Corticosterone responses differ between lines of great tits (Parus major) selected for divergent personalities

TY - JOUR

T1 - Corticosterone responses differ between lines of great tits (Parus major) selected for divergent personalities

AU - Baugh, A.T.

AU - Schaper, S.V.

AU - Hau, M.

AU - Cockrem, J.F.

AU - De Goede, P.

AU - Van Oers, K.

N1 - Reporting year: 2012 Metis note: 5172; WAG; AnE

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - Animal ‘personality’ describes consistent individual differences in suites of behaviors, a phenomenon exhibited in diverse animal taxa and shown to be under natural and sexual selection. It has been suggested that variation in personality reflects underlying physiological variation; however there is limited empirical evidence to test this hypothesis in wild animals. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis is hypothesized to play a central role in personality variation. Here we tested whether in great tits Parus major variation in personality traits is related to plasma concentrations of corticosterone (CORT). Using a capture-restraint protocol we examined baseline and stress-induced CORT levels in two captive experimental groups: (1) birds selected for divergent personalities (‘fast-bold’ and ‘slow-shy’ explorers); and (2) non-selected offspring of wild parents. We first tested for differences in CORT between selection lines, and second examined the relationship between responses in a canonical personality test and CORT concentrations in non-selected birds. We found support for our prediction that the slow-shy line would exhibit a higher acute stress response than the fast-bold line, indicating a genetic correlation between exploratory behavior and stress physiology. We did not, however, find that continuous variation in exploratory behavior co-varies with CORT concentrations in non-selected birds. While our results provide support for the idea that personality emerges as a result of correlated selection on behavior and underlying physiological mechanisms, they also indicate that this link may be particularly evident when composite personality traits are the target of selection.

AB - Animal ‘personality’ describes consistent individual differences in suites of behaviors, a phenomenon exhibited in diverse animal taxa and shown to be under natural and sexual selection. It has been suggested that variation in personality reflects underlying physiological variation; however there is limited empirical evidence to test this hypothesis in wild animals. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis is hypothesized to play a central role in personality variation. Here we tested whether in great tits Parus major variation in personality traits is related to plasma concentrations of corticosterone (CORT). Using a capture-restraint protocol we examined baseline and stress-induced CORT levels in two captive experimental groups: (1) birds selected for divergent personalities (‘fast-bold’ and ‘slow-shy’ explorers); and (2) non-selected offspring of wild parents. We first tested for differences in CORT between selection lines, and second examined the relationship between responses in a canonical personality test and CORT concentrations in non-selected birds. We found support for our prediction that the slow-shy line would exhibit a higher acute stress response than the fast-bold line, indicating a genetic correlation between exploratory behavior and stress physiology. We did not, however, find that continuous variation in exploratory behavior co-varies with CORT concentrations in non-selected birds. While our results provide support for the idea that personality emerges as a result of correlated selection on behavior and underlying physiological mechanisms, they also indicate that this link may be particularly evident when composite personality traits are the target of selection.

KW - international

U2 - 10.1016/j.ygcen.2011.12.012

DO - 10.1016/j.ygcen.2011.12.012

M3 - Article

SN - 0016-6480

VL - 175

SP - 488

EP - 494

JO - General and Comparative Endocrinology

JF - General and Comparative Endocrinology

IS - 3

ER -