Evolution, Ecology, and Medicine

Overview of Lecture 25

• Focus on the intersection of evolution, ecology, and medicine.

Key Concepts in Cognitive Ecology

• Cognitive abilities provide flexibility but can be costly (energy usage, decision-making delays).

• Cognitive biases help to understand selective forces shaping cognition:

  • Mistakes in assessment

  • Preferences for immediate versus delayed rewards (temporal discounting)

  • Recency bias (weighting recent information more heavily)

Ecology and Medicine

• Infectious diseases reflect ecological relationships.

• Chronic diseases (heart disease, cancer) also influenced by ecological factors.

• Evolution informs how we respond to and treat infections.

• Disease treatments act as selective agents with long-term consequences.

• Examples include Alzheimer’s and antibiotic resistance issues.

Immunity and Its Costs

• Immune systems require resources, leading to trade-offs with other bodily functions.

• Specific immune responses can be costly, impacting adaptation.

• Evolution could favor traits that improve reproduction but lead to delayed negative effects (aging diseases).

Cancer as an Evolutionary Phenomenon

• Cancer can be viewed as a speciation event, where mutated cells compete with normal cells for resources.

• Therapeutic strategies (e.g., chemotherapy) may create selection pressures analogous to those seen with antibiotics.