Abstract
Anticipation is the act of using information about the past and present to make predictions about future scenarios. As a concept, it is predominantly associated with the psychology of the human mind; however, there is accumulating evidence that diverse taxa without complex neural systems, and even biochemical networks themselves, can respond to perceived future conditions. Although anticipatory processes, such as circadian rhythms, stress priming, and cephalic responses, have been extensively studied over the last three centuries, newer research on anticipatory genetic networks in microbial species shows that anticipatory processes are widespread, evolutionarily old, and not simply reserved for neurological complex organisms. Overall, data suggest that anticipatory responses represent a unique type of biological processes that can be distinguished based on their organizational properties and mechanisms. Unfortunately, an empirically based biologically explicit framework for describing anticipatory processes does not currently exist. This review attempts to fill this void by discussing the existing examples of anticipatory processes in non-cognitive organisms, providing potential criteria for defining anticipatory processes, as well as their putative mechanisms, and drawing attention to the often-overlooked role of anticipation in the evolution of physiological systems. Ultimately, a case is made for incorporating an anticipatory framework into the existing physiological paradigm to advance our understanding of complex biological processes.
Highlights
The concept of anticipation is deeply rooted in the foundations of science
The anticipatory processes described were selected because they meet at least some of the criteria outlined in the first section, their categorization is still largely conceptual
Plant eavesdropping often leads to priming in plants (Kessler et al., 2006; Morrell and Kessler, 2014)
Summary
The concept of anticipation is deeply rooted in the foundations of science. It lives at the intersection of ideas on time, change, perception, and causality, which encompass some of the oldest philosophical contemplations. We can describe anticipatory processes in biochemical terms, as those processes that reduce response times by initiating the preparatory phase before the manifestation of error These characteristics can be achieved in different ways; either through qualitative or quantitative alterations to their mechanisms. Using AAR as an example, we can imagine a scenario where a physiological response, denoted by a specific S-R relationship, evolves to be regulated by a new stimulus that is correlated with but predates a fitness-relevant environmental variable This alteration could cause the preparatory phase of the response to be initiated before error occurs. Circadian-based mechanisms temporally coordinate metabolic activities to reduce the lag times associated with reactive responses and meet the criteria for anticipatory processes This strategy ensures that enzymes, proteins, nutrients, etc., are available at the instant they are needed, maximizing physiological efficiency. Parental effects and epigenetic markers are not permanent and can be erased, or not maintained, if environmental conditions change, making this strategy flexible enough to respond to a dynamic environment
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