寄生蟲感染能改變你的性格嗎,？可以，如果你是一只小野鴨,。
這些鳥類通常都會(huì)躲避不常見的東西,，并且喜歡綠色和藍(lán)色的物體。但是當(dāng)研究人員向4周,、9周和14周的小綠頭鴨（Anas platyrhynchos）注射綿羊的紅血球以模擬一種寄生蟲感染后,，這些鳥類便開始探索環(huán)境中的新事物，并靠近那些橙色的小玩具——它們通常都會(huì)遠(yuǎn)離這種顏色,，因?yàn)樗坪跖c有毒的食物有關(guān),。
在6月7日的英國(guó)《皇家學(xué)會(huì)學(xué)報(bào)B》網(wǎng)絡(luò)版上，研究人員推測(cè)這些所謂的性格變化將有助于成年個(gè)體探索更大的區(qū)域,，并找到更多的食物,。而這反過來又可以彌補(bǔ)它們因與傳染病作斗爭(zhēng)而損失的能量。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences DOI： 10.1098/rspb.2011.0842
Ontogenetic immune challenges shape adult personality in mallard ducks
Butler, Michael W.; Toomey, Matthew B.; McGraw, Kevin J.; Rowe, Melissah
Consistent individual differences in behaviour are widespread in animals, but the proximate mechanisms driving these differencesremain largely unresolved. Parasitism and immune challenges are hypothesized to shape the expression of animal personalitytraits, but few studies have examined the influence of neonatal immune status on the development of adult personality. Weexamined how non-pathogenic immune challenges, administered at different stages of development, affected two common measuresof personality, activity and exploratory behaviour, as well as colour-dependent novel object exploration in adult male mallardducks (Anas platyrhynchos). We found that individuals that were immune-challenged during the middle (immediately following the completion of somaticgrowth) and late (during the acquisition of nuptial plumage) stages of development were more active in novel environmentsas adults relative to developmentally unchallenged birds or those challenged at an earlier developmental time point. Additionally,individuals challenged during the middle stage of development preferred orange and avoided red objects more than those thatwere not immune-challenged during development. Our results demonstrate that, in accordance with our predictions, early-lifeimmune system perturbations alter the expression of personality traits later in life, emphasizing the role that developmentalplasticity plays in shaping adult personality, and lending support to recent theoretical models that suggest that parasitepressure may play an important role in animal personality development.
