2 - Variation in the Neuroendocrine Stress Response

Abstract

1. Introduction 2. Ontogeny of the Teleost Stress Response 3. Neuronal Substrate for Stress and Variation in Stress Responses 4. Divergent Stress Coping Styles, Animal Personalities, and Behavioral Syndromes 4.1. Conserved Physiology of Contrasting Stress Coping Styles 4.2. Stress, Neuroplasticity, and Coping Style 4.3. Genetic Basis for Individuality 4.4. Stress Coping and Life History 5. Agonistic Interactions: Stress and Aggression 6. Nutritional Factors Affecting Stress Responses 6.1. Amino Acids 6.2. Fatty Acids 7. Directions for Future Research Between and within species, individuals vary in how and when they respond to stress and environmental perturbations. Neuroendocrine and physiological mechanisms mediating this flexibility are to a large degree conserved throughout the vertebrate subphylum, but are reviewed here with particular reference to adaptive variation in teleost fish. The influence of both genetic and environmental factors, such as the social environment and nutrient availability, can be exploited to reveal underlying proximate mechanisms. Associations between stress responsiveness, behavior, and life history traits likewise illuminate how natural selection apprehends and maintains individual variation.