Fighting fish: how the social decision making network and sex steroids can explain aggression.

MARIA FLORENCIA SCAIA; GUSTAVO SOMOZA; IBUKUN AKINRINADE; MATIAS PANDOLFI; RUI OLIVEIRA

Modalidad Virtual

Congreso; XXXV Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2020

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

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 neuroendocrine basis of fighting behavior is understudied in females when compared to males. The aim of this study is to compare mechanisms regulating intrasexual aggression in male and female fish. In the first module, we studied the neural substrate of aggression in zebrafish. After performing dyadic encounters, behavioral data is clustered into two groups corresponding to both sexes. Network analysis shows a higher activation in all brain areas in animals exposed to social interaction, and suggests that patterns of brain activation in the SDMN in female winners differs from female losers and males. This suggests that differences in fighting behavior between males and female are related to differential pattern of brain activation in the SDMN. In the second module we studied the role of sex steroids on aggression in the cichlid Cichlasoma dimerus. Multivariate analysis including hormonal, morphometric and behavioral variables suggests that clustering of males and females into winners and losers is explained by specific agonistic displays, and that estradiol 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 studying different species to study aggression.