It is well accepted that cognitive experiences can have physiological consequences, and this has been shown in a variety of animal species. In social animals, groups of individuals share information about the environment and about themselves. This sharing of information is beneficial to those capable of learning from the experiences of others. Social learning can be a highly advantageous adaptive strategy since it allows individuals to anticipate changes in the environment without having direct prior experience of that change. Although it is clear that social experiences can lead to physiological changes, how long-term physiological effects of social learning persist in individuals is not understood. Interestingly, because the physiological consequences of social interactions can be long-lasting it raises the exciting possibility that socially learned behaviors could result in tras-generational effects. How or even if social experiences epigenetically reprogram germline cells in order to transmit information to subsequent generation is completely unexplored territory. This proposal seeks to elucidate molecular genetic mechanisms of how physiological changes are triggered by social learning and how these physiological changes can be inherited by future generations.
The behavior of animals is one way to adapt to changes in the environment as well as changes in their physiology. Social animals have the benefit of sharing information about themselves and the changing environment, and this sharing allows nave individuals to anticipate and adapt to changes before they actually encounter them. Traditionally, sharing of information between individuals or groups was thought of as a cultural process. This proposal addresses the question as to whether socially learned behavior can alter germline physiology, and consequently inherited by future generations. Although genetic information is held within the DNA molecules packaged inside each of our cells, another layer of information can also be inherited through modification of DNA and histone proteins. This epigenetic inheritance can be modulated by environmental changes, and thus may be one way in which socially induced changes in physiology can alter germline information that is passed down from one generation to the next.
