Biology subjects

Taborsky, B.

Publications and source records attributed to Taborsky, B..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Limits to social competence across opposing social roles in a cooperatively breeding cichlid

Species in stable social groups engage in diverse social interactions, where social competence - the ability to adjust behaviour using social information - can influence fitness. Yet, whether adaptive behavioural flexibility is expressed across contexts within individuals remains relatively untested. To address this, we exposed cooperatively breeding cichlids (Neolamprologus pulcher) to a role-reversal paradigm. In this species, the early social environment shapes social competence, with more competent individuals adjusting behaviour flexibly to social challenges, while individuals also show consistent differences in traits such as aggression. In the present study, individuals were successively assigned to two contrasting roles, smaller territory owners (TOs) and larger intruders (INTs). We predicted role-specific social competence metrics based on behaviours facilitating shelter acquisition. Social competence metrics correlated within, but not across the two roles. Competent TOs showed shorter latencies to submit, more submissive responses to received aggression, and low aggression after initial submission. Competent INTs escalated quickly and relied more on overt aggression rather than displays, allowing faster shelter acquisition. Across roles, individuals competent as TOs were not competent as INTs, and vice versa. This role-specific competence instead appears to be related to aggression across the two roles hinting at the existence of stable behavioural tendencies, which may constrain how social competence shapes behavioural strategies.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2025

Flexibility in task performance and division of labour in a cooperatively breeding cichlid

Division of labour is a key feature of cooperative social systems, where task specialization among individuals enhances group efficiency. In the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher reproductive division of labour exists, where a dominant breeding pair reproduces while subordinates help in rearing the offspring and perform various tasks to gain acceptance within the group. Larger helpers engage in territory maintenance and predator defence while smaller helpers focus on egg care and deterrence of egg predators. Here we investigated task specialisation, division of labour and the dynamics of coordination of tasks in N. pulcher groups of natural size and composition. In lab experiments, we assessed whether helpers consistently specialized in sand removal from territories or in egg predator defence when both tasks were presented simultaneously. While different size classes performed both tasks, task performance was not repeatable, and there was no clear division of labour. Dominant females did most work, with the helpers often remaining idle. Lag sequence analysis revealed that individuals were significantly more likely to take up a task if it had just been performed by another individual, rather than dividing labour between individuals - a phenomenon we term "task contagion". This suggests that individuals respond to immediate group needs, offering new insights into how cooperative breeders can adapt to changing task demands by flexible behaviour and potentially enhance group efficiency. Significance statementCooperatively breeding vertebrates exhibit complex social structures and group dynamics, one notable feature being division of labour. However, unlike eusocial insects, these vertebrates display a high degree of flexibility in task allocation among group members. In a laboratory experiment, we investigated the dynamics of task allocation and coordination in groups of the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher. We simultaneous induced demands for both territory maintenance and territory defence against egg predators. Task performance and the degree of specialisation varied across size classes and between different groups, and were not repeatable. Using high-resolution event data, we identified a tendency for individuals to follow others in the execution of the same task, a phenomenon we have termed task contagion.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2025

Nutritional state and predator exposure jointly mediate stress resilience and behavioural flexibility

Behavioral flexibility plays an important role in adaptation to changing environments within an individuals lifetime. Stress resilience influences flexibility, as short-term stress can enhance attention and memory, while prolonged stress may impair cognitive function. Nutritional state also plays a role, with overweight individuals often suffering greater consequences of chronic stress. The allostatic load model predicts that individuals under prolonged stress remain in a chronically activated state, potentially reducing flexibility. Using a cichlid, we manipulated body condition and exposed individuals to occasional or frequent predator presentations. We then assessed stress responses and behavioral flexibility via a reversal learning test. Contrary to predictions, fish in a high nutritional state - but not overweight - that were frequently exposed to predators recovered rapidly from stress and exhibited enhanced flexibility. Our results provide direct evidence that nutritional state interacts with behavioral flexibility, revealing the costs of coping with repeated stressors. We highlight a link between brief stress responses, characterized by rapid cortisol recovery, and behavioral flexibility. This association only emerged in well-nourished individuals facing frequent stressors, suggesting energy reserves buffer the costs of repeated stress. Thus, resilience benefits behavioral flexibility, while it is energetically costly, as a reduced diet hindered adaptation to environmental change.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2024

Social complexity during early development has long-term effects on neuroplasticity in the social decision-making network

In social species, early social experience shapes the development of appropriate social behaviours during conspecific interactions referred to as social competence. However, the underlying neuronal mechanisms responsible for the acquisition of social competence are largely unknown. One key candidate to influence social competence is neuroplasticity, which functions to restructure neural networks in response to novel experiences or alterations of the environment. One important mediator of this restructuring is the neurotrophin BDNF, which is well conserved among vertebrates. We studied the highly social fish Neolamprologus pulcher, in which the impact of early social experience on social competence has been previously shown. We investigated experimentally how variation of the early social environment impacts markers of neuroplasticity by analysing the relative expression of the bdnf gene and its receptors p75NTR and TrkB across nodes of the Social Decision-Making Network. In fish raised in larger groups, bdnf and TrkB were upregulated in the anterior tuberal nucleus, compared to fish raised in smaller groups, while TrkB was downregulated and bdnf was upregulated in the lateral part of the dorsal telencephalon. In the preoptic area (POA), all three genes were upregulated in fish raised in large groups, suggesting that early social experiences might lead to changes of the neuronal connectivity in the POA. Our results highlight the importance of the early social experience in programming the constitutive expression of neuroplasticity markers, suggesting that the effects of early social experience on social competence might be due to changes in neuroplasticity.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2023

The role of the stress axis in mediating behavioural flexibility in a social cichlid, Neolamprologus pulcher

Behavioural flexibility plays a major role in the way animals cope with novel situations, and physiological stress responses are adaptive and highly efficient mechanisms to cope with unpredictable events. Previous studies investigating the role of stress responses in mediating behavioural flexibility were mostly done in laboratory rodents using stressors and cognitive challenges unrelated to the ecology of the species. To better understand how stress mediates behavioural flexibility in a natural context, direct manipulations of the stress response and cognitive tests in ecologically relevant contexts are needed. To this aim, we pharmacologically blocked glucocorticoid receptors (GR) in adult Neolamprologus pulcher using a minimally invasive application of a GR antagonist. GR blockade prevents the recovery after a stressful event, which we predicted to impair behavioural flexibility. After the application of the GR antagonist, we repeatedly exposed fish to a predator and tested their behavioural flexibility using a detour task, i.e. fish had to find a new, longer route to the shelter when the shortest route was blocked. While the latencies to find the shelter were not different between treatments, GR blocked fish showed more failed attempts during the detour tasks than control fish. Furthermore, weak performance during the detour tasks was accompanied by an increase of fear related behaviours. This suggests that blocking GR changed the perception of fear and resulted in an impaired behavioural flexibility. Therefore, our results support a causal link between the capacity to recover from stressors and behavioural flexibility in N. pulcher with potential consequences for an effective and adaptive coping with changing environments.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2023

The role of serotonin in modulating social competence in a cooperatively breeding fish

1.Behavioural interactions between conspecifics rely on the appreciation of social cues, which is achieved through biochemical switching of pre-existing neurophysiological pathways. Serotonin is one of the major neurotransmitters in the central nervous system responsible for the modulation of physiological and behavioural traits, in particular social behaviour. The importance of serotonin for the ability to optimise ones social behaviour depending on available social information, that is, social competence, is yet unknown. Here we investigate how serotonin and the serotonin 1A receptor (5-HT1A) modulate social competence in a competitive context. In the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher, we pharmacologically manipulated the serotonin availability and 5-HT1A activity to test their effects on social behaviours during an asymmetric contest between the owner of a defended territory containing shelter and an intruder devoid of a territory. In this contest, the adequate response by the intruders, the focal individuals in our study, is to show submissive behaviour in order to avoid eviction from the vicinity of the shelter. While the serotonin enhancer Fluoxetine did not affect the frequency of submission towards territory owners, reducing serotonin by a low dosage of 4-Chloro-DL-phenylalanine (PCPA) increased submissive behaviour. Furthermore, threat displays towards territory owners were reduced at high dosages of Fluoxetine and also at the lowest dosage of PCPA. 5-HT1A activation increased threat displays by intruders, indicating that this receptor may not be involved in regulating social competence. We conclude that serotonin, but not its receptor 5-HT1A plays an important role in the regulation of social competence.

neuroscience↗