Differences in neural activity, but not behavior, across social contexts in guppies, Poecilia reticulata

Animals are continually faced with the challenge of producing context-appropriate social behaviors. In many instances, appropriate behaviors differ by social situation. However, in some instances, the same behaviors are employed across different social contexts, albeit in response to distinct stimul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral ecology and sociobiology 2018-08, Vol.72 (8), p.1-12, Article 131
Main Authors: Fischer, Eva K., Westrick, Sarah E., Hartsough, Lauren, Hoke, Kim L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggression
Analogies
Anatomy
Animal behavior
Animal Ecology
Animals
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Brain
Brain architecture
Fish
Homology
Life Sciences
Mating
Neural coding
Neurobiology
Offspring
Original Article
Poecilia reticulata
Preoptic area
Septum
Social behavior
Stimuli
Telencephalon
Ventral tegmentum
Zoology
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Summary:Animals are continually faced with the challenge of producing context-appropriate social behaviors. In many instances, appropriate behaviors differ by social situation. However, in some instances, the same behaviors are employed across different social contexts, albeit in response to distinct stimuli and with distinct purposes. We took advantage of behavioral similarities across mating and aggression contexts in guppies, Poecilia reticulata, to understand how patterns of neural activity differ across social contexts when behaviors are nonetheless shared. While there is growing interest in understanding behavioral mechanisms in guppies, resources are sparse. As part of this study, we developed a neuroanatomical atlas of the guppy brain as a research community resource. Using this atlas, we found that neural activity in the preoptic area reflected social context, whereas individual differences in behavioral motivation paralleled activity in the posterior tuberculum and ventral telencephalon (teleost homologs of the mammalian ventral tegmental area and lateral septum, respectively). Our findings suggest independent coding of social salience versus behavioral motivation when behavioral repertoires are shared across social contexts.
ISSN:0340-5443
1432-0762
DOI:10.1007/s00265-018-2548-9