The repeatability of cognitive performance: a meta-analysis

Behavioural and cognitive processes play important roles in mediating an individual's interactions with its environment. Yet, while there is a vast literature on repeatable individual differences in behaviour, relatively little is known about the repeatability of cognitive performance. To further our understanding of the evolution of cognition, we gathered 44 studies on individual performance of 25 species across six animal classes and used meta-analysis to assess whether cognitive performance is repeatable. We compared repeatability (R) in performance (1) on the same task presented at different times (temporal repeatability), and (2) on different tasks that measured the same putative cognitive ability (contextual repeatability). We also addressed whether R estimates were influenced by seven extrinsic factors (moderators): type of cognitive performance measurement, type of cognitive task, delay between tests, origin of the subjects, experimental context, taxonomic class and publication status. We found support for both temporal and contextual repeatability of cognitive performance, with mean R estimates ranging between 0.15 and 0.28. Repeatability estimates were mostly influenced by the type of cognitive performance measures and publication status. Our findings highlight the widespread occurrence of consistent inter-individual variation in cognition across a range of taxa which, like behaviour, may be associated with fitness outcomes.This article is part of the theme issue 'Causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities'.

Monoamine oxidase inhibition prevents mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in myoblasts from patients with collagen VI myopathies

Although mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress have been proposed to play a crucial role in several types of muscular dystrophy (MD), whether a causal link between these two alterations exists remains an open question. We have documented that mitochondrial dysfunction through opening of the permeability transition pore plays a key role in myoblasts from patients as well as in mouse models of MD, and that oxidative stress caused by monoamine oxidases (MAO) is involved in myofiber damage. In the present study we have tested whether MAO-dependent oxidative stress is a causal determinant of mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in myoblasts from patients affected by collagen VI myopathies. We find that upon incubation with hydrogen peroxide or the MAO substrate tyramine myoblasts from patients upregulate MAO-B expression and display a significant rise in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, with concomitant mitochondrial depolarization. MAO inhibition by pargyline significantly reduced both ROS accumulation and mitochondrial dysfunction, and normalized the increased incidence of apoptosis in myoblasts from patients. Thus, MAO-dependent oxidative stress is causally related to mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death in myoblasts from patients affected by collagen VI myopathies, and inhibition of MAO should be explored as a potential treatment for these diseases.