Heritability and the evolution of cognitive traits

Abstract

A critical question in the study of the evolution of cognition and the brain concerns the extent to which variation in cognitive processes and associated neural mechanisms is adaptive and shaped by natural selection. In order to be available to selection, cognitive traits and their neural architecture must show heritable variation within a population, yet heritability of cognitive and neural traits is not often investigated in the field of behavioral ecology. In this commentary, we outline existing research pertaining to the relative influences of genes and environment in cognitive and underlying neural trait variation, as well as what is known of their heritable genetic architecture by focusing on several cognitive traits that have received much attention in behavioral ecology. It is important to demonstrate that cognitive traits can respond to selection, and we advocate for an increased emphasis on investigating trait heritability for enhancing our understanding of the ecological, genetic and neurobiological mechanisms that have shaped interspecific and intraspecific variation in cognitive traits.