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Lauren V Riters - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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conditioned place preferences induced by hearing Song outside the breeding season relate to neural dopamine d1 and cannabinoid cb1 receptor gene expression in female european starlings sturnus vulgaris
Behavioural Brain Research, 2019Co-Authors: Allison H Hahn, Sharon A Stevenson, Caroline S Angyal, Jeremy A Spool, Lauren V RitersAbstract:Abstract The affective state induced by sensory stimuli changes to adaptively modify behaviors that are critical for survival and reproduction. In European starlings, during the spring breeding season, male Courtship Song is rewarding to females, but only to those that possess resources that are necessary for reproduction (i.e., nesting sites). In fall, starling Song is non-sexual and proposed to maintain flocks. This suggests that in fall it may be adaptive for females to be rewarded by fall rather than spring, Courtship Song. We used a conditioned place preference (CPP) test to evaluate Song-induced affective state in fall condition females and quantitative real-time PCR to measure expression of genes that modulate affective state (CB1 endocannabinoid and D1 dopamine receptors) in brain regions that were previously implicated in Song-induced reward (i.e., the medial preoptic nucleus (mPOA) and ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)). Fall condition females developed an aversion to a place that had been paired with playback of both male fall and Courtship Song, indicating that in general male Song induces a negative affective state outside the breeding season. Song-induced aversion was stronger in birds conditioned towards an initial place preference. For mPOA, CB1 receptor expression correlated positively with fall and spring Song-induced CPP. D1 receptor expression correlated negatively with fall (but not spring) Song-induced CPP, and the ratio of CB1 to D1 receptor expression correlated positively with fall (but not spring) Song-induced CPP. These correlations suggest that interactions between D1 and CB1 receptors in mPOA may play a role in modifying affective responses to Song.
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associations between environmental resources and the wanting and liking of male Song in female Songbirds
Integrative and Comparative Biology, 2017Co-Authors: Jeremy A Spool, Lauren V RitersAbstract:Reproductive success requires animals to adjust social and sexual behaviors in response to changes in environmental resources. In many species, males produce Courtship signals to attract females; however, not all females are attracted by these signals. One possible explanation for this is that environmental resources alter neural mechanisms underlying motivation and reward in females so that male Courtship is attractive when conditions are most favorable for an individual to breed. Here, we first introduce resource-dependent breeding behaviors of female Songbirds. We then review studies that show associations between neural systems underlying motivation and reward, female responses to male Courtship stimuli, and environmental resources necessary for breeding success (e.g., in female starlings, a nest cavity). Overall, we review evidence supporting the working hypotheses that (1) dopamine underlies sexually-motivated female responses to male Courtship stimuli (i.e., Song), (2) opioids underlie reward induced in females by hearing male Courtship Song, and (3) these systems are possibly modified by resources such that male Courtship Song is only attractive and rewarding to females with access to limited environmental resources essential for breeding success.
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status appropriate singing behavior testosterone and androgen receptor immunolabeling in male european starlings sturnus vulgaris
Hormones and Behavior, 2014Co-Authors: Melissa A Cordes, Sharon A Stevenson, Lauren V RitersAbstract:Abstract Vocalizations convey information about an individual's motivational, internal, and social status. As circumstances change, individuals respond by adjusting vocal behavior accordingly. In European starlings, a male that acquires a nest site socially dominates other males and dramatically increases Courtship Song. Although circulating testosterone is associated with social status and vocal production it is possible that steroid receptors fine-tune status-appropriate changes in behavior. Here we explored a possible role for androgen receptors. Male starlings that acquired nest sites produced high rates of Courtship Song. For a subset of males this occurred even in the absence of elevated circulating testosterone. Immunolabeling for androgen receptors (ARir) was highest in the medial preoptic nucleus (POM) in males with both a nest site and elevated testosterone. For HVC, ARir was higher in dominant males with high testosterone (males that sang longer Songs) than dominant males with low testosterone (males that sang shorter Songs). ARir in the dorsal medial portion of the nucleus intercollicularis (DM) was elevated in males with high testosterone irrespective of dominance status. Song bout length related positively to ARir in POM, HVC and DM, and testosterone concentrations related positively to ARir in POM and DM. Results suggest that the role of testosterone in vocal behavior differs across brain regions and support the hypothesis that testosterone in POM underlies motivation, testosterone in HVC relates to Song quality, and testosterone in DM stimulates vocalizations. Our data also suggest that singing may influence AR independent of testosterone and that alternative androgen-independent pathways regulate status-appropriate singing behavior.
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links between breeding readiness opioid immunolabeling and the affective state induced by hearing male Courtship Song in female european starlings sturnus vulgaris
Behavioural Brain Research, 2013Co-Authors: Lauren V Riters, Jesse M S Ellis, Caroline S Angyal, Vincent J Borkowski, Melissa A Cordes, Sharon A StevensonAbstract:Abstract Male Courtship vocalizations represent a potent signal designed to attract females; however, not all females find male signals equally attractive. We explored the possibility that the affective state induced by hearing Courtship vocalizations depends on the motivational state of a receiver. We used a conditioned place preference test of reward to determine the extent to which the rewarding properties of hearing male Courtship Song differed in female European starlings categorized as nest box owners (a sign of breeding readiness) or non-owners. Nest box owners developed a preference for a chamber in which they previously heard male Courtship Song. Non-owners displayed no preference for a chamber in which they previously heard Song. Positive correlations were identified between the preference a female developed for the Song-paired chamber and female nesting and dominance behaviors observed prior to conditioning (indices of the motivation to breed). Immunolabeling for met-enkephalin (an opioid neuropeptide involved in reward) in the medial preoptic nucleus, ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens, and periaqueductal gray was higher in females with compared to those without nest boxes. Both nest box entries and Song-induced place preference also correlated positively with met-enkephalin labeling in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus. These findings indicate that the reward value of vocal signals is linked to individual differences in motivational state; and that differences in enkephalin activity may play a role in modifying an individual's motivational state and/or the reward value of Song.
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seasonal changes in Courtship Song and the medial preoptic area in male european starlings sturnus vulgaris
Hormones and Behavior, 2000Co-Authors: Lauren V Riters, Marcel Eens, Rianne Pinxten, Deborah L Duffy, Jacques Balthazart, Gregory F BallAbstract:In male starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) Courtship Song plays a critical role in mate attraction. During the breeding season Courtship Song occurs prior to copulation and appears to reflect male sexual arousal. Outside the breeding season starlings sing, but Song appears unrelated to reproduction. The aromatization of testosterone (T), likely within the medial preoptic nucleus (POM), is critical for the expression of male sexual arousal. The present study was performed to determine whether seasonal changes in the POM might relate to seasonal changes in Courtship singing behavior in male starlings. T concentrations, the volume of the POM, and aromatase within the POM were examined both during and outside of the breeding season in male starlings. Song was also recorded at these times both with and without a female present. The POM was largest and contained dense aromatase immunostaining only during the spring breeding season, when T concentrations were highest and males responded to a female with an increase in Courtship Song. Outside the breeding season the volume of the POM was small, T concentrations were low, and males displayed no changes in Song expression in response to female conspecifics. Song bout length was positively related to POM volume, and males sang longer Songs in spring. Only males with nestboxes in spring responded to a female, and the POM tended to be larger in these males, suggesting that nestbox possession might influence neuroplasticity within the POM. Overall, the findings suggest that T-dependent plasticity and aromatase activity within the POM might regulate Courtship singing in a wild Songbird.
Sharon A Stevenson - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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conditioned place preferences induced by hearing Song outside the breeding season relate to neural dopamine d1 and cannabinoid cb1 receptor gene expression in female european starlings sturnus vulgaris
Behavioural Brain Research, 2019Co-Authors: Allison H Hahn, Sharon A Stevenson, Caroline S Angyal, Jeremy A Spool, Lauren V RitersAbstract:Abstract The affective state induced by sensory stimuli changes to adaptively modify behaviors that are critical for survival and reproduction. In European starlings, during the spring breeding season, male Courtship Song is rewarding to females, but only to those that possess resources that are necessary for reproduction (i.e., nesting sites). In fall, starling Song is non-sexual and proposed to maintain flocks. This suggests that in fall it may be adaptive for females to be rewarded by fall rather than spring, Courtship Song. We used a conditioned place preference (CPP) test to evaluate Song-induced affective state in fall condition females and quantitative real-time PCR to measure expression of genes that modulate affective state (CB1 endocannabinoid and D1 dopamine receptors) in brain regions that were previously implicated in Song-induced reward (i.e., the medial preoptic nucleus (mPOA) and ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)). Fall condition females developed an aversion to a place that had been paired with playback of both male fall and Courtship Song, indicating that in general male Song induces a negative affective state outside the breeding season. Song-induced aversion was stronger in birds conditioned towards an initial place preference. For mPOA, CB1 receptor expression correlated positively with fall and spring Song-induced CPP. D1 receptor expression correlated negatively with fall (but not spring) Song-induced CPP, and the ratio of CB1 to D1 receptor expression correlated positively with fall (but not spring) Song-induced CPP. These correlations suggest that interactions between D1 and CB1 receptors in mPOA may play a role in modifying affective responses to Song.
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status appropriate singing behavior testosterone and androgen receptor immunolabeling in male european starlings sturnus vulgaris
Hormones and Behavior, 2014Co-Authors: Melissa A Cordes, Sharon A Stevenson, Lauren V RitersAbstract:Abstract Vocalizations convey information about an individual's motivational, internal, and social status. As circumstances change, individuals respond by adjusting vocal behavior accordingly. In European starlings, a male that acquires a nest site socially dominates other males and dramatically increases Courtship Song. Although circulating testosterone is associated with social status and vocal production it is possible that steroid receptors fine-tune status-appropriate changes in behavior. Here we explored a possible role for androgen receptors. Male starlings that acquired nest sites produced high rates of Courtship Song. For a subset of males this occurred even in the absence of elevated circulating testosterone. Immunolabeling for androgen receptors (ARir) was highest in the medial preoptic nucleus (POM) in males with both a nest site and elevated testosterone. For HVC, ARir was higher in dominant males with high testosterone (males that sang longer Songs) than dominant males with low testosterone (males that sang shorter Songs). ARir in the dorsal medial portion of the nucleus intercollicularis (DM) was elevated in males with high testosterone irrespective of dominance status. Song bout length related positively to ARir in POM, HVC and DM, and testosterone concentrations related positively to ARir in POM and DM. Results suggest that the role of testosterone in vocal behavior differs across brain regions and support the hypothesis that testosterone in POM underlies motivation, testosterone in HVC relates to Song quality, and testosterone in DM stimulates vocalizations. Our data also suggest that singing may influence AR independent of testosterone and that alternative androgen-independent pathways regulate status-appropriate singing behavior.
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links between breeding readiness opioid immunolabeling and the affective state induced by hearing male Courtship Song in female european starlings sturnus vulgaris
Behavioural Brain Research, 2013Co-Authors: Lauren V Riters, Jesse M S Ellis, Caroline S Angyal, Vincent J Borkowski, Melissa A Cordes, Sharon A StevensonAbstract:Abstract Male Courtship vocalizations represent a potent signal designed to attract females; however, not all females find male signals equally attractive. We explored the possibility that the affective state induced by hearing Courtship vocalizations depends on the motivational state of a receiver. We used a conditioned place preference test of reward to determine the extent to which the rewarding properties of hearing male Courtship Song differed in female European starlings categorized as nest box owners (a sign of breeding readiness) or non-owners. Nest box owners developed a preference for a chamber in which they previously heard male Courtship Song. Non-owners displayed no preference for a chamber in which they previously heard Song. Positive correlations were identified between the preference a female developed for the Song-paired chamber and female nesting and dominance behaviors observed prior to conditioning (indices of the motivation to breed). Immunolabeling for met-enkephalin (an opioid neuropeptide involved in reward) in the medial preoptic nucleus, ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens, and periaqueductal gray was higher in females with compared to those without nest boxes. Both nest box entries and Song-induced place preference also correlated positively with met-enkephalin labeling in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus. These findings indicate that the reward value of vocal signals is linked to individual differences in motivational state; and that differences in enkephalin activity may play a role in modifying an individual's motivational state and/or the reward value of Song.
David L. Stern - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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experimental and statistical reevaluation provides no evidence for drosophila Courtship Song rhythms
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017Co-Authors: David L. Stern, Jan Clemens, Philip Coen, Adam J Calhoun, John B Hogenesch, Ben J Arthur, Mala MurthyAbstract:From 1980 to 1992, a series of influential papers reported on the discovery, genetics, and evolution of a periodic cycling of the interval between Drosophila male Courtship Song pulses. The molecular mechanisms underlying this periodicity were never described. To reinitiate investigation of this phenomenon, we previously performed automated segmentation of Songs but failed to detect the proposed rhythm [Arthur BJ, et al. (2013) BMC Biol 11:11; Stern DL (2014) BMC Biol 12:38]. Kyriacou et al. [Kyriacou CP, et al. (2017) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 114:1970–1975] report that we failed to detect Song rhythms because (i) our flies did not sing enough and (ii) our segmenter did not identify many of the Song pulses. Kyriacou et al. manually annotated a subset of our recordings and reported that two strains displayed rhythms with genotype-specific periodicity, in agreement with their original reports. We cannot replicate this finding and show that the manually annotated data, the original automatically segmented data, and a new dataset provide no evidence for either the existence of Song rhythms or Song periodicity differences between genotypes. Furthermore, we have reexamined our methods and analysis and find that our automated segmentation method was not biased to prevent detection of putative Song periodicity. We conclude that there is no evidence for the existence of Drosophila Courtship Song rhythms.
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METHODOLOGY ARTICLE Open Access
2016Co-Authors: Benjamin J Arthur, Mala Murthy, Philip Coen, Tomoko Sunayama-morita, David L. SternAbstract:Multi-channel acoustic recording and automated analysis of Drosophila Courtship Song
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natural Courtship Song variation caused by an intronic retroelement in an ion channel gene
Nature, 2016Co-Authors: Yun Ding, Augusto Berrocal, Tomoko Morita, Kit D Longden, David L. SternAbstract:Natural variation in the Courtship Song of Drosophila is mapped to the intronic insertion of a retroelement at the slowpoke locus, which encodes an ion channel. An important aspect of Courtship behaviour in Drosophila is the male Courtship Song, generated when the males vibrate their wings. The features of this Courtship Song and how this varies between Drosophila species have been well-characterized. David Stern and colleagues now map the genetic variation causal for natural variation in Courtship Song between two wild isolates of D. simulans and D. mauritiana to the insertion of a retroelement at the slowpoke (slo) locus, which encodes an ion channel. Animal species display enormous variation for innate behaviours, but little is known about how this diversity arose. Here, using an unbiased genetic approach, we map a Courtship Song difference between wild isolates of Drosophila simulans and Drosophila mauritiana to a 966 base pair region within the slowpoke (slo) locus, which encodes a calcium-activated potassium channel1. Using the reciprocal hemizygosity test2, we confirm that slo is the causal locus and resolve the causal mutation to the evolutionarily recent insertion of a retroelement in a slo intron within D. simulans. Targeted deletion of this retroelement reverts the Song phenotype and alters slo splicing. Like many ion channel genes, slo is expressed widely in the nervous system and influences a variety of behaviours3,4; slo-null males sing little Song with severely disrupted features. By contrast, the natural variant of slo alters a specific component of Courtship Song, illustrating that regulatory evolution of a highly pleiotropic ion channel gene can cause modular changes in behaviour.
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doublesex regulates the connectivity of a neural circuit controlling drosophila male Courtship Song
Developmental Cell, 2016Co-Authors: Troy R Shirangi, Allan M Wong, James W Truman, David L. SternAbstract:It is unclear how regulatory genes establish neural circuits that compose sex-specific behaviors. The Drosophila melanogaster male Courtship Song provides a powerful model to study this problem. Courting males vibrate a wing to sing bouts of pulses and hums, called pulse and sine Song, respectively. We report the discovery of male-specific thoracic interneurons-the TN1A neurons-that are required specifically for sine Song. The TN1A neurons can drive the activity of a sex-non-specific wing motoneuron, hg1, which is also required for sine Song. The male-specific connection between the TN1A neurons and the hg1 motoneuron is regulated by the sexual differentiation gene doublesex. We find that doublesex is required in the TN1A neurons during development to increase the density of the TN1A arbors that interact with dendrites of the hg1 motoneuron. Our findings demonstrate how a sexual differentiation gene can build a sex-specific circuit motif by modulating neuronal arborization.
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motor control of drosophila Courtship Song
Cell Reports, 2013Co-Authors: Troy R Shirangi, David L. Stern, James W TrumanAbstract:Summary Many animals utilize acoustic signals—or Songs—to attract mates. During Courtship, Drosophila melanogaster males vibrate a wing to produce trains of pulses and extended tone, called pulse and sine Song, respectively. Courtship Songs in the genus Drosophila are exceedingly diverse, and different Song features appear to have evolved independently of each other. How the nervous system allows such diversity to evolve is not understood. Here, we identify a wing muscle in D. melanogaster (hg1) that is uniquely male-enlarged. The hg1 motoneuron and the sexually dimorphic development of the hg1 muscle are required specifically for the sine component of the male Song. In contrast, the motoneuron innervating a sexually monomorphic wing muscle, ps1, is required specifically for a feature of pulse Song. Thus, individual wing motor pathways can control separate aspects of Courtship Song and may provide a "modular" anatomical substrate for the evolution of diverse Songs.
Marlene Zuk - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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spermatophore retention may accommodate sexual signal loss in pacific field crickets
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2020Co-Authors: Mounica V Kota, Ellen M Urquhart, Marlene ZukAbstract:Sexual signals are gained and lost over evolutionary time. While signal gain has obvious fitness benefits, signal loss should present significant costs due to decreased mating opportunities. Just as female mating preferences can promote evolutionary gain and elaboration of sexual signals, they may also maintain signal loss. We investigated how two components of female mate choice are involved in rapid sexual signal loss in the Pacific field cricket (Teleogryllus oceanicus), in which many males have lost the ability to sing. Males that can sing (“normal-wings”) and obligately silent males (“flatwings”) coexist in Hawaiian populations. While we know that females prefer not to mate with flatwings, we tested whether females discriminate against flatwing males before copulation due to the lack of a Song or something inherent about their wing morphology. We combined this assessment with a test of post-copulatory preference by presenting females with either a normal-wing or flatwing male in the presence or absence of a Courtship Song stimulus. Females took significantly longer to mount males in the absence of a Courtship Song regardless of male wing morph. This is the first evidence that females discriminate against the absence of a Song during mate choice, not male wing morph. However, females retained spermatophores for equally long regardless of male wing morph and whether they heard a Courtship Song, suggesting no post-copulatory barriers in the absence of a Song. Pre- and post-copulatory sexual selections may not operate synchronously in this system, which may help explain the success of the silent morph in wild populations. Signal loss is ubiquitous in nature, despite the associated decrease in mating opportunities. We assessed how the interaction of pre- and post-copulatory preferences may accommodate signal loss. Song attracts mates in Pacific field crickets, but some males have lost the ability to sing in response to an acoustically orienting parasitoid. We measured how long females took to mount males (pre-copulatory choice) and the length of sperm transfer, i.e., spermatophore retention time (post-copulatory choice), when presented with normal and silent males in the presence and absence of a Song stimulus. Females took longer to mate in the absence of a Courtship Song but kept spermatophores for full sperm transfer, regardless of Song presence or male type. Pre-copulatory choice in this system acts against silent males, while post-copulatory choice may not. Asynchrony between these two episodes of sexual selection may allow signal loss to persist in spite of the challenges it presents to mating.
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Preexisting behavior facilitated the loss of a sexual signal in the field cricket
2015Co-Authors: Teleogryllus Oceanicus, Janelle R Mcnabb, Nathan W. Bailey, Marlene ZukAbstract:Behavioral preadaptations can provide an accommodating environment in which novel morphological characters may be se-lected. A very recent morphological mutation, flatwing, has caused the loss of male Song in field crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus) from the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Previous studies in this and related species have shown that females require male Courtship Song to mount males, but flatwing T. oceanicus males still achieve matings. Females from Kauai may have a relaxed requirement for male Courtship Song, or flatwing males may compensate for their inability to sing by altering other Courtship behaviors. We tested whether male Courtship and female responses to male Courtship were preadapted in a way that facilitated the spread of the male wing mutation or if parallel changes in male Courtship and female responses accompanied the mutation. We performed mating trials in 2 captive-bred populations to assess how mating behavior varied depending on the presence or absence of Courtship Song playback. The first was an ancestral population from Kauai established prior to the emergence of the flatwing mutation, and the second was derived from Kauai after the mutation became prevalent. Mating behaviors did not differ qualitatively or quantitatively between the ancestral and current populations, and females from both accepted males for mating in the absence of Courtship Song. Our results provide direct evidence that a mechanism allowing flatwing males to mate with females was in place before the mutation actually arose on Kauai and demonstrate how preexisting behavior facilitated the rapid spread of a novel morphological mutation. Key words: behavioral preadaptation, Courtship Song, field cricket, playback experiment, rapid evolution, Teleogryllus oceanicus. [Behav Ecol 19:202–207 (2008)] Behavioral attributes have long been recognized to influ-ence the evolution of novel morphological character
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quantitative genetic variation in Courtship Song and its covariation with immune function and sperm quality in the field cricket teleogryllus oceanicus
Behavioral Ecology, 2010Co-Authors: Leigh W Simmons, Robin M Tinghitella, Marlene ZukAbstract:Acoustic signals used by males to attract females are among the most prominent examples of secondary sexual traits, yet we have only limited understanding of their genetic architecture. Male crickets produce a calling Song to attract females and then switch to a Courtship Song that incites mounting by females once they are at close range. Although we know much about the genetics of cricket calling Song, no study has yet examined the quantitative genetics of Courtship Song. Here, we conduct a quantitative genetic analysis of Courtship Song using the Australian cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus. We find substantial levels of additive genetic variation in Courtship Song parameters and genetic covariances between Courtship Song parameters that reflect female preferences. We also found evidence for a negative relationship between the amount of trill in the Courtship Song and the ability of males to mount an immune response and to produce an ejaculate containing a high proportion of viable sperm. Trade-offs between immunity and sexual signaling are a prerequisite for immunocompetence handicap models of preference evolution, whereas a trade-off between gaining matings and fertilizations is a fundamental assumption underlying sperm competition theory. These life-history trade-offs are likely to constrain evolutionary responses to selection from female choice, and to maintain additive genetic variance in Courtship Song. Copyright 2010, Oxford University Press.
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Courtship Song's role during female mate choice in the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus
Behavioral Ecology, 2009Co-Authors: Darren Rebar, Nathan W. Bailey, Marlene ZukAbstract:Sexual signals consist of multiple components, each of which can contribute to mating decisions. Male field crickets use 2 acoustic signals in the context of mating: a calling Song that attracts females from a distance and a Courtship Song that follows once a female makes physical contact with a male. The function of Courtship is unclear because females have already chosen and approached a particular male based on his calling Song. Using the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus, we tested whether females evaluate the attractiveness of males based on their Courtship Song irrespective of other male qualities. In a tournament-style assay, females chose males based on elements of their Courtship Song and preferred males with longer Courtship Songs that had a higher duty cycle (more sound per unit time). Courtship Song was also highly repeatable not only within a bout but also between days in the presence of different females. Additionally, we manipulated the attractiveness of males to females by surgically silencing males and broadcasting playbacks of artificially constructed Courtship Songs. When we broadcast a preferred Song model during Courtship by previously nonpreferred males, females showed greater attraction, and vice versa. Courtship Song may be particularly important in systems with satellite males that do not produce long-range signals because it gives females their only opportunity to evaluate potential mates. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.
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Courtship Song is more variable than calling Song in the field cricket teleogryllus oceanicus
Animal Behaviour, 2008Co-Authors: Marlene Zuk, Darren Rebar, Sarah Primrose ScottAbstract:Most cricket species have two types of acoustic signals used in mating: the calling Song, which attracts females from a distance, and the Courtship Song, which is given only when a female has come in contact with a male. We propose that the calling Song is used mainly for species recognition, while the Courtship Song may contain information about an individual male's quality. Calling Song is therefore expected to be more stereotyped and less variable than Courtship Song. A comparison of coefficients of variation in the two types of Song in Teleogryllus oceanicus supported this prediction, with five of eight Song elements significantly more variable in Courtship than in calling Song. The remaining Song elements did not differ in variability between Courtship and calling Song. The difference did not depend on the response of the female being courted, as similar results were obtained when males courted dead females.
Melissa A Cordes - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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status appropriate singing behavior testosterone and androgen receptor immunolabeling in male european starlings sturnus vulgaris
Hormones and Behavior, 2014Co-Authors: Melissa A Cordes, Sharon A Stevenson, Lauren V RitersAbstract:Abstract Vocalizations convey information about an individual's motivational, internal, and social status. As circumstances change, individuals respond by adjusting vocal behavior accordingly. In European starlings, a male that acquires a nest site socially dominates other males and dramatically increases Courtship Song. Although circulating testosterone is associated with social status and vocal production it is possible that steroid receptors fine-tune status-appropriate changes in behavior. Here we explored a possible role for androgen receptors. Male starlings that acquired nest sites produced high rates of Courtship Song. For a subset of males this occurred even in the absence of elevated circulating testosterone. Immunolabeling for androgen receptors (ARir) was highest in the medial preoptic nucleus (POM) in males with both a nest site and elevated testosterone. For HVC, ARir was higher in dominant males with high testosterone (males that sang longer Songs) than dominant males with low testosterone (males that sang shorter Songs). ARir in the dorsal medial portion of the nucleus intercollicularis (DM) was elevated in males with high testosterone irrespective of dominance status. Song bout length related positively to ARir in POM, HVC and DM, and testosterone concentrations related positively to ARir in POM and DM. Results suggest that the role of testosterone in vocal behavior differs across brain regions and support the hypothesis that testosterone in POM underlies motivation, testosterone in HVC relates to Song quality, and testosterone in DM stimulates vocalizations. Our data also suggest that singing may influence AR independent of testosterone and that alternative androgen-independent pathways regulate status-appropriate singing behavior.
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links between breeding readiness opioid immunolabeling and the affective state induced by hearing male Courtship Song in female european starlings sturnus vulgaris
Behavioural Brain Research, 2013Co-Authors: Lauren V Riters, Jesse M S Ellis, Caroline S Angyal, Vincent J Borkowski, Melissa A Cordes, Sharon A StevensonAbstract:Abstract Male Courtship vocalizations represent a potent signal designed to attract females; however, not all females find male signals equally attractive. We explored the possibility that the affective state induced by hearing Courtship vocalizations depends on the motivational state of a receiver. We used a conditioned place preference test of reward to determine the extent to which the rewarding properties of hearing male Courtship Song differed in female European starlings categorized as nest box owners (a sign of breeding readiness) or non-owners. Nest box owners developed a preference for a chamber in which they previously heard male Courtship Song. Non-owners displayed no preference for a chamber in which they previously heard Song. Positive correlations were identified between the preference a female developed for the Song-paired chamber and female nesting and dominance behaviors observed prior to conditioning (indices of the motivation to breed). Immunolabeling for met-enkephalin (an opioid neuropeptide involved in reward) in the medial preoptic nucleus, ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens, and periaqueductal gray was higher in females with compared to those without nest boxes. Both nest box entries and Song-induced place preference also correlated positively with met-enkephalin labeling in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus. These findings indicate that the reward value of vocal signals is linked to individual differences in motivational state; and that differences in enkephalin activity may play a role in modifying an individual's motivational state and/or the reward value of Song.
