INVESTIGADORES
SOMOZA Gustavo Manuel
artículos
Título:
Dietary L-tryptophan modulates agonistic behavior and brain serotonin in male dyadic contests of a cichlid fish
Autor/es:
LEONEL MORANDINI; MARTÍN RAMALLO; MARÍA FLORENCIA SCAIA; CHRISTIAN HÖCHT; GUSTAVO M. SOMOZA; MATÍAS PANDOLFI
Revista:
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY B-BIOCHEMICAL SYSTEMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY
Editorial:
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
Referencias:
Lugar: HEIDELBERG; Año: 2019 vol. 205 p. 867 - 880
ISSN:
0174-1578
Resumen:
Although some studies have investigated the effects of dietary L-tryptophan on agonistic behavior, research on adult fish specimens is still lacking. Moreover, submissive behaviors have been generally overlooked. We focused on agonistic behavior between males of the cichlid fish Cichlasoma dimerus, in dyadic encounters held in a novel context after being fed or not with an L-tryptophan enriched diet (TRP) for two weeks. We arranged three different dyads: control/control (control conditions: not TRP enriched), control/TRP and TRP/TRP. We also registered the response of the brain serotonergic system in four brain regions. TRP/TRP dyads showed higher latencies to first attack, lower overall aggression, and lower proportions of bites and passive copings (submissive display) compared to control/control. TRP dominant males performed fewer bites with respect to controls, and subordinate males opposed to TRP males showed fewer passive copings. Higher serotonergic activities were found in subordinates? optic tectum, and in the telencephalon and preoptic area/hypothalamus of TRP-males. Altogether, results point out that dietary L-tryptophan reduced males? motivation to attack and dominant aggression, which consequently influenced subordinate agonistic repertory. In addition, males within TRP/TRP dyads showed a switch in their behavioral agonistic repertory. These behavioral outcomes were probably due to modifications at brain serotonergic functioning.