Kalliope
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Trends in Ecology & Evolution
Infectious disease and cognition in wild populations
Highlights
As infectious diseases emerge and spread in wildlife populations, it is becoming increasingly urgent to understand the implications of infection-linked cognitive impairment for the fitness and populations of wild animals.
A growing body of evidence in humans, animal models, and wildlife indicates that infectious disease can have negative consequences for cognitive performance, arising from parasite- and host-mediated mechanisms.
Cognitive performance can be impaired by infection – sometimes permanently – across a breadth of cognitive abilities, from learning and memory to attention and problem-solving.
Infection-linked impairment of cognitive performance could be particularly detrimental in wild animal populations if cognitive flexibility provides a behavioral buffer in changing environments.
Infectious disease is linked to impaired cognition across a breadth of host taxa and cognitive abilities, potentially contributing to variation in cognitive performance within and among populations.
Impaired cognitive performance can stem from direct damage by the parasite, the host immune response, or lost opportunities for learning.
Moreover, cognitive impairment could be compounded by factors that simultaneously increase infection risk and impair cognition directly, such as stress and malnutrition.
As highlighted in this review, however, answers to fundamental questions remain unresolved, including the frequency, duration, and fitness consequences of infection-linked cognitive impairment in wild animal populations, the cognitive abilities most likely to be affected, and the potential for adaptive evolution of cognition in response to accelerating emergence of infectious disease.
Infectious disease and cognition in wild populations
Highlights
As infectious diseases emerge and spread in wildlife populations, it is becoming increasingly urgent to understand the implications of infection-linked cognitive impairment for the fitness and populations of wild animals.
A growing body of evidence in humans, animal models, and wildlife indicates that infectious disease can have negative consequences for cognitive performance, arising from parasite- and host-mediated mechanisms.
Cognitive performance can be impaired by infection – sometimes permanently – across a breadth of cognitive abilities, from learning and memory to attention and problem-solving.
Infection-linked impairment of cognitive performance could be particularly detrimental in wild animal populations if cognitive flexibility provides a behavioral buffer in changing environments.
Infectious disease is linked to impaired cognition across a breadth of host taxa and cognitive abilities, potentially contributing to variation in cognitive performance within and among populations.
Impaired cognitive performance can stem from direct damage by the parasite, the host immune response, or lost opportunities for learning.
Moreover, cognitive impairment could be compounded by factors that simultaneously increase infection risk and impair cognition directly, such as stress and malnutrition.
As highlighted in this review, however, answers to fundamental questions remain unresolved, including the frequency, duration, and fitness consequences of infection-linked cognitive impairment in wild animal populations, the cognitive abilities most likely to be affected, and the potential for adaptive evolution of cognition in response to accelerating emergence of infectious disease.