Hearing, touching, and multisensory integration during mate choice

Abstract

Mate choice is a potent generator of diversity and a fundamental pillar for sexual selection and evolution. Mate choice is a multistage affair, where complex sensory information and elaborate actions are used to identify, scrutinize, and evaluate potential mating partners. While widely accepted that communication during mate assessment relies on multimodal cues, most studies investigating the mechanisms controlling this fundamental behavior have restricted their focus to the dominant sensory modality used by the species under examination, such as vision in humans and smell in rodents. However, despite their undeniable importance for the initial recognition, attraction, and approach towards a potential mate, other modalities gain relevance as the interaction progresses, amongst which are touch and audition. In this review, we will: (1) focus on recent findings of how touch and audition can contribute to the evaluation and choice of mating partners, and (2) outline our current knowledge regarding the neuronal circuits processing touch and audition (amongst others) in the context of mate choice and ask (3) how these neural circuits are connected to areas that have been studied in the light of multisensory integration.

Investigating social communication in mice: a Two-intruders test approach

“…It was the only additional parameter tested to contribute significantly into social discrimination between male and female intruders (Fig. 1G,H), which aligns well with currently accepted concept of mate choice in mice (Lenschow, Mendes, & Lima, 2022). Given mentioned above, we consider anogenital sniffing as a key measure of sexual preference.…”

Neurophysiology of male sexual arousal—Behavioral perspective

“…For instance, the reduction of tactile cues from vibrissae in sexually naïve male rats significantly reduced the number of males who started to copulate with receptive females ( Biały and Beck, 1993 ). Other cues, like visual and auditory, are also important and can be received on the level of the midbrain as well as the amygdala and neocortex in mammals ( Lenschow et al, 2022 ).…”

A hypothalamic node for the cyclical control of female sexual rejection

“…From a neural perspective, it is long established that the ventrolateral region of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl) holds a crucial role in the control of female sexual receptivity: besides receiving male-derived information, such as olfactory signals 2,[12][13][14] or the flank somatosensory stimulation derived from copulation attempts 15,16 , electrical stimulation of the VMHvl increases lordosis display while its electrolytic lesion has the opposite effect 7,8 . In addition, the expression of receptors for female sex hormones estrogen (E) and progesterone (P) is observed in a vast percentage of VMHvl neurons (ER+ and PR+ neurons) 11,12 .…”

“…While the receptivity dial has been associated with plasticity of VMHvl inputs/outputs, the active rejection displayed by non-sexually receptive females remains short of a neuronal substrate. Still, recent studies have uncovered an unappreciated complexity and multifunctional nature of the VMHvl, with the existence of distinct sub-compartments across its anterior-posterior (AP) axis that exhibit different connectivity 22 , transcriptomic profiles 23 , electrophysiological properties 14,18 , response to fluctuating levels of sex hormones 15 and function 24 . Accordingly, recent evidence suggests that the control of sexual receptivity, once thought to involve the entire VMHvl, is instead restricted to its most posterior region 2,13 .…”