness. We found that the 5-HTT polymorphism affects the initial learning performance of laying hens, with homogeneous wild-type (W/W) hens being the slowest learners, and the most fearful birds. W/W hens, showed significantly more choices to solve the initial learning task (LME, p = 0.031) and had the highest latencies in a tonic immobility test (p = 0.039), indicating the highest fearfulness. Our results provide interesting first insights into the role of 5-HTT in chickens and its sensitive interaction with the environment. We further suggest that the 5-HTT gene can be an interesting target gene for future breeding strategies as well as for further experimental studies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.901022/fullchicken cognitionlearningserotonin transporterdomestic chickenreversal learning |
| spellingShingle | Anissa Dudde Loc Phi Van Lars Schrader Arnd J. Obert E. Tobias Krause Brain gain—Is the cognitive performance of domestic hens affected by a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene? Frontiers in Psychology chicken cognition learning serotonin transporter domestic chicken reversal learning |
| title | Brain gain—Is the cognitive performance of domestic hens affected by a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene? |
| title_full | Brain gain—Is the cognitive performance of domestic hens affected by a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene? |
| title_fullStr | Brain gain—Is the cognitive performance of domestic hens affected by a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Brain gain—Is the cognitive performance of domestic hens affected by a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene? |
| title_short | Brain gain—Is the cognitive performance of domestic hens affected by a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene? |
| title_sort | brain gain is the cognitive performance of domestic hens affected by a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene |
| topic | chicken cognition learning serotonin transporter domestic chicken reversal learning |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.901022/full |
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