%0 Journal Article
%A Ducatez, S
%A Lefebvre, L
%A Sayol, F
%A Audet, JN
%A Sol, D
%D 2020
%F discovery:10100665
%J Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
%K behavioral plasticity, cognition, expensive tissue hypothesis, exposure hypothesis, immune traits,  infection costs, parasite avoidance, pathogen
%T Host Cognition and Parasitism in Birds: A Review of the Main Mechanisms
%U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10100665/
%V 8
%X Parasites can have important detrimental effects on host fitness, thereby influencing  their ecology and evolution. Hosts can, in turn, exert strong selective pressures on their  parasites, affecting eco-evolutionary dynamics. Although the reciprocal pressures that  hosts and parasites exert on each other have long been recognized, the mechanisms  are insufficiently understood. Here, we discuss the role of host cognition in host–parasite  eco-evolutionary dynamics. Theoretical advances have acknowledged the importance  of behavior in shaping these dynamics, but how and why host cognition should affect  and/or be affected by parasites is less clear. We propose three scenarios that may  create causal and non-causal links between cognition and the richness, prevalence  and intensity of parasites. First, host cognition may change the probability of exposure  to parasites, either increasing (e.g., altering the relationship with the environment via  innovative behaviors) or decreasing (e.g., influencing decision-making to avoid infected  conspecifics) exposure. Second, parasites may change host cognitive performance,  for example, by reducing host condition. Finally, host cognition and parasites can be  associated via common causal factors (e.g., shared molecular pathways), energetic  constraints generating trade-offs between cognition and immunocompetence, or trait  co-evolution with life history, ecological, or social strategies. The existence of such a  variety of non-mutually exclusive mechanisms suggests that host cognition has a great  potential to affect and be affected by parasites. However, it also implies that progress in  understanding these effects will only be possible if we distinguish between causal and  non-causal links.
%Z This is an open-access  article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License  (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided  the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original  publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No  use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/