Expression of aggressiveness modulate mesencephalic c-Fos activation during a social interaction test in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix) reared in enriched or plain environments

JACKELYN M. KEMBRO; CALIVA, J. M.; MARINO-NETO, JOSE; MARIN, RAUL H.

cordoba

Congreso; XXXXIII Congreso Anual SAN 2018; 2018

Sociedad Argentina de Investigacion en Neurociencias

Display of aggression is associated with both the animal?s propensity to behave aggressively and their opponent´s behavior. Recently, a social interaction test (SI) that focuses only on the experimental bird aggressiveness by assessing its behavior against a non-aggressive opponent (photocastrated counterpart) was developed. The avian Intercollicular-GCt complex (comparable with periaqueductal gray) is a node in the descending pathways that organize behavioral and autonomic aspects of defensive responses and aggressiveness. Using SI, we evaluated whether mesencephalic areas are involved in the expression of aggressive behaviors in adult males and whether the mesencephalic activation is related to the male performance (aggressive vs. non-aggressive) during the trial, and to the environmental stimulation received during birds´ breeding/rearing (standard vs. enriched). Five mesencephalic areas (at two anatomic levels) were studied by determining C-Fos expression. Aggressive males showed increased c-Fos labeling in all areas in comparison to non-aggressive and control birds. Non-aggressive and test control males showed similar c-Fos labeling. Environmental stimulation did not appear to influence c-Fos expression. Results suggest that the mesencephalic areas are involved only when males are actively expressing aggressive behaviors. The phenomena is shown regardless of both the environmental stimuli received during the birds´ rearing, and the stressful stimuli during the trial