Effect of Testosterone Propionate on Behavior of the Female Canary

Shoemaker, Hurst H.

doi:10.3181/00379727-41-10652

Cited by 73 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…If a male canary is castrated early in life, he will not acquire stereotyped adult song; if a chaffinch is castrated as a reproductive adult, song gradually ceases (Nottebohm, 1969(Nottebohm, , 1980. Female canaries will begin to sing if given testosterone (Leonard, 1939;Shoemaker, 1939;Baldwin et al, 1940). These females begin producing new vocalizations about one week after receiving a testosterone implant.…”

Section: The Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Steroid interactions with structure and function of avian song control regions

DeVoogd

1986

J. Neurobiol.

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Following the pioneering work of Nottebohm, the brain regions involved in song production in songbirds have become a focus of extensive research in several laboratories. As both singing behavior and the neuroanatomy of song control regions are strongly affected by sex steroids in many songbird species, this system has become regarded as an ideal model system in which one can potentially determine how steroids affect neuronal anatomy, how altered anatomy leads to altered physiology, and how the altered physiology causes changes in singing. In the initial part of this review, I shall focus on canaries and zebra finches as most of our knowledge of the song system has been obtained from these two species. I shall describe singing behavior, the constituents of the song system, what is known of how these nuclei contribute to song, and how each is affected by steroid fluctuations. I shall then speculate on new ways of posing questions on hormone--anatomy interaction in this system (which I will illustrate with preliminary data from my own lab). This review will be brief as several reviews of aspects of the song system have recently been published (Arnold, 1982; Nottebohm, 1984; Arnold and Gorski, 1984; DeVoogd, 1984; Konishi, 1985).

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Section: The Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Steroid interactions with structure and function of avian song control regions

DeVoogd

1986

J. Neurobiol.

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“…In adulthood, female canaries sing only occasionally and if at all, generally with few unstructured songs compared to adult males (Pesch and Güttinger, 1985). Female canary song can be activated by testosterone (e.g., Shoemaker, 1939;Hartley and Suthers, 1990;Hartog et al, 2009). This potential to sing correlates with the differentiation of their song control areas, which is relatively smaller as compared to canary males but relatively larger as compared to female zebra finches (Nottebohm and Arnold, 1976;Nottebohm, 1980).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mismatch in sexual dimorphism of developing song and song control system in blue-capped cordon-bleus, a songbird species with singing females and males

Vellema

Gahr

et al. 2015

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Brain song control regions of adult passerine birds are sexually dimorphic in species such as the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) in which males sing whereas females do not. In many tropical bird species, however, females sing as well. Here we study for the first time the ontogeny of the song control system and the song in a species in which both male and female sing regularly. In blue-capped cordon-bleus (Uraeginthus cyanocephalus), a distant relative of the zebra finch, both males and females start singing at around 30-40 day post-hatching (dph). First we quantified that sex-specific differences in song features emerged only in adulthood, after 250 dph of age: Adult females sang complex songs, which were slightly shorter and contained fewer syllables as compared to the males. Second, the development of forebrain song control regions HVC (proper name) and RA (nucleus robustus arcopallii) of blue-capped cordon-bleus was quantified in both sexes at 20, 30, 50, 100, 150, 250 dph as well as in old adults. The volume and neuron numbers of the HVC and RA were sexually dimorphic throughout the entire development and remained sexually dimorphic in adulthood. Since singing developed in a non sex-specific way until 250 dph, neural sex differences to a large extent precede the behaviorally (song) sex differences. This suggests that these neuroanatomical sex differences are not causally related to the sexual differentiation of song patterns in this species.

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“…Whatever the nature of the neural mechanisms that underly behavioural alterations, we first want to line out the different age-dependent behavioral sensitivities to estrogens and androgens. Male-like TP-dependent song behavior in female canaries could be evoked in several developmental stages (HENSEL 1988) and during various seasonal stages in adult life (NOTTEBOHM 1980;HERRICK & HARRIS 1957;LEONARD 1939;BALDWIN et al 1940;SHOEMAKER 1939). Estrogenic effects on song behavior seem to be restricted to juvenile periods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

17 β‐Estradiolbenzoate‐dependent Song Induction in Juvenile Female Canaries (Serinus canaria): — Long‐term Measurements of Song Activity —

1989

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Young females were implanted with testosterone propionate (TP) and estradiol benzoate (E2B) during several ontogenetic stages in an attempt to mimic the temporal scheme of the sexually dimorphic developmental steroid pattern of canaries. In males, higher estrogen levels are found during several ontogenetic stages as well as individually elongated periods of androgen secretion (Weichel et al. 1986). The steroid concentration of testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and estradiol‐17β (E2) during implantation and afterwards were analyzed by RIA. Songs were recorded to assess the hormonal influence on song organization of females. Parameters such as duration and frequency of tours were taken as behavioral indicators for song quality improvement. Besides observations of song organization, long‐term monitoring of song activity was undertaken. The following results were obtained: Control females did not sing frequently before their first breeding season. Vocalizations were comparable to subsong quality of very young males. E2B‐therapies during several developmental stages in females revealed long‐lasting influences on song behavior (2–3 months). The hormonal manipulations induced higher song activities, the song performances showing a more complex song organization than those of controls. Moreover, both effects remained for several months after the removal of the implants in spite of a sharp decrease in plasma titres of implanted hormones and unaltered secretion of other steroids analyzed. Early TP‐implants did not result in a permanent alteration of song activity, although short‐term effects could be registered. E2‐pretreated females seemed to be more behaviorally sensitive to androgens. Tests of the behavioral sensitivity to TP as adults in relation to different pretreatment showed that the females which received estrogens as juveniles provided higher song activities in response to the androgen and showed shorter behavioral latencies towards TP. Additionally, birds of this specific treatment maintained spontaneous song behavior under long‐day photoperiods (14L/10D), which is not the case in reproductively experienced females under similar light conditions. Possible neural mechanisms underlying the behavioral responses to steroid treatment are discussed.

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Effect of Testosterone Propionate on Behavior of the Female Canary

Cited by 73 publications

References 0 publications

Steroid interactions with structure and function of avian song control regions

Steroid interactions with structure and function of avian song control regions

Mismatch in sexual dimorphism of developing song and song control system in blue-capped cordon-bleus, a songbird species with singing females and males

17 β‐Estradiolbenzoate‐dependent Song Induction in Juvenile Female Canaries (Serinus canaria): — Long‐term Measurements of Song Activity —

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