Brain regions controlling courtship behavior in the bluehead wrasse

Luong, Kyphuong; Bernardo, Madeline F.; Lindstrom, Michael; Alluri, Rishi K.; Rose, Gary J.

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.003

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…The decreased activity in this area could therefore be an indication of active suppression of unhelpful behaviors during attainment of dominance. In accordance, Luong et al (2023) found that in the closely related bluehead wrasse (Thallasoma bifasciatum) stimulation of brain areas including the Vs, Vv, Vd and POA induced changes in coloration associated with courtship behavior. In the same study pS6 and cfos immunohistochemistry revealed that the interpeduncular nucleus, red nucleus, and ventrolateral thalamus were more active in subordinate fish.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…These regions were not found to be significantly more active in subordinate fish in our study. The difference is likely due to the differential brain sampling timeline used: whereas non-courting animals in the Luong et al (2023) study were observed for at least four hours before sampling, we sacrificed our fish 1 hour after social disruption.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is clear that socially-controlled sex change is independent of the gonad (Godwin et al, 1997), that visual and neuroendocrine components are crucial ( (Elofsson et al, 1999;Godwin, 2010); and that gene expression in the brain differs between females and dominant males (Todd et al, 2018). Sex change has furthermore been shown to involve the preoptic area (Elofsson et al, 1997) and courtship behavior in the protogynous bluehead wrasse is controlled by a network of brain areas that associate with the social behavior network (Luong et al, 2023). A brain-wide investigation of neural activity upon hierarchy formation is lacking to date, and the neural correlates of attaining dominance have not been studied.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral and neural correlates of social hierarchy formation in a sex-changing fish

Quertermous,

Kamstra,

van der Burg

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Social hierarchies in sex-changing fish determine which fish will change sex, yet little is known about how these hierarchies are formed at the neurobehavioral level. Here, we investigate the formation of social hierarchies within groups of the New Zealand spotty wrasse (spotty), integrating both behavioral observations of social activity with neural activation patterns upon social disruption. We find that dominance hierarchies form rapidly and linearly based on size, with larger fish displaying more aggressive or dominant behaviors (such as monopolizing the shelter) and smaller fish displaying more submissive behaviors (such as escape behavior). Disruption of the social hierarchy induced rapid behavioral changes, particularly in the second-ranked fish, highlighting that second ranked spotty will opportunistically adopt a dominant position in the hierarchy upon removal of the most dominant fish. Neural activation patterns reveal that the social decision-making network is deeply involved in the establishment of dominance, with the fish attaining dominance showing significant differences to all other ranked fish. This study underscores the complexity of social relationships and their neural underpinnings in the spotty wrasse, providing a foundation for further research into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of socially-controlled sex change. Overall, we demonstrate that disruption of social hierarchy triggers rapid changes in behavior and brain regions associated with social decision-making.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral and neural correlates of social hierarchy formation in a sex-changing fish

Quertermous,

Kamstra,

van der Burg

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Neuromodulation in the fish brain for reproductive success

Umatani

2024

General and Comparative Endocrinology

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Androgen receptor deficiency is associated with reduced aromatase expression in the ventromedial hypothalamus of male cichlids

Lopez,

Alward

2024

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Social behaviors are regulated by sex steroid hormones, such as androgens and estrogens. However, the specific molecular and neural processes modulated by steroid hormones to generate social behaviors remain to be elucidated. We investigated whether some actions of androgen signaling in the control of social behavior may occur through the regulation of estradiol synthesis in the highly social cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni. Specifically, we examined the expression of cyp19a1, a brain‐specific aromatase, in the brains of male A. burtoni lacking a functional ARα gene (ar1), which was recently found to be necessary for aggression in this species. We found that cyp19a1 expression is higher in wild‐type males compared to ar1 mutant males in the anterior tuberal nucleus (ATn), the putative fish homolog of the mammalian ventromedial hypothalamus, a brain region that is critical for aggression across taxa. Using in situ hybridization chain reaction, we determined that cyp19a1+ cells coexpress ar1 throughout the brain, including in the ATn. We speculate that ARα may modulate cyp19a1 expression in the ATn to govern aggression in A. burtoni. These studies provide novel insights into the hormonal mechanisms of social behavior in teleosts and lay a foundation for future functional studies.

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Brain regions controlling courtship behavior in the bluehead wrasse

Cited by 3 publications

References 79 publications

Behavioral and neural correlates of social hierarchy formation in a sex-changing fish

Behavioral and neural correlates of social hierarchy formation in a sex-changing fish

Neuromodulation in the fish brain for reproductive success

Androgen receptor deficiency is associated with reduced aromatase expression in the ventromedial hypothalamus of male cichlids

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