The busier the neighbourhood, the bigger the brain — at least for pumpkinseed sunfish, according to a pioneering study by University of Guelph biologists.
The busier the neighbourhood, the bigger the brain — at least for pumpkinseed sunfish, according to a pioneering study by University of Guelph biologists.
Brains of sunfish living in more complex shoreline habitats are larger than those of their counterparts in simpler open water, according to the study published recently in Proceedings of the Royal Society B .
This is the first known study to connect habitat with varying brain size in a single lake fish population, said lead author PhD student Caleb Axelrod, adding that the finding may provide clues about how fish and other creatures will respond to mounting environmental stressors from pollution to climate change.
He authored the paper with integrative biology professors Frédéric Laberge and Beren Robinson.
Read more at University of Guelph
Image: From left: Prof Frédéric Laberge, PhD student Caleb Axelrod and Prof. Beren Robinson (Credit: University of Guelph)
