Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34520681›Full record

ArticleBiology letters2021

Back to the basics? Transcriptomics offers integrative insights into the role of space, time and the environment for gene expression and behaviour.

Eva K Fischer, Mark E Hauber, Alison M Bell

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Biology letters, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Transcriptional predictors of rescue behaviour in ants.The Journal of experimental biology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. A perspective on neuroethology: what the past teaches us about the future of neuroethology.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2024
    Review
  7. Article
  8. What Amphibians Can Teach Us About the Evolution of Parental Care.Annual review of ecology, evolution, and systematics · 2023
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Eva K FischerDepartment of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2916-0900
Mark E HauberDepartment of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2014-4928
Alison M BellDepartment of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA.

Funding

Using sticklebacks as a model for identifying genes related to risk- taking behavR01GM082937 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN · PI BELL, ALISON MARIE · 2008 to 2018
$2.9M
MIRA: The biological basis of paternal care in stickleback fishR35GM139597 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN · PI BELL, ALISON MARIE · 2021 to 2025
$2.0M
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM082937NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM139597
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Fuelled by the ongoing genomic revolution, broadscale RNA expression surveys are fast replacing studies targeting one or a few genes to understand the molecular basis of behaviour. Yet, the timescale of RNA-sequencing experiments and the dynamics of neural gene activation are insufficient to drive real-time switches between behavioural states. Moreover, the spatial, functional and transcriptional complexity of the brain (the most commonly targeted tissue in studies of behaviour) further complicates inference. We argue that a Central Dogma-like 'back-to-basics' assumption that gene expression changes cause behaviour leaves some of the most important aspects of gene-behaviour relationships unexplored, including the roles of environmental influences, timing and feedback from behaviour-and the environmental shifts it causes-to neural gene expression. No perfect experimental solutions exist but we advocate that explicit consideration, exploration and discussion of these factors will pave the way toward a richer understanding of the complicated relationships between genes, environments, brain gene expression and behaviour over developmental and evolutionary timescales.

Indexed as

GenomicsTranscriptomeBiological EvolutionGene Expression ProfilingGenomebehaviourgenomicsRNA-seqtranscriptomics

Identifiers

PMID34520681
PMCPMC8440035

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.