Data from: Brain plasticity over the metamorphic boundary: carry-over effect of larval environment on froglet brain development

Brain development shows high plasticity in response to environmental heterogeneity. However, it is unknown how environmental variation during development may affect brain architecture across life history switch points in species with complex life cycles. Previously, we showed that predation and competition affect brain development in common frog (Rana temporaria) tadpoles. Here, we studied if larval environment had carry-over effects in brains of metamorphs. Tadpoles grown at high density had large optic tecta at metamorphosis, while tadpoles grown under predation risk had small diencephala. We found that larval density had a carry-over effect on froglet optic tectum size, while the effect of larval predation risk had vanished by metamorphosis. We discuss the possibility that the observed changes may be adaptive, reflecting the needs of an organism in given environmental and developmental contexts.

大脑发育对环境异质性表现出高度的可塑性。然而，对于具有复杂生活周期的物种而言，发育过程中的环境变异如何通过其生活史转换节点影响大脑结构，目前仍未明确。此前本团队的研究已证实，捕食压力与种间竞争会影响普通蛙（Rana temporaria）蝌蚪的大脑发育。本研究旨在探究幼体环境是否会对变态个体的大脑产生遗留效应（carry-over effects）。在高密度环境下饲养的蝌蚪在变态完成时拥有更大的视顶盖（optic tectum），而暴露于捕食风险下的蝌蚪则具有更小的间脑（diencephalon）。我们发现，幼体密度对幼蛙视顶盖大小的遗留效应依然存在，但幼体捕食风险带来的影响在变态完成时已消失。本研究还讨论了所观测到的大脑结构变化可能具有适应性的可能性，即这些变化反映了生物体在特定环境与发育背景下的生存需求。