Are ectotherm brains vulnerable to global warming?

Iván Beltrán; Suzana Herculano-Houzel; Barry Sinervo; Martin J Whiting

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2021.04.009

Are ectotherm brains vulnerable to global warming?

Trends Ecol Evol. 2021 Aug;36(8):691-699. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.04.009. Epub 2021 May 18.

Authors

Iván Beltrán¹, Suzana Herculano-Houzel², Barry Sinervo³, Martin J Whiting⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: ivan.beltran@mq.edu.au.
² Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
³ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

PMID: 34016477
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.04.009

Abstract

Elevated temperatures during development affect a wide range of traits in ectotherms. Less well understood is the impact of global warming on brain development, which has only rarely been studied experimentally. Here, we evaluate current progress in the field and search for common response patterns among ectotherm groups. Evidence suggests that temperature may have a positive effect on neuronal activity and growth in developing brains, but only up to a threshold, above which temperature is detrimental to neuron development. These responses appear to be taxon dependent but this assumption may be due to a paucity of data for some taxonomic groups. We provide a framework with which to advance this highly promising field in the future.

Keywords: brain development; climate change; developmental plasticity; ectotherms; neuron functioning.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Brain*
Climate Change
Global Warming*
Temperature