Coping styles in animals: current status in behavior and stress-physiology.
01 Nov 1999-Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD)-Vol. 23, Iss: 7, pp 925-935
TL;DR: This paper summarizes the current views on coping styles as a useful concept in understanding individual adaptive capacity and vulnerability to stress-related disease and indicates the existence of a proactive and a reactive coping style in feral populations.
About: This article is published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.The article was published on 1999-11-01. It has received 2555 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Coping (psychology).
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: The existence of behavioral syndromes focuses the attention of behavioral ecologists on limited (less than optimal) behavioral plasticity and behavioral carryovers across situations, rather than on optimal plasticity in each isolated situation.
Abstract: Recent studies suggest that populations and species often exhibit behavioral syndromes; that is, suites of correlated behaviors across situations. An example is an aggression syndrome where some individuals are more aggressive, whereas others are less aggressive across a range of situations and contexts. The existence of behavioral syndromes focuses the attention of behavioral ecologists on limited (less than optimal) behavioral plasticity and behavioral carryovers across situations, rather than on optimal plasticity in each isolated situation. Behavioral syndromes can explain behaviors that appear strikingly non-adaptive in an isolated context (e.g. inappropriately high activity when predators are present, or excessive sexual cannibalism). Behavioral syndromes can also help to explain the maintenance of individual variation in behavioral types, a phenomenon that is ubiquitous, but often ignored. Recent studies suggest that the behavioral type of an individual, population or species can have important ecological and evolutionary implications, including major effects on species distributions, on the relative tendencies of species to be invasive or to respond well to environmental change, and on speciation rates. Although most studies of behavioral syndromes to date have focused on a few organisms, mainly in the laboratory, further work on other species, particularly in the field, should yield numerous new insights.
2,954 citations
TL;DR: It is proposed that temperament can and should be studied within an evolutionary ecology framework and provided a terminology that could be used as a working tool for ecological studies of temperament, which includes five major temperament trait categories: shyness‐boldness, exploration‐avoidance, activity, sociability and aggressiveness.
Abstract: Temperament describes the idea that individual behavioural differences are repeatable over time and across situations. This common phenomenon covers numerous traits, such as aggressiveness, avoidance of novelty, willingness to take risks, exploration, and sociality. The study of temperament is central to animal psychology, behavioural genetics, pharmacology, and animal husbandry, but relatively few studies have examined the ecology and evolution of temperament traits. This situation is surprising, given that temperament is likely to exert an important influence on many aspects of animal ecology and evolution, and that individual variation in temperament appears to be pervasive amongst animal species. Possible explanations for this neglect of temperament include a perceived irrelevance, an insufficient understanding of the link between temperament traits and fitness, and a lack of coherence in terminology with similar traits often given different names, or different traits given the same name. We propose that temperament can and should be studied within an evolutionary ecology framework and provide a terminology that could be used as a working tool for ecological studies of temperament. Our terminology includes five major temperament trait categories: shyness-boldness, exploration-avoidance, activity, sociability and aggressiveness. This terminology does not make inferences regarding underlying dispositions or psychological processes, which may have restrained ecologists and evolutionary biologists from working on these traits. We present extensive literature reviews that demonstrate that temperament traits are heritable, and linked to fitness and to several other traits of importance to ecology and evolution. Furthermore, we describe ecologically relevant measurement methods and point to several ecological and evolutionary topics that would benefit from considering temperament, such as phenotypic plasticity, conservation biology, population sampling, and invasion biology.
2,860 citations
Cites background from "Coping styles in animals: current s..."
...Many authors consider that this assumption of ecological and evolutionary significance is valid (Boissy, 1995; Koolhaas et al., 1999)....
[...]
...…Temperament 303 Biological Reviews 82 (2007) 291–318 2007 The Authors Journal compilation 2007 Cambridge Philosophical Society (Carere et al., 2003), laboratory rodents (Koolhaas et al., 1999) and wild marmots (Armitage & Van Vuren, 2003), and learning in fish (Huntingford et al., 1994)....
[...]
...There is extensive evidence that behavioural variation in temperament may reflect underlying hormonal and neuro-endocrine variation among individuals (Bohus et al., 1987; Boissy, 1995; Koolhaas et al., 1999; Kagan & Snidman, 2004; Groothuis & Carere, 2005)....
[...]
...Research on non-human animal temperament has typically occurred in the laboratory on domesticated rat and mice strains (Koolhaas et al., 1999), or on the farm with domestic animals (Grandin, 1998; Price, 1999), and the links to reproductive success in natural conditions remain ambiguous....
[...]
...…the traits together in a whole ‘‘temperament’’, an idea common to concepts such as personality (Costa & McCrae, 1992), coping style (Koolhaas, De Boer & Bohus, 1997; Koolhaas et al., 1999; Pfeffer, Fritz and Kotrschal, 2002) or behavioural syndromes (Clark & Ehlinger, 1987; Sih et al., 2004a, b)....
[...]
TL;DR: It is suggested that behavioral syndromes could play a useful role as an integrative bridge between genetics, experience, neuroendocrine mechanisms, evolution, and ecology.
Abstract: A behavioral syndrome is a suite of correlated behaviors expressed either within a given behavioral context (e.g., correlations between foraging behaviors in different habitats) or across different contexts (e.g., correlations among feeding, antipredator, mating, aggressive, and dispersal behaviors). For example, some individuals (and genotypes) might be generally more aggressive, more active or bold, while others are generally less aggressive, active or bold. This phenomenon has been studied in detail in humans, some primates, laboratory rodents, and some domesticated animals, but has rarely been studied in other organisms, and rarely examined from an evolutionary or ecological perspective. Here, we present an integrative overview on the potential importance of behavioral syndromes in evolution and ecology. A central idea is that behavioral correlations generate tradeoffs; for example, an aggressive genotype might do well in situations where high aggression is favored, but might be inappropriate...
1,766 citations
TL;DR: Meta-analysis is used to ask whether different types of behaviours were more repeatable than others, and if repeatability estimates depended on taxa, sex, age, field versus laboratory, the number of measures and the interval between measures.
1,671 citations
Cites background from "Coping styles in animals: current s..."
...…doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.12.022 syndromes (Sih et al. 2004a), temperament (Reale et al. 2007), personality (Gosling 2001) and coping styles (Koolhaas et al. 1999), all of which generally refer to behavioural consistency through time and across situations, repeatability is more restrictive…...
[...]
TL;DR: Here, it is outlined how central ideas in behavioural ecology and quantitative genetics can be combined within a single framework based on the concept of 'behavioural reaction norms', facilitating analysis of phenomena usually studied separately in terms of personality and plasticity, thereby enhancing understanding of their adaptive nature.
Abstract: Recent studies in the field of behavioural ecology have revealed intriguing variation in behaviour within single populations. Increasing evidence suggests that individual animals differ in their average level of behaviour displayed across a range of contexts (animal 'personality'), and in their responsiveness to environmental variation (plasticity), and that these phenomena can be considered complementary aspects of the individual phenotype. How should this complex variation be studied? Here, we outline how central ideas in behavioural ecology and quantitative genetics can be combined within a single framework based on the concept of 'behavioural reaction norms'. This integrative approach facilitates analysis of phenomena usually studied separately in terms of personality and plasticity, thereby enhancing understanding of their adaptive nature.
1,287 citations
References
More filters
TL;DR: The balance in actions mediated by the two corticosteroid receptor types in these neurons appears critical for neuronal excitability, stress responsiveness, and behavioral adaptation and Dysregulation of this MR/GR balance brings neurons in a vulnerable state with consequences for regulation of the stress response and enhanced vulnerability to disease in genetically predisposed individuals.
Abstract: In this review, we have described the function of MR and GR in hippocampal neurons. The balance in actions mediated by the two corticosteroid receptor types in these neurons appears critical for neuronal excitability, stress responsiveness, and behavioral adaptation. Dysregulation of this MR/GR balance brings neurons in a vulnerable state with consequences for regulation of the stress response and enhanced vulnerability to disease in genetically predisposed individuals. The following specific inferences can be made on the basis of the currently available facts. 1. Corticosterone binds with high affinity to MRs predominantly localized in limbic brain (hippocampus) and with a 10-fold lower affinity to GRs that are widely distributed in brain. MRs are close to saturated with low basal concentrations of corticosterone, while high corticosterone concentrations during stress occupy both MRs and GRs. 2. The neuronal effects of corticosterone, mediated by MRs and GRs, are long-lasting, site-specific, and conditional. The action depends on cellular context, which is in part determined by other signals that can activate their own transcription factors interacting with MR and GR. These interactions provide an impressive diversity and complexity to corticosteroid modulation of gene expression. 3. Conditions of predominant MR activation, i.e., at the circadian trough at rest, are associated with the maintenance of excitability so that steady excitatory inputs to the hippocampal CA1 area result in considerable excitatory hippocampal output. By contrast, additional GR activation, e.g., after acute stress, generally depresses the CA1 hippocampal output. A similar effect is seen after adrenalectomy, indicating a U-shaped dose-response dependency of these cellular responses after the exposure to corticosterone. 4. Corticosterone through GR blocks the stress-induced HPA activation in hypothalamic CRH neurons and modulates the activity of the excitatory and inhibitory neural inputs to these neurons. Limbic (e.g., hippocampal) MRs mediate the effect of corticosterone on the maintenance of basal HPA activity and are of relevance for the sensitivity or threshold of the central stress response system. How this control occurs is not known, but it probably involves a steady excitatory hippocampal output, which regulates a GABA-ergic inhibitory tone on PVN neurons. Colocalized hippocampal GRs mediate a counteracting (i.e., disinhibitory) influence. Through GRs in ascending aminergic pathways, corticosterone potentiates the effect of stressors and arousal on HPA activation. The functional interaction between these corticosteroid-responsive inputs at the level of the PVN is probably the key to understanding HPA dysregulation associated with stress-related brain disorders. 5. Fine-tuning of HPA regulation occurs through MR- and GR-mediated effects on the processing of information in higher brain structures. Under healthy conditions, hippocampal MRs are involved in processes underlying integration of sensory information, interpretation of environmental information, and execution of appropriate behavioral reactions. Activation of hippocampal GRs facilitates storage of information and promotes elimination of inadequate behavioral responses. These behavioral effects mediated by MR and GR are linked, but how they influence endocrine regulation is not well understood. 6. Dexamethasone preferentially targets the pituitary in the blockade of stress-induced HPA activation. The brain penetration of this synthetic glucocorticoid is hampered by the mdr1a P-glycoprotein in the blood-brain barrier. Administration of moderate amounts of dexamethasone partially depletes the brain of corticosterone, and this has destabilizing consequences for excitability and information processing. 7. The set points of HPA regulation and MR/GR balance are genetically programmed, but can be reset by early life experiences involving mother-infant interaction. 8. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)
2,548 citations
"Coping styles in animals: current s..." refers background in this paper
...[43] De Kloet ER, Vreugdenhil E, Oitzl MS, Joels M....
[...]
...Limbic mineralocorticoid receptors bind corticosterone with about 10 times higher affinity than glucocorticoid receptors, and low circulating levels of the corticosteroid hormone almost completely occupy mineralocorticoid receptors [43,44]....
[...]
TL;DR: Stereotypies are repetitive, invariant behaviour patterns with no obvious goal or function as discussed by the authors, and they seem to be restricted to captive animals, mentally ill or handicapped humans, and subjects given stimulant drugs.
1,120 citations
"Coping styles in animals: current s..." refers background in this paper
...In farm animals it has been suggested that stereotypies are performed to lower the state of arousal and anxiety and to lower corticosteroid levels; however, not all studies show this correlation [62]....
[...]
TL;DR: The shy-bold continuum is a fundamental axis of behavioral variation in humans and at least some other species, but its taxonomic distribution and evolutionary implications are unknown as mentioned in this paper, and models of optimal risk, density- or frequency-dependent selection, and phenotypic plasticity can provide a theoretical framework for understanding shyness and boldness as a product of natural selection.
Abstract: The shy-bold continuum is a fundamental axis of behavioral variation in humans and at least some other species, but its taxonomic distribution and evolutionary implications are unknown. Models of optimal risk, density- or frequency-dependent selection, and phenotypic plasticity can provide a theoretical framework for understanding shyness and boldness as a product of natural selection. We sketch this framework and review the few empirical studies of shyness and boldness in natural populations. The study of shyness and boldness adds an interesting new dimension to behavioral ecology by focusing on the nature of continuous behavioral variation that exists within the familiar categories of age, sex and size.
893 citations
"Coping styles in animals: current s..." refers background or result in this paper
...[75] Wilson DS, Clark AB, Coleman K, Dearstyne T....
[...]
...This idea is strengthened by the ecological studies of Wilson and co-authors [74,75]....
[...]