Getting on top, genetically
Study shows rapid genetic response to social opportunity in cichlid fish
Oct 17, 2005
For the first time, scientists have directly linked social cues to an immediate genetic response in the brain, according to a new study in
"People forget that social influences are pretty important," said study co-author Russell Fernald at Stanford University in California. "Here's the case where the social is everything. [It] regulates brain structure in a very direct way."
Characterized by a dynamic social hierarchy, the cichlid fish