INTECH   27907
INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE CHASCOMUS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Fighting fish: how the social decision making network and sex steroids can explain aggression.
Autor/es:
IBUKUM AKINRINADE; GUSTAVO M. SOMOZA; RUI OLIVEIRA; MARÍA FLORENCIA SCAIA; MATÍAS PANDOLFI
Lugar:
Buenos Aires
Reunión:
Congreso; XXXV Annual Meeting VIRTUAL SAN 2020; 2020
Institución organizadora:
Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias
Resumen:
The neural substrate of social behavior has been described as a ?social decision-making network? (SDMN) in which each brain area is involved in multiple forms of social behavior, including aggression. Interestingly, the neural and neuroendocrine basis of fighting behavior is usually studied in males, while females remain understudied. The aim of this study is to compare mechanisms regulating intrasexual aggression in male and female fish, and it consists of two modules assessing different species. In one case we studied the neural substrate of aggression in Danio rerio. Interactions were recorded during dyadic encounters and patterns of brain activation in the SDMN were compared. Results suggest that the time of resolution is shorter in females (p=0.0204), and that data can be clustered into two groups corresponding to both sexes (p=0.01). Moreover, network analysis shows that there is higher activation in all brain areas in animals exposed to social interaction, and that female winners show mainly positive correlations among brain areas, which differs from female losers and males showing the opposite trend. These results suggest that differences in fighting behavior between males and female are related to differential pattern of brain activation in the SDMN. We also studied the role of sex steroids on aggression in the Neotropical cichlid Cichlasoma dimerus. In this case, sex steroids and morphometric variables were determined after dyadic encounters. This multivariate analysis suggests that aggression did not differ in males and females, while clustering into winners and losers is explained by specific agonistic displays (p=0.001). Finally, results suggest that estradiol levels can predict female winners and that they might have a role not only as a positive modulator of aggression, but also as a negative modulator of submission. This study highlights the importance of assessing different species to understand the mechanisms underlying aggression.