Manipulations of the AVT System Shift Social Status and Related Courtship and Aggressive Behavior in the Bluehead Wrasse

Semsar, Katharine; Kandel, Frederique L.M.; Godwin, John

doi:10.1006/hbeh.2001.1663

Cited by 230 publications

(174 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Previous work has shown VP increases agonistic behavior in several rodent species, including hamsters and voles. [8][9][10][11] Furthermore, specific V1aR agonists and antagonists also affect aggression, 9,18,19 suggesting that the V1aR mediates some of these effects. We have now shown that V1b receptors must play a role in mediating VP's effects on aggression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vasopressin V1b receptor knockout reduces aggressive behavior in male mice

et al. 2002

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Increased aggression is commonly associated with many neurological and psychiatric disorders. Current treatments are largely empirical and are often accompanied by severe side effects, underscoring the need for a better understanding of the neural bases of aggression. Vasopressin, acting through its 1a receptor subtype, is known to affect aggressive behaviors. The vasopressin 1b receptor (V1bR) is also expressed in the brain, but has received much less attention due to a lack of specific drugs. Here we report that mice without the V1bR exhibit markedly reduced aggression and modestly impaired social recognition. By contrast, they perform normally in all the other behaviors that we have examined, such as sexual behavior, suggesting that reduced aggression and social memory are not simply the result of a global deficit in sensorimotor function or motivation. Fos-mapping within chemosensory responsive regions suggests that the behavioral deficits in V1bR knockout mice are not due to defects in detection and transmission of chemosensory signals to the brain. We suggest that V1bR antagonists could prove useful for treating aggressive behavior seen, for example, in dementias and traumatic brain injuries. Molecular Psychiatry (2002) 7, 975-984.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 Vasopressin (VP) is implicated in agonistic behavior in taxonomically diverse groups including mammals (eg hamsters, voles) and fish (eg wrasse). [6][7][8][9][10][11] Even in humans, a life history of aggression against others correlates with increased CSF levels of VP. 12 Vasopressin also modulates social memory in rodents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vasopressin V1b receptor knockout reduces aggressive behavior in male mice

et al. 2002

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“…Androgens like testosterone represent one among numerous causal factors that modulate aggression. Vasopressinergic neuropeptides like AVP/AVT, and the serotonergic systems have been identified as crucial determinants in the regulation of aggression (Trainor et al, 2009), including coral reef teleosts (Semsar et al, 2001). Indeed, AVT has been shown to increase aggression in a dose dependent manner in Stegastes leucosticus, a tropical year-round territorial damselfish (Santangelo and Bass, 2006).…”

Section: Year-round Territorial Aggression and Androgensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra- and interspecific aggression do not modulate androgen levels in dusky gregories, yet male aggression is reduced by an androgen blocker

Vullioud

Bshary

Ros

2013

Hormones and Behavior

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Discussions about social behavior are generally limited to fitness effects of interactions occurring between conspecifics. However, many fitness relevant interactions take place between individuals belonging to different species. Our detailed knowledge about the role of hormones in intraspecific interactions provides a starting point to investigate how far interspecific interactions are governed by the same physiological mechanisms. Here, we carried out standardized resident-intruder (sRI) tests in the laboratory to investigate the relationship between androgens and both intra-and interspecific aggression in a year-round territorial coral reef fish, the dusky gregory, Stegastes nigricans. This damselfish species fiercely defend cultivated algal crops, used as a food source, against a broad array of species, mainly food competitors, and thus represent an ideal model system for comparisons of intra-and interspecific territorial aggression. In a first experiment, resident S. nigricans showed elevated territorial aggression against intra-and interspecific intruders, yet neither elicited a significant increase in androgen levels. However, in a second experiment where we treated residents with flutamide, an androgen receptor blocker, males but not females showed decreased aggression, both towards intra-and interspecific intruders. Thus androgens appear to affect aggression in a broader territorial context where species identity of the intruder appears to play no role. This supports the idea that the same hormonal mechanism may be relevant in intra-and interspecific interactions. We further propose that in such a case, where physiological mechanisms of behavioral responses are found to be context dependent, interspecific territorial aggression should be considered a social behavior.

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“…This increased expression of AVT is driven by social dominance and is independent of gonads (Semsar and Godwin 2003). Additionally, administration of AVT increases aggressive and courtship behavior typical of dominant males (Semsar et al 2001) while an AVT receptor antagonist blocks territorial acquisition in large males and behavioral sex change in females (Semsar and Godwin 2004). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…TP males develop from either sex-changing females or rolechanging IP males. Most TP males maintain territories on reefs and court and mate with females within these territories, although there is variation among males in these behaviors (see Semsar et al, 2001). Females display the yellow and brown coloration and live within groups on reefs that normally include a dominant TP male.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aromatase immunoreactivity in the bluehead wrasse brain, Thalassoma bifasciatum: Immunolocalization and co-regionalization with arginine vasotocin and tyrosine hydroxylase

et al. 2006

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Sex steroid hormones regulate various neural functions that regulate vertebrate sociosexual behavior. A number of sex steroids can be synthesized de novo in the brain, including estrogens by the enzyme aromatase. Aromatase, the neuropeptides arginine vasotocin/vasopressin, and the monoamine neurotransmitter dopamine have all been implicated in the control of male sexual and aggressive behavior in a variety of vertebrates. This study examined the expression of brain aromatase in a teleost fish, the bluehead wrasse (Thalassoma bifasciatum), a teleost fish that exhibits sociallycontrolled behavioral and gonadal sex change. We used immunocytochemistry (ICC) to characterize distributions of aromatase-immunoreactive (ir) cells, and to examine their relationship with AVT-ir neurons, and tyrosine hydroxylase-ir (TH-ir) neurons in the key sensory and integrative areas of the brain of this species. Aromatase-ir appeared to be in glial cell populations, and was found in the dorsal and ventral telencephalon, the preoptic area of the hypothalamus, and the lateral recess of the third ventricle, among other brain areas. Aromatase-ir fibers are closely associated with AVT-ir neurons throughout the preoptic area, indicating the potential for functional interactions. Aromataseir cell bodies and fibers were also co-regionalized with TH-ir neurons, suggesting possible interaction between the dopaminergic system and neural estrogen production. The presence of aromatase in brain regions important in the regulation of sexual and aggressive behavior suggests local estrogen synthesis could regulate sex change through effects on signaling systems that subserve reproductive behavior and function.

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Manipulations of the AVT System Shift Social Status and Related Courtship and Aggressive Behavior in the Bluehead Wrasse

Cited by 230 publications

References 36 publications

Vasopressin V1b receptor knockout reduces aggressive behavior in male mice

Vasopressin V1b receptor knockout reduces aggressive behavior in male mice

Intra- and interspecific aggression do not modulate androgen levels in dusky gregories, yet male aggression is reduced by an androgen blocker

Aromatase immunoreactivity in the bluehead wrasse brain, Thalassoma bifasciatum: Immunolocalization and co-regionalization with arginine vasotocin and tyrosine hydroxylase

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