SGER: Vasotiinergic Mechanisms Associated with the Control of Social Behavior

Bowdoin College, Brunswick ME

Investigators

Abstract

There are two closely related peptide hormones called arginine vasotocin (AVT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) that have been implicated in several vertebrates as modulators of social behavior, including courtship, pair-bonding, parenting, and aggression. The mechanisms by which these molecules act in the brain to produce these behavioral effects remain unclear, but their widespread distribution suggests they are evolutionarily conserved. It has been suggested that AVT/AVP may affect the processing of species-typical social releasing stimuli such as courtship calls, visual displays, or chemical signals. It is important to take a comparative approach to this question, to determine whether or not AVT/AVP can selectively influence behavioral and brain responses to the specific releasing stimuli that have evolved in different groups of animals for social communication. This project is a Small Grant for Exploratory Research to test this hypothesis directly using goldfish, because the exact chemical stimuli important for courtship and aggressive communication signals in this species are uniquely identified and can be delivered quantitatively. The project is exploratory because it is not yet clear whether AVT will influence social behavior in goldfish, although AVT effects on social behavior have been shown in other teleost fish, and some AVT/AVP effects are known for diverse other vertebrates. Experiments manipulating AVT levels in the brain will measure effects on courtship and aggressive behaviors in male goldfish during responses to particular chemosensory social stimuli that release those behaviors. This is a high-impact/high-risk project because the outcome is not clear, but the potential impact of success is wide-ranging. If successful, the results will lead to further studies on social regulatory functions of hormones, will have an impact beyond behavioral neuroendocrinology to brain neurochemistry, animal behavior, and evolutionary neuroscience, and could have an impact on applications in aquaculture and fisheries industries.