Effect of incubation temperature and androgens on dopaminergic activity in the leopard gecko, <i>Eublepharis macularius</i>

Dias, Brian; Ataya, Ramona Sousan; Rushworth, David; Zhao, Jun; Crews, David

doi:10.1002/dneu.20382

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) have different behavioral phenotypes based on the temperature of the embryonic environment and individual differences in sexual behavior of male adults of different embryonic environments has been partially attributed to differences in dopamine in the NAcc (Dias et al, 2007), although this study did not distinguish between the core and shell subregions. More studies on the integration of sensorimotor information in the reptilian NAcc would yield insightful information on the role of the NAcc in reptiles.…”

Section: Reptilesmentioning

confidence: 70%

The Vertebrate mesolimbic reward system and social behavior network: A comparative synthesis

O’Connell

Hofmann

2011

J of Comparative Neurology

873

879

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All animals evaluate the salience of external stimuli and integrate them with internal physiological information into adaptive behavior. Natural and sexual selection impinge on these processes, yet our understanding of behavioral decision-making mechanisms and their evolution is still very limited. Insights from mammals indicate that two neural circuits are of crucial importance in this context: the social behavior network and the mesolimbic reward system. Here we review evidence from neurochemical, tract-tracing, developmental, and functional lesion/stimulation studies that delineates homology relationships for most of the nodes of these two circuits across the five major vertebrate lineages: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and teleost fish. We provide for the first time a comprehensive comparative analysis of the two neural circuits and conclude that they were already present in early vertebrates. We also propose that these circuits form a larger social decision-making (SDM) network that regulates adaptive behavior. Our synthesis thus provides an important foundation for understanding the evolution of the neural mechanisms underlying reward processing and behavioral regulation. J. Comp. Neurol. 519:3599-3639, 2011. INDEXING TERMS: social behavior; comparative neuroanatomy; amphibian; reptile; bird; teleost; reward system; social behavior network; limbic system; neural circuitsThroughout their lives, all animals constantly face situations that provide either challenges (e.g., aggression, predation) or opportunities (e.g., reproduction, foraging, habitat selection) (for a detailed review, see O'Connell and Hofmann, 2011). In all cases, environmental cues are processed by sensory systems into a meaningful biological signal while internal physiological cues (e.g., condition, maturity) and prior experience are integrated at the same time. This process usually results in behavioral actions that are adaptive, i.e., beneficial to the animal. To accomplish this, an animal's nervous system must evaluate the salience of a stimulus and elicit a context-appropriate behavioral response. Despite tremendous progress in understanding the ecology and evolution of social behavior (Lorenz, 1952;Tinbergen, 1963;Lehrman, 1965;von Frisch, 1967;Krebs and Davies, 1993;Stephens, 2008), it is less understood where in the brain these decisions (e.g., about mate choice or territory defense) are made and how these brain circuits have arisen over the course of vertebrate evolution.Recent research has begun to decipher the neural basis of social decision-making. In mammals in particular, the neural circuits that evaluate stimulus salience and/or regulate social behavior have been uncovered to some degree: the mesolimbic reward system and social behavior network (Fig. 1). It is becoming increasingly clear that the reward system (including but not limited to the midbrain dopaminergic system) is the neural circuit where the salience of an external stimulus is evaluated (Deco and Rolls, 2005;Wickens et al., 2007), as appetitive beh...

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Section: Reptilesmentioning

confidence: 70%

The Vertebrate mesolimbic reward system and social behavior network: A comparative synthesis

O’Connell

Hofmann

2011

J of Comparative Neurology

873

879

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“…Instead of having no function at all, it is more conceivable that AR activity does influence TH‐associated and other processes of these cells, but not whether they contain immunocytochemically detectable levels of TH. The inability of DHT to reproduce the effects of testosterone on TH immunoreactivity in the adult brain has been previously observed (49,50), but it remains possible that analysing TH mRNA may have revealed an effect of DHT at the level of transcription.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Androgenic and Oestrogenic Influences on Tyrosine Hydroxylase‐Immunoreactive Cells of the Prairie Vole Medial Amygdala and Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis

Cavanaugh

Lonstein

2010

J Neuroendocrinology

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The posterodorsal medial amygdala (MeApd) and principal nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (pBST) are densely interconnected sites integrating steroid hormone and olfactory information necessary for sociosexual behaviours in many rodents. Our laboratory recently reported sexually dimorphic populations of cells containing tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) located in the MeApd and pBST of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), with males having many more TH-immunoreactive (TH-ir) cells in these sites than do females. We also found that gonadal hormones circulating during adulthood regulated this sex difference, as it was eliminated by castrating adult males or implanting females with testosterone-filled capsules. We here demonstrate that many (25-65%) of TH-ir cells in the MeApd and pBST of both sexes of adult virgin prairie voles also contain immunoreactivity for either the androgen receptor (AR) or oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα). Subcutaneous implants of oestradiol benzoate (EB) mimicked the effects of testosterone (T) and maintained high numbers of TH-ir cells in these sites in castrated males. However, implants of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) did not, and these males had low numbers of TH-ir cells similar to castrated males given empty capsules. A similar effect was found in females, where T or EB greatly increased the number of TH-ir cells in these sites compared to intact or ovariectomized controls, but DHT did not. DHT implants did maintain high seminal vesicle weights in males, though. Thus, many of the TH-ir cells in the prairie vole MeApd and pBST are potentially sensitive to androgens and oestrogens, but maintaining immunocytochemically detectable levels of TH in these cells may depend more on an oestrogen-mediated mechanism in both sexes. These data have implications for understanding how gonadal hormone release across the reproductive cycle modulates species-specific groups of catecholaminergic cells and socially monogamous behaviours in prairie voles.

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“…In addition, the volume and metabolic activity of the POA are androgen sensitive in male leopard gecko from a male‐biased IncT (Crews et al, ; Rhen and Crews, ). The mesolimbic pathway also shows differences in the adult brain according to incubation temperature; males from a female‐biased IncT have greater dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens than do males from a male‐biased IncT (Dias et al, ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociosexual investigation in sexually experienced, hormonally manipulated male leopard geckos: Relation with phosphorylated DARPP‐32 in dopaminergic pathways

2014

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Dopaminergic activity is both associated with sociosexual exposure and modulated by sexual experience and hormonal state across vertebrate taxa. Mature leopard geckos, a reptile with temperature-dependent sex determination, have dopaminoceptive nuclei that are influenced by their embryonic environment and sensitive to adult hormonal manipulation. In this study, we exposed hormonally manipulated male leopard geckos from different incubation temperatures to conspecifics and measured their sociosexual investigation, as well as phosphorylated DARPP-32 at Threonine 34 (pDARPP-32) immunoreactivity as a marker for D1 dopamine receptor activity in the nucleus accumbens, striatum, and preoptic area. Social investigation time by males of different incubation temperatures was modulated in opposite directions by exogenous androgen treatment. Males exposed to novel stimuli spent a greater proportion of time investigating females of different incubation temperatures. The time spent investigating females was positively correlated to pDARPP-32 immunoreactivity in the preoptic area. This is the first study quantifying pDARPP-32 in a lizard species, and suggests the protein as a potential marker to measure differences in the dopaminergic pathway in a social setting with consideration of embryonic environment and hormonal state.

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Effect of incubation temperature and androgens on dopaminergic activity in the leopard gecko, Eublepharis macularius

Cited by 15 publications

References 42 publications

The Vertebrate mesolimbic reward system and social behavior network: A comparative synthesis

The Vertebrate mesolimbic reward system and social behavior network: A comparative synthesis

Androgenic and Oestrogenic Influences on Tyrosine Hydroxylase‐Immunoreactive Cells of the Prairie Vole Medial Amygdala and Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis

Sociosexual investigation in sexually experienced, hormonally manipulated male leopard geckos: Relation with phosphorylated DARPP‐32 in dopaminergic pathways

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