Continuum Of Traits Research Articles

Range area and the fast–slow continuum of life history traits predict pathogen richness in wild mammals

Surveillance of pathogen richness in wildlife is needed to identify host species with a high risk of zoonotic disease spillover. While several predictors of pathogen richness in wildlife hosts have been proposed, their relative importance has not been formally examined. This hampers our ability to identify potential disease reservoirs, particularly in remote areas with limited surveillance efforts. Here we analyzed 14 proposed predictors of pathogen richness using ensemble modeling and a dataset of 1040 host species to identify the most important predictors of pathogen richness in wild mammal species. After controlling for research effort, larger species geographic range area was identified to be associated with higher pathogen richness. We found evidence of duality in the relationship between the fast–slow continuum of life-history traits and pathogen richness, where pathogen richness increases near the extremities. Taxonomic orders Carnivora, Proboscidea, Artiodactyla, and Perissodactyla were predicted to host high pathogen richness. The top three species with the highest pathogen richness predicted by our ensemble model were Canis lupus, Sus scrofa, and Alces alces. Our results can help support evidence-informed pathogen surveillance and disease reservoir management to prevent the emergence of future zoonotic diseases.

In Vivo Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor Availability and Its Relationship with Aggression Traits in Healthy Individuals: A Positron Emission Tomography Study with C-11 MDL100907.

Serotonergic neurotransmission has been associated with aggression in several psychiatric disorders. Human aggression is a continuum of traits, ranging from normal to pathological phenomena. However, the individual differences in serotonergic neurotransmission and their relationships with aggression traits in healthy individuals remain unclear. In this study, we explored the relationship between 5-HT2A receptor availability in vivo and aggression traits in healthy participants. Thirty-three healthy participants underwent 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography (PET) with [11C]MDL100907, a selective radioligand for 5-HT2A receptors. To quantify 5-HT2A receptor availability, the binding potential (BPND) was derived using the basis function implementation of the simplified reference tissue model, with the cerebellum as the reference region. The participants' aggression levels were assessed using the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire. The voxel-based correlation analysis with age and sex as covariates revealed that the total aggression score was significantly positively correlated with [11C]MDL100907 BPND in the right middle temporal gyrus (MTG) pole, left fusiform gyrus (FUSI), right parahippocampal gyrus, and right hippocampus. The physical aggression subscale score had significant positive correlations with [11C]MDL100907 BPND in the left olfactory cortex, left orbital superior frontal gyrus (SFG), right anterior cingulate and paracingulate gyri, left orbitomedial SFG, left gyrus rectus, left MTG, left inferior temporal gyrus, and left angular gyrus. The verbal aggression subscale score showed significant positive correlations with [11C]MDL100907 BPND in the bilateral SFG, right medial SFG, left FUSI, and right MTG pole. Overall, our findings suggest the possibility of positive correlations between aggression traits and in vivo 5-HT2A receptor availability in healthy individuals. Future research should incorporate multimodal neuroimaging to investigate the downstream effects of 5-HT2A receptor-mediated signaling and integrate molecular and systems-level information in relation to aggression traits.

The Relationship Between Schizotypal Traits and Affect-driven Volition in Healthy Adults

Avolition in schizophrenia has been attributed to an underlying decoupling between affect and volitional action. It may be demonstrated behaviourally in the Anticipatory Consummatory Pleasure (ACP) task, whereby subjects may adjust the viewing (in time or future probability) of images with positive or negative affective content. Correspondence between response vigour and perceived affective intensity of the images was typically poorer in people with schizophrenia than healthy controls. Here, we investigated if ACP performance would be similarly modulated by schizotypal traits in the non-clinical population. Schizotypal traits were assessed in healthy adult volunteers using Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief before evaluation of ACP performance. Association between the three schizotypal traits and affect-volition coupling was examined by correlative analysis followed by comparison between dichotomized clusters. Affect-volition coupling appeared to correlate positively with increasing schizotypal traits, especially in the interpersonal and disorganization dimensions. Direct comparison between the two clusters of subjects demarcated with respect to all three schizotypy dimensions showed that actions motivated by future affective outcomes was selectively potentiated, as opposed to in-the-moment outcomes, in the higher schizotypy cluster. The positive modulation of affect-volition coupling by schizotypal traits seen here was unexpected given the robust decoupling reported in people with schizophrenia. Our data also contradicted with previous ACP studies reporting either an opposite or null relationship between schizotypy and affect-volition coupling. We speculate that the relationship across a more extended continuum of schizotypal traits may follow an inverted U-shape, thus either ends of the continuum is associated with suboptimal ACP performance.

Schizophrenia polygenic risk score in psychosis proneness

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a complex disorder with a highly polygenic inheritance. It can be conceived as the extreme expression of a continuum of traits that are present in the general population often broadly referred to as schizotypy. However, it is still poorly understood how these traits overlap genetically with the disorder. We investigated whether polygenic risk for SZ is associated with these disorder-related phenotypes (schizotypy, psychotic-like experiences, and subclinical psychopathology) in a sample of 253 non-clinically identified participants. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) were constructed based on the latest SZ genome-wide association study using the PRS-CS method. Their association with self-report and interview measures of SZ-related traits was tested. No association with either schizotypy or psychotic-like experiences was found. However, we identified a significant association with the Motor Change subscale of the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS) interview. Our results indicate that the genetic overlap of SZ with schizotypy and psychotic-like experiences is less robust than previously hypothesized. The relationship between high PRS for SZ and motor abnormalities could reflect neurodevelopmental processes associated with psychosis proneness and SZ.

Social Learning and the Exploration-Exploitation Tradeoff

Cultures around the world show varying levels of conservatism. While maintaining traditional ideas prevents wrong ones from being embraced, it also slows or prevents adaptation to new times. Without exploration there can be no improvement, but often this effort is wasted as it fails to produce better results, making it better to exploit the best known option. This tension is known as the exploration/exploitation issue, and it occurs at the individual and group levels, whenever decisions are made. As such, it is has been investigated across many disciplines. We extend previous work by approximating a continuum of traits under local exploration, employing the method of adaptive dynamics, and studying multiple fitness functions. In this work, we ask how nature would solve the exploration/exploitation issue, by allowing natural selection to operate on an exploration parameter in a variety of contexts, thinking of exploration as mutation in a trait space with a varying fitness function. Specifically, we study how exploration rates evolve by applying adaptive dynamics to the replicator-mutator equation, under two types of fitness functions. For the first, payoffs are accrued from playing a two-player, two-action symmetric game, we consider representatives of all games in this class, including the Prisoner’s Dilemma, Hawk-Dove, and Stag Hunt games, finding exploration rates often evolve downwards, but can also undergo neutral selection as well depending on the games parameters or initial conditions. Second, we study time dependent fitness with a function having a single oscillating peak. By increasing the period, we see a jump in the optimal exploration rate, which then decreases towards zero as the frequency of environmental change increases. These results establish several possible evolutionary scenarios for exploration rates, providing insight into many applications, including why we can see such diversity in rates of cultural change.

Evolution of pace-of-life syndrome under conditions of maternal PCB contamination and global warming in early life stages of cold stenothermic fish (Arctic char)

The end of the 20th century was characterised by rapid modifications of ecosystem functioning under different pressures (such as eutrophication and toxic pollution). Increasing temperatures in the context of global warming could have indirect consequences, such as increased bioavailability of hydrophobic organic pollutants amongst aquatic species. According to the “pace-of-life syndrome” (POLS) theory, these stressors could lead to covariations in many life traits. Lake Bourget is the largest natural lake in France and has been highly polluted from the fifties to the eighties both with a high load of nutrients (wastewater discharge) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (industrial effluent discharge). Despite improvements in water quality since the 21st century, PCB levels are still higher than the United States Environmental Protection Agency cut-off for wildlife protection. The population of Arctic char, a cold stenothermic salmonid, has remained low in Lake Bourget for the last ten years despite restocking efforts and complete re-oligotrophication. We hypothesised that PCB pollution can affect the Arctic char population and that the increase in water temperature could magnify the effects of PCB. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of maternal PCB contamination on offspring using a multiparametric and multiscale approach. Female Arctic char were contaminated with PCB before spawning, and each fertilised spawn was incubated at two temperatures (4 and 8.5 °C). The results showed that co-exposure to increased temperature and maternal PCB contamination influenced biodemographic, physiological, and behavioural parameters. The effects were highly dependant on the developmental stage. Based on the POLS theory, a continuum of life traits that may reflect potential physiological and behavioural modifications in response to these concurrent stressors is highlighted

From genetic variation to precision medicine.

Genetics has been an important tool for discovering new aspects of biology across life. In humans, there is growing momentum behind the application of this knowledge to drive innovation in clinical care, most notably through developments in precision medicine. Nowhere has the impact of genetics on clinical practice been more striking than in the field of rare disorders. For most of these conditions, individual disease susceptibility is influenced by DNA sequence variation in a single or a small number of genes. In contrast, most common disorders are multifactorial and are caused by a complex interplay of multiple genetic, environmental and stochastic factors. The longstanding division of human disease genetics into rare and common components has obscured the continuum of human traits and echoes aspects of the century-old debate between the Mendelian and biometric views of human genetics. In this article, we discuss the differences in data and concepts between rare and common disease genetics. Opportunities to unify these two areas are noted and the importance of adopting a holistic perspective that integrates diverse genetic and environmental factors is discussed.

Análisis psicométricos del Inventario de los Cinco Continuos de la Personalidad, versión corta (ICCP-SF)

This research aimed at developing a short version of the Five Continua Personality Inventory (FCPI; de la Iglesia y Castro Solano, 2021). The FCPI is a 120 item measure that operationalizes the Dual Personality Model (DPM). The DPM proposes that personality traits may and must be assessed in their pathological and positive aspects conjointly. DPM is based on the notion of traits conceived as dimensional and in the notion of continuum of traits. These two pillars allow to study the degree of presence of each trait (dimensionally) and their pathological and positive aspects ( continuum ). Pathological traits included in the model are negative affect, detachment, antagonism, disinhibition and psychoticism. Positive traits are serenity, humanity, integrity, moderation and sprightliness. An assessment of this kind would provide a notion of the total personality adjustment that considers both aspects of the phenomenon as well as an integrated view of personality functioning as a whole, in contrast to a dissociated one. The strengths of the DPM are: (1) the integrated view of personality that includes healthy and pathological aspects simultaneously; (2) the use of dimensional measures in contrast of categories; and (3) its link to current diagnostic nosologies (DSM-5). Since the FCPI could be considered too long for many instances of psychological assessment, the development of a shorter version could provide a more versatile measure. Shorter versions of this type of instruments are recommended for long research surveys and longitudinal studies since they would prevent the undesirable effect than long scales have on attrition rates or attention levels. To develop a shorter version three main aspects were considered: (1) the characteristics of the items that can be assessed by studying their association with each other (internal item qualities); (2) the correlation of the new instrument with other variables or indicators (external item qualities); and (3) the properties that exceed statistical analyses, such as clarity, non-redundancy, invasiveness and “face” validity (judgmental item qualities). Sample was composed of 2 183 adults of the general population with a mean age of 39.04 (SD = 14.18; 51.95 % female, 47.64 % male, 0.41 % other). A shorter version was obtained which had 55 items that met the internal, external and judgement quality criteria expected. Selected elements were clear, non-redundant and had a high correlation with the total score of the scale they belonged to (between .89 and .96). In addition, evidence of the ten-trait personality model (five pathological traits and five positive traits) was obtained by means of a confirmatory factor analysis since the structure showed an excellent fit. Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach, ordinal and Omega alphas and their values were as expected and also indicated a good psychometric functioning of the scale. Associations between the long version and the short version of each scale were all positive and strong (between .89 and .96). Additionally, correlation analyses with external criteria resulted as expected: pathological traits were positively associated with psychological symptoms (between .26 and .64) and negatively associated with well-being (between -.18 and -.43); positive traits and adjustment indexes were negatively related to psychological symptoms (between -.09 and -.53) and positively related to well-being (between .11 and .44). An interesting result is that, when compared with the ten individual traits, indexes had stronger associations with psychological symptoms and well-being. It is possible that these combined measures have greater explanatory power since they provide an integrated view of personality in contrast to a disaggregated assessment. It is concluded that the short version of the FCPI meets the three criteria sought and it is an appropriate psychometric measure and it is suggested to be used for research purposes or for screening assessments in the applied fields. https://doi.org/10.16888/interd.2023.40.1.6

<p>Promoting Communication for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Family-centered Music Therapy Intervention</p>

Introduction. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a continuum of traits that may negatively affect social and emotional competencies of individuals, including challenges in their engagement abilities, possible limitations in reciprocal interactions, and inflexibility in initiating and sustaining communication. Such challenges may affect language development and speech acquisition. Considering their importance, this study explored the impact of a family-centered, music therapy intervention to promote preverbal and verbal communication skills of young children with ASD during parent–child, music engagement episodes. Method. A mixed-methods design was implemented to gather data on the children’s preverbal and verbal communication abilities (pre-and-post intervention data collection) and on each dyad’s musical interactions during a 16-week music therapy intervention. Quantitative outcome measures included children’s scores on the Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills (PPECS) and the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile (CSBSDP), to assess children’s communication, expressive speech, and symbolic behavior over time. Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, logs, and journaling. Results. Reports from the families corroborate with quantitative results regarding changes on the children’s communication abilities after the intervention. Discussion and Conclusion. Collectively, the current study provides evidence on the potential of using music therapy interventions within a family-centered approach to enhance young children’s preverbal and verbal communication skills.

Intra-Subject Variability, Intelligence, and ADHD Traits in a Community-Based Sample

Objective: The present study investigates the predictive validity of intra-subject variability (ISV) for ADHD traits in a community-based sample and the stability of the relationship between ISV and fluid intelligence (gf) across the continuum of ADHD traits. Method: Age-residualized data from 426 participants (8–18 years, 6% ADHD) was used to investigate whether ex-Gaussian and DDM parameters derived from simple choice-reaction-time tasks can predict continuously assessed ADHD traits. Multiple-Group-Analyses and Latent-Moderated-Structural-Equations were used to test whether ADHD traits moderate the relationship between ISV and gf. Results: σ and μ of the ex-Gaussian model as well as DDM parameters drift rate (v) and boundary separation (a) significantly predicted general ADHD traits, while τ predicted attention difficulties specifically. Across the ADHD continuum, σ and v were significant predictors of gf. Conclusion: The results confirm the link between ISV and ADHD. The relationship between ISV and gf appears stable across the ADHD continuum.

Host Plant Selection Imprints Structure and Assembly of Fungal Community along the Soil-Root Continuum.

ABSTRACTThe soil fungal community plays pivotal roles in soil nutrient cycling and plant health and productivity in agricultural ecosystems. However, the differential adaptability of soil fungi to different microenvironments (niches) is a bottleneck limiting their application in agriculture. Hence, the understanding of ecological processes that drive fungal microbiome assembly along the soil-root continuum is fundamental to harnessing the plant-associated microbiome for sustainable agriculture. Here, we investigated the factors that shape fungal community structure and assembly in three compartment niches (the bulk soil, rhizosphere, and rhizoplane) associated with tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.), with four soil types tested under controlled greenhouse conditions. Our results demonstrate that fungal community assembly along the soil-root continuum is governed by host plant rather than soil type and that soil chemical properties exert a negligible effect on the fungal community assembly in the rhizoplane. Fungal diversity and network complexity decreased in the order bulk soil > rhizosphere > rhizoplane, with a dramatic decrease in Ascomycota species number and abundance along the soil-root continuum. However, facilitations (positive interactions) were enhanced among fungal taxa in the rhizoplane niche. The rhizoplane supported species specialization with enrichment of some rare species, contributing to assimilative community assembly in the rhizoplane in all soil types. Mortierella and Pyrenochaetopsis were identified as important indicator genera of the soil-root microbiome continuum and good predictors of plant agronomic traits. The findings provide empirical evidence for host plant selection and enrichment/depletion processes of fungal microbiome assembly along the soil-root continuum.IMPORTANCE Fungal community assembly along the soil-root continuum is shaped largely by the host plant rather than the soil type. This finding facilitates the implementations of fungi-associated biocontrol and growth-promoting for specific plants in agriculture practice, regardless of the impacts from variations in geographical environments. Furthermore, the depletion of complex ecological associations in the fungal community along the soil-root continuum and the enhancement of facilitations among rhizoplane-associated fungal taxa provide empirical evidence for the potential of community simplification as an approach to target the plant rhizoplane for specific applications. The identified indicators Mortierella and Pyrenochaetopsis along the soil-root microbiome continuum are good predictors of tobacco plant agronomic traits, which should be given attention when manipulating the root-associated microbiome.

0035 Enrichment of RAI1 genetic aberrations associated with sleep disturbances in SMS, in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract Introduction Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) comprises a complex of neurodevelopmental disorders primarily characterized by deficits in verbal communication, impaired social interactions and repetitive behaviors. The profound clinical heterogeneity of ASD poses challenges in diagnosis and treatment. Genetic studies have pointed to hundreds of presumptive causative or susceptibility variants in ASD, making it difficult to find common underlying pathogenic mechanisms and suggesting that multiple different genetic etiologies for ASDs influence a continuum of traits. Smith–Magenis syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that results from an interstitial deletion of 17p11.2 and, in rare cases, from a retinoic acid induced 1 (RAI1) gene variant. The prevalence is estimated to be 1/15,000–25,000. Haploinsufficiency of RAI1 is the primary cause of the neurobehavioral and metabolic phenotype in SMS. Individuals with SMS present with a distinct pattern of mild to moderate intellectual disability, delayed speech and language skills, distinctive craniofacial and skeletal abnormalities, behavioral disturbances, and, almost uniformly, significant sleep disturbances. Alterations in RAI1 copy number has been also linked to a number of neurodevelopmental disorders including ASD. Methods We conducted a large-scale association analysis of the ASD MSSNG whole genome sequencing data to elucidate the prevalence of RAI1 SNVs and CNVs in the ASD population. We accessed the MSSNG database hosting over 11,000 genomes (6080 probands) and queried both SNVs and CNVs. Results Specifically, we focused on the prevalence of the classic deletions, microdeletions of (exon 3) and of the causative variants. We report a single case of a classic deletion (17p11.2 critical region), and an additional 3 cases of microdeletions in exon 3. Moreover, we report 2 frameshift mutations and one splicing variant. Given that the frequency of SMS is 1 in 15000 in the general population, we observe a 2.5x enrichment of the major deletion (1 in 6080 samples) and a >5x enrichment of the frameshift variants (2 in 6080 samples). In a set of 6080 probands we also observed 54 unique missense variants in 84 individuals within exon 3 of RAI1 gene. Conclusion Both ASD patients and SMS patients suffer from sleep disturbances. In this population of individuals with ASD, we report here an enrichment of variants known to cause SMS. We estimate the enrichment to be at least 2.5-fold and potentially higher than 10-fold enrichment, considering the types of variants observed in the population. Currently, the prevailing theory is that there is an underlying circadian pathophysiology causing sleep disturbances in SMS associated with RAI1 haploinsufficiency, as these patients exhibit low overall melatonin concentrations and abnormal timing of peak plasma melatonin concentrations. This abnormal inverted circadian rhythm is estimated to occur in 95% of individuals with SMS. The sleep disturbance seen in individuals with SMS may be also the underlying mechanism in at least a subset of individuals with ASD, especially in those individuals with consequential variants in the RAI1 gene Further studies will help delineate the role of RAI1 variants in sleep physiology. Support (If Any)

Higher-order effects, continuous species interactions, and trait evolution shape microbial spatial dynamics.

The assembly and maintenance of microbial diversity in natural communities, despite the abundance of toxin-based antagonistic interactions, presents major challenges for biological understanding. A common framework for investigating such antagonistic interactions involves cyclic dominance games with pairwise interactions. The incorporation of higher-order interactions in such models permits increased levels of microbial diversity, especially in communities in which antibiotic-producing, sensitive, and resistant strains coexist. However, most such models involve a small number of discrete species, assume a notion of pure cyclic dominance, and focus on low mutation rate regimes, none of which well represent the highly interlinked, quickly evolving, and continuous nature of microbial phenotypic space. Here, we present an alternative vision of spatial dynamics for microbial communities based on antagonistic interactions-one in which a large number of species interact in continuous phenotypic space, are capable of rapid mutation, and engage in both direct and higher-order interactions mediated by production of and resistance to antibiotics. Focusing on toxin production, vulnerability, and inhibition among species, we observe highly divergent patterns of diversity and spatial community dynamics. We find that species interaction constraints (rather than mobility) best predict spatiotemporal disturbance regimes, whereas community formation time, mobility, and mutation size best explain patterns of diversity. We also report an intriguing relationship among community formation time, spatial disturbance regimes, and diversity dynamics. This relationship, which suggests that both higher-order interactions and rapid evolution are critical for the origin and maintenance of microbial diversity, has broad-ranging links to the maintenance of diversity in other systems.

Reduced Context Updating but Intact Visual Priors in Autism.

A general consensus persists that sensory-perceptual differences in autism, such as hypersensitivities to light or sound, result from an overreliance on new (rather than prior) sensory observations. However, conflicting Bayesian accounts of autism remain unresolved as to whether such alterations are caused by more precise sensory observations (precise likelihood model) or by forming a less precise model of the sensory context (hypo-priors model). We used a decision-under-uncertainty paradigm that manipulated uncertainty in both likelihoods and priors. Contrary to model predictions we found no differences in reliance on likelihood in autistic group (AS) compared to neurotypicals (NT) and found no differences in subjective prior variance between groups. However, we found reduced context adjustment in the AS group compared to NT. Further, the AS group showed heightened variability in their relative weighting of sensory information (vs. prior) on a trial-by-trial basis. When participants were aligned on a continuum of autistic traits, we found no associations with likelihood reliance or prior variance but found an increase in likelihood precision with autistic traits. These findings together provide empirical evidence for intact priors, precise likelihood, reduced context updating and heightened variability during sensory learning in autism.

Above- and below-ground functional trait coordination in the Neotropical understory genus Costus.

The study of plant functional traits and variation among and within species can help illuminate functional coordination and trade-offs in key processes that allow plants to grow, reproduce and survive. We studied 20 leaf, above-ground stem, below-ground stem and fine-root traits of 17 Costus species from forests in Costa Rica and Panama to answer the following questions: (i) Do congeneric species show above-ground and below-ground trait coordination and trade-offs consistent with theory of resource acquisition and conservation? (ii) Is there correlated evolution among traits? (iii) Given the diversity of habitats over which Costus occurs, what is the relative contribution of site and species to trait variation? We performed a principal components analysis (PCA) to assess for the existence of a spectrum of trait variation and found that the first two PCs accounted for 21.4 % and 17.8 % of the total trait variation, respectively, with the first axis of variation being consistent with a continuum of resource-acquisitive and resource-conservative traits in water acquisition and use, and the second axis of variation being related to the leaf economics spectrum. Stomatal conductance was negatively related to both above-ground stem and rhizome specific density, and these relationships became stronger after accounting for evolutionary relatedness, indicating correlated evolution. Despite elevation and climatic differences among sites, high trait variation was ascribed to individuals rather than to sites. We conclude that Costus species present trait coordination and trade-offs that allow species to be categorized as having a resource-acquisitive or resource-conservative functional strategy, consistent with a whole-plant functional strategy with evident coordination and trade-offs between above-ground and below-ground function. Our results also show that herbaceous species and species with rhizomes tend to agree with trade-offs found in more species-rich comparisons.

How do reproduction, parenting, and health cluster together? Exploring diverging destinies, life histories and weathering in two UK cohort studies.

Life history theory researchers often assume reproductive, parenting and health behaviours pattern across a fast-slow continuum, with 'fast' life histories (typified by short lifespans, early maturation and investing in quantity over quality of children) favoured in poor quality environments and/or when resources are scarce. Some researchers further reduce this down to a simplistic 'fast' versus 'slow' dichotomy. Some of these ideas, with different theoretical motivations, are echoed in the 'diverging destinies' and 'weathering' frameworks developed in the social sciences. Whether clustering of reproductive, parenting and health traits exists has rarely been empirically tested, however. Using latent class analysis on data on mothers from the UK's Millennium Cohort (MCS) and Born in Bradford (BiB) studies, we explored whether reproduction and parenting traits clustered into 'diverging destinies', whether 'weathering' effects tied together health and reproduction, and whether all three domains were combined into either 'fast' vs 'slow' life histories, or into three groups more indicative of a fast-slow continuum. We leveraged ethnic diversity in these samples to examine four groups of mothers separately: 1. MCS White British/Irish (n = 15,423); 2. MCS Pakistani-origin (n = 923); 3. BiB White British (n = 3937); 4. BiB Pakistani-origin (n = 4351), and explored whether faster 'weathering' was evident amongst Pakistani-origin mothers. Both two and three class models emerged as potential descriptions of latent subgroups, potentially providing support for fast and slow life histories or a continuum of traits. However, response profiles provided only limited support for theoretical predictions of which traits should cluster together, with inconsistent and restricted clustering of traits both within and between the domains of reproduction, parenting, and health. In addition, trait clustering was more pronounced amongst White mothers and we found no clear evidence supporting faster 'weathering' amongst Pakistani-origin mothers; the observed clustering instead suggested that cultural constraints may influence linkages between traits. Our results therefore provide some limited support for models which suggest certain traits cluster together in predictable ways, but it is also clear that theoretical frameworks should not emphasise very rigid clustering of large numbers of traits and should allow for contextual influences on clustering.

A Continuum of Conspicuousness, Floral Signals, and Pollination Systems in Rhynchospora (Cyperaceae): Evidence of Ambophily and Entomophily in a Mostly Anemophilous Family

Floral colors and odors are evolutionary strategies used by plants to attract pollinating animals and may be absent in mostly anemophilous groups, such as Cyperaceae. However, considering that insects are floral visitors of some Rhynchospora Vahl species, the objective of this study was to characterize the floral traits and pollination systems within this genus. We analyzed 16 Rhynchospora species with regard to flower morphology, colors of floral structures, floral scents, pollen vectors, and pollination systems. We verified factors that can favor abiotic or biotic pollination in a continuum of floral traits in Rhynchospora. The flower morphology of R. dissitispicula T. Koyama, with inconspicuous brown spikelets in open panicles, is interpreted as a complete adaptation to anemophily. Conspicuous floral traits in Rhynchospora were distinguished from the background by bees. Some species also emit floral volatiles, and we made the first record of floral scent chemistry within the genus. Most of the compounds emitted by these species are known as attractants to many floral-visiting insects. Bees, beetles, and flies visited species with conspicuous floral traits and contributed to fruit set. The investigated floral traits form a continuum across the different pollination systems in Rhynchospora, from anemophilous to ambophilous and then to entomophilous representatives.

The Directionality of Fronto-Posterior Brain Connectivity Is Associated with the Degree of Individual Autistic Traits.

Altered patterns of brain connectivity have been found in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and associated with specific symptoms and behavioral features. Growing evidence suggests that the autistic peculiarities are not confined to the clinical population but extend along a continuum between healthy and maladaptive conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a differentiated connectivity pattern could also be tracked along the continuum of autistic traits in a non-clinical population. A Granger causality analysis conducted on a resting-state EEG recording showed that connectivity along the posterior-frontal gradient is sensitive to the magnitude of individual autistic traits and mostly conveyed through fast oscillatory activity. Specifically, participants with higher autistic traits were characterized by a prevalence of ascending connections starting from posterior regions ramping the cortical hierarchy. These findings point to the presence of a tendency within the neural mapping of individuals with higher autistic features in conveying proportionally more bottom-up information. This pattern of findings mimics those found in clinical forms of autism, supporting the idea of a neurobiological continuum between autistic traits and ASD.

Psychopathic traits mediate guilt-related anterior midcingulate activity under authority pressure

Coercive power has different effects on individuals, and which were unable to be fully addressed in Milgram’s famous studies on obedience to authority. While some individuals exhibited high levels of guilt-related anxiety and refused orders to harm, others followed coercive orders throughout the whole event. The lack of guilt is a well-known characteristic of psychopathy, and recent evidence portrays psychopathic personalities on a continuum of clustered traits, while being pervasive in a significant proportion in the population. To investigate whether psychopathic traits better explain discrepancies in antisocial behavior under coercion, we applied a virtual obedience paradigm, in which an experimenter ordered subjects to press a handheld button to initiate successive actions that carry different moral consequences, during fMRI scanning. Psychopathic traits modulated the association between harming actions and guilt feelings on both behavioral and brain levels. This study sheds light on the individual variability in response to coercive power.

Ocular pigmentation in humans, great apes, and gibbons is not suggestive of communicative functions

Pigmentation patterns of the visible part of the eyeball, encompassing the iris and portions of the sclera, have been discussed to be linked to social cognition in primates. The cooperative eye hypothesis suggests the white sclera of humans to be a derived adaptive trait that enhances eye-mediated communication. Here, we provide a comparative analysis of ocular pigmentation patterns in 15 species of hominoids (humans, great apes & gibbons) that show marked differences in social cognition and quantify scleral exposure at the genus level. Our data reveals a continuum of eye pigmentation traits in hominoids which does not align with the complexity of gaze-mediated communication in the studied taxa. Gibbons display darker eyes than great apes and expose less sclera. Iridoscleral contrasts in orangutans and gorillas approach the human condition but differ between congeneric species. Contrary to recent discussions, we found chimpanzee eyes to exhibit a cryptic coloration scheme that resembles gibbons more than other apes. We reevaluate the evidence for links between social cognition and eye pigmentation in primates, concluding that the cooperative eye hypothesis cannot explain the patterns observed. Differences in scleral pigmentation between great apes and humans are gradual and might have arisen via genetic drift and sexual selection.