Personality is the result of nurture, not nature, suggests study on birds

Personality is not inherited from birth parents, says new research on zebra finches

2013-06-05

(Press-News.org) Researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Hamburg investigated how personality is transferred between generations. They found that foster parents have a greater influence on the personalities of fostered offspring than the genes inherited from birth parents.

Dr Nick Royle from the University of Exeter said: "This is one of the first experiments to show that behaviour can be non-genetically transmitted from parents to offspring. Our study shows that in zebra finches, personality traits can be transmitted from one generation to another through behaviour not just genetics."

The research, published in the journal Biology Letters, measured personality by placing the zebra finches in a new environment and counting the number of features they visited. Some were shy, staying mainly in one place while others explored widely demonstrating a more outgoing personality. Male and female birds were then paired up and allowed to breed. Each clutch of eggs was fostered by another pair just prior to hatching. Offspring personality was measured once they were adults. Offspring size was also measured and was found to be primarily genetically inherited and not significantly influenced by foster parent size.

Although this study considers personality inheritance in zebra finches, it raises questions about the inheritance of personality in other species, including humans. Do adopted children inherit the personality characteristics of their birth parents or their adoptive parents? Is the environment more important than genetic inheritance in the development of personality?

The results of this study indicate that non-genetic transmission of behaviour can play an important role in shaping animal personality. Further studies will build on this research to assess how widespread behavioural inheritance is for personality traits across other species.

INFORMATION:

This work was funded by the European Social Fund and the Natural Environment Research Council.

Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vyntcgaykdkqa36/Male%20zebra%20finches%20Credit%20Jan%20Stipala.jpg

About the University of Exeter

The Sunday Times University of the Year 2012-13, the University of Exeter is a Russell Group university and in the top one percent of institutions globally. It combines world-class research with very high levels of student satisfaction. Exeter has over 18,000 students and is ranked 7th in The Sunday Times University Guide, 10th in the UK in The Times Good University Guide 2012 and 10th in the Guardian University Guide. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 90% of the University's research was rated as being at internationally recognised levels and 16 of its 31 subjects are ranked in the top 10, with 27 subjects ranked in the top 20.

The University has three campuses. The Streatham and St Luke's campuses are in Exeter and the Cornwall Campus (known locally as the Tremough Campus) near Penryn. In an arrangement that is unique in the UK, the Cornwall Campus is owned and jointly managed as the Tremough Campus with Falmouth University. At the campus, University of Exeter students can study programmes in the following areas: Animal Behaviour, Conservation Biology and Ecology, English, Environmental Sciences, Evolutionary Biology, Geography, Geology, History, Mathematics and the Environment, Mining and Minerals Engineering, Politics and International Studies, Renewable Energy and Zoology.

The University has invested strategically to deliver more than £350 million worth of new facilities across its campuses for 2012, including landmark new student services centres - the Forum in Exeter and The Exchange in Cornwall - and world-class new facilities for Biosciences, the Business School and the Environment and Sustainability Institute. http://www.exeter.ac.uk/cornwall

For further information:

Dr. Jo Bowler
University of Exeter Press Office
Office: +44 (0)1392 722062
Mobile: +44(0)7827 309 332
Twitter: @UoE_ScienceNews
j.bowler@exeter.ac.uk

About NERC

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is the UK's main agency for funding and managing world-class research, training and knowledge exchange in the environmental sciences. It coordinates some of the world's most exciting research projects, tackling major issues such as climate change, food security, environmental influences on human health, the genetic make-up of life on earth, and much more. NERC receives around £300m a year from the government's science budget, which it uses to fund research and training in universities and its own research centres.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Research teams find genetic variant that could improve warfarin dosing in African-Americans

2013-06-05

In the first genome-wide association study to focus on warfarin dose requirement in African-Americans, a multi-institutional team of researchers has identified a common genetic variation that can help physicians estimate the correct dose of the widely used blood-thinning drug warfarin. The discovery, reported online first in The Lancet, suggests that people of African ancestry who carry this variant—more than 40 percent of the patients enrolled in this study—need significantly less warfarin to obtain optimal benefits compared to those who lack this variant. "Adding ...

Sexual selection in the sea

2013-06-05

Biologists have uncovered new insights into how the male sexual behaviour of the peculiar southern bottletail squid is primed to produce the greatest number of offspring. Recent studies published in the journals Biology Letters and Behavioral Ecology, have revealed the female squid ingest the ejaculates of their mates, a trait never before associated with any species of cephalopod – a group including squid, octopus, cuttlefish and nautilus. The studies, led by PhD student Benjamin Wegener and Dr Bob Wong from Monash University's School of Biological Sciences, in collaboration ...

Jury still out on bariatric surgery for patients with moderate obesity and diabetes

2013-06-05

Bariatric surgery such as gastric bypass is associated with better short-term control of abnormal blood sugar and more weight loss than conventional nonsurgical therapy in diabetic patients who are moderately obese, but there is not enough evidence to more widely recommend the procedure, according to a new RAND Corporation study. A review of more than 30 studies found that diabetic people with moderate obesity lost more weight and had better glucose control over two years if they were treated with bariatric surgery rather than non-surgical alternatives like dieting and ...

Little telescope discovers metal-poor cousin of famous planet

2013-06-05

A scientific team led by University of Louisville doctoral student Karen Collins has discovered a hot Saturn-like planet in another solar system 700 light-years away. Collins announced the discovery of exoplanet KELT-6b Tuesday, June 4, during the American Astronomical Society's national meeting in Indianapolis. Astronomers caught sight of the planet when it passed in front of, or "transited," its host star—and they've since discovered that the planet resembles one of the most famous and well-studied transiting planets, HD 209458b. The discovery was made using inexpensive ...

Neuronal regeneration and the 2-part design of nerves

2013-06-05

ANN ARBOR—Researchers at the University of Michigan have evidence that a single gene controls both halves of nerve cells, and their research demonstrates the need to consider that design in the development of new treatments for regeneration of nerve cells. A paper published online in PLOS Biology by U-M Life Sciences Institute faculty member Bing Ye and colleagues shows that manipulating genes of the fruit fly Drosophila to promote the growth of one part of the neuron simultaneously stunts the growth of the other part. Understanding this bimodal nature of neurons ...

USF researchers: Life-producing phosphorus carried to Earth by meteorites

2013-06-05

TAMPA, Fla. (June 4, 2013) – Scientists may not know for certain whether life exists in outer space, but new research from a team of scientists led by a University of South Florida astrobiologist now shows that one key element that produced life on Earth was carried here on meteorites. In an article published in the new edition of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, USF Assistant Professor of Geology Matthew Pasek and researchers from the University of Washington and the Edinburg Centre for Carbon Innovation, revealed new findings that explain how the ...

Candidate drug provides benefit in SMA animal models

2013-06-05

In a new publication that appears in Human Molecular Genetics, the laboratory of Christine DiDonato, PhD reports on their pharmacological characterization of the drug RG3039, demonstrating that it can extend survival and improve function in two spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) mouse models. They have determined the minimum effective dose and drug action, thus contributing to dose selection and exposure estimates for the first studies with RG3039 in humans. As in cellular assays, the animal studies have shown that drug treatment leads to improvement in nuclear gem/Cajal body ...

Fires in eastern China

2013-06-05

NASA's Aqua satellite captured multiple plumes of smoke from agricultural fires and industrial pollution in China. The smoke and haze stretches from Inner Mongolia, located north of Beijing, south and west including the provinces of Hebei, Shedong, Henan, Shanxi, Hubai, Hunan, and Chongqing. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite has infrared capabilities that can detect heat from the various wildfires. This image was captured on June 2, 2013 5:55 UTC (1:55 a.m. EDT/2:05 p.m. MT). In the MODIS images, fires, or ...

Adult male victims of sex assault seek out 5 or more medical services: Study

2013-06-05

TORONTO, ON, June 4, 2013 — While only a small percentage of adult males who are victims of sex assault report the crime, a new study by Women's College Research Institute (WCRI) and the Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres (ONSA/DVTCs) shows of those who do, an overwhelming majority — almost 90 per cent — use five or more services ranging from counselling to medical care and treatment. The study, published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, sheds light on the characteristics of male victims of sex assault and the services they ...

CWRU researchers find half of those diagnosed with PTSD also suffer from depression

2013-06-05

About one of every two people diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also suffer symptoms of depression, according to new research by Case Western Reserve University's Department of Psychological Sciences. The analysis also concludes that both genders diagnosed with PTSD equally suffer from depression. Since women tend to report more symptoms of depression than men, this contradicts a general belief that women are more inclined to struggle with both. The findings were based on an analysis of 57 peer-reviewed studies, representing data on 6,670 people (civilians ...

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Children’s Hospital Colorado researchers conduct first prospective study of pediatric EoE patients and disease progression

Personality is the result of nurture, not nature, suggests study on birds

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: