Adapting the Methodology of Developmental Comparative Anatomy to the Study of Animal Behavior

About this Research Topic

Background

Current behavior research tends to focus on the properties of patterns, rather than on the behavior that precedes and follows. The emphasis falls on underlying neural mechanisms and functions. This type of analysis yields clusters of stochastically related, intuitively labeled building blocks that can be counted, but cannot be architecturally compared to each other. In contrast, at other levels of biology, such as skeletal anatomy and evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), primitives are defined by their relative position in architecture, highlighting homologies. These homologies are the invariant building blocks of the organism, and their identification is essential for understanding the growth and differentiation (morphogenesis) of the organism’s architectural body plan.

The skeletal body plan of vertebrates and arthropods consists of a linkage of serially connected rigid segments. Describing the movement of a linkage presents a challenge, as it requires individual segments' movements to be described, alongside their contribution to the overall movement of the linkage. Another challenge that needs to be addressed is how to cope with the inherent discontinuity of movement imposed by the dynamics of support. Unfortunately, the study of animal behavior has largely overlooked this challenge.

Our Research topic is triggered by the concepts proposed in the pre-print manuscript On the Growth and Form of Animal Behavior. All manuscripts submitted to the Research Topic will undergo peer review.

The goals of this Research Topic are to:

i) show how the methodology of comparative developmental anatomy can be applied in the study of the growth and form of animal behavior

ii) accomplish this aim by the geometrization of movement-based behavior (since abstraction facilitates comparison)

iii) by defining the natural primitives, modules, architectural plan (bauplan), and generative rules of behavior that are homologous across the vertebrates and arthropods, allowing an in-depth study of the invariant and variable aspects of trans-phyletic behavior. In this way, the emphasis in the study of movement-based behavior will shift to growth and morphogenesis, studying how organisms build up or narrow their own freedom of movement, so as to facilitate, and thus improve control.

Evo-devo shows that the same geometry (collinearity, modularity) exists across several levels of control, from Hox-genes to anatomical metamers. We suggest that the same geometry of the architecture of the animal's body plan is also present in the animal’s movement-based bauplan.

Given the blindness to behavioral homology, to the dynamics of support, and to the geometry of behavior, we welcome studies of behavioral morphogenesis even if they have no access to anatomical constraints, such as birdsong, rhythms, studies of locale space (home-base related behavior), and any behavior whose homological properties are yet to be parametrized.

Evo-devo researchers are invited to discuss the possible connection to Hox-gene linearity and modularity. We welcome studies advocating an organismic, holistic, approach to behavior. We encourage studies adopting a literate approach to the cognitive aspects of movement.

All the manuscripts focusing on behavioral aspects can be submitted to the Individual and Social Behaviors section of Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, and those manuscripts focusing on Neurodevelopment should be submitted to the Neurodevelopment section of Frontiers in Neuroscience. All other manuscripts that fall under the scope of the Research Topic can be submitted to Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

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• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: movement notation, actual-genesis, natural kinds, pre-darwinian homology, geometrization of behavior

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