An array of co-existing mechanisms contribute to the range of reciprocal causal processes described by the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) (Laland et al., 2015). One area that is relatively well-studied is the intergenerational sharing of knowledge, part of ‘cultural transmission’ (Laland et al., 2000). Such cultural transmission can be mapped to neurocognitive and behavioural mechanisms that relate to (e.g.) communication and skill acquisition. For example, neural specialisations for learning lead to strengthened neuronal connections and enlarged cortical representations. These changes in the brain confer faster behavioural performance and lower metabolic costs on oft-repeated (‘over-learned’) actions. Responsive, coordinated actions are integrated in skillful individual and group activities that influence niche construction. Neurobehavioural research thus confirms the intuition that skill learning supports niche construction and is therefore an adaptive, evolutionarily stable strategy.

In addition to skill learning, there are also evolutionarily stable strategies of risk-balancing (e.g., forgone foraging vs. predation) that similarly relate to neural specialisations with behavioural consequences. A neural specialisation for rapid threat inference from (e.g.) acoustic cues such as a loud noise is also typically adaptive: a predator may growl or a tree may fall, mandating immediate flight (Linson & Friston, 2019). When loud noises subside, organisms that perceived a threat should feel safe to return, for example, for foraging or reproductive opportunities.

Given these specialised neural mechanisms that relate to adaptive behaviour, it is notable that there can also be contingent life history factors that can produce maladaptive interactions between these mechanisms (Linson et al., 2020). Specifically, when over-learning is combined with threat inference, it is possible for an organism to become overly risk averse and thereby abandon a suitable habitat. Even for nutrient-rich habitats where predation risk is low, life histories marked by extensive confrontations with perceived threat – for example, where there is anthropogenic noise pollution – could lead to maladaptively risk-averse populations. These neurobehavioural effects could lead to abandonment of a suitable habitat, and thereby produce large-scale knock-on effects associated with dispersal and distribution, such as behaviourally mediated trophic cascades (Fortin et al., 2005; Kauffman et al., 2010). Further downstream effects could influence niche construction and related selection factors.

In light of inherited abilities to activate motoric threat-defence mechanisms (e.g., rapid flight or defensive limb postures related to ‘fight’), how does over-learned defensive behaviour become a maladaptive habit? Pursuing this question draws together theoretical neurobiology and life history research in ecology. Moreover, this interdisciplinary approach has potential implications for adding to our understanding of factors driving niche construction within an EES framework.

The guiding hypothesis is that organisms can become stuck in a vicious circle (approximated by a dynamical attractor basin) in which over-learning of defensive action in the motor system can bias sensory disambiguation towards threat inference. This will be explored with a synthesising literature review, formal Bayesian modelling, and computational simulations.