Agonistic encounters and brain activation in dominant and subordinate male greater long-tailed hamsters

During an agonistic encounter test, dominant male greater long-tailed hamsters ( Tscheskia triton) initiated attacks sooner and displayed higher levels of aggression and flank marking behavior than their subordinate counterparts. Accordingly, subordinate males exhibited more defensive behavior than...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hormones and behavior 2010-08, Vol.58 (3), p.478-484
Main Authors: Pan, Yongliang, Xu, Linxi, Young, Kimberly A., Wang, Zuoxin, Zhang, Zhibin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggression
Aggressiveness
Agonistic Behavior - physiology
Amygdala
Animals
Anterior hypothalamus
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain Chemistry
c-fos
Cricetinae
Defense
Dominance-Subordination
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hormones and behavior
Male
Males
Medial preoptic area
Neurology
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos - analysis
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Rodents
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Summary:During an agonistic encounter test, dominant male greater long-tailed hamsters ( Tscheskia triton) initiated attacks sooner and displayed higher levels of aggression and flank marking behavior than their subordinate counterparts. Accordingly, subordinate males exhibited more defensive behavior than dominant ones. Specific patterns of neuronal activation, measured by Fos-immunoreactive staining (Fos-ir), were found in the hamster brain following agonistic interactions. Increased Fos-ir was observed in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), and medial (MeA) and anterior cortical (ACo) nuclei of the amygdala (AMYG) in both dominant and subordinate males. In contrast, dominant males had significantly higher Fos-ir densities in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) than subordinate males, whereas subordinate males expressed higher densities of Fos-ir in the anterior hypothalamus (AH) and central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA). Additionally, Fos-ir levels in the MPOA were significantly correlated with aggression and Fos-ir levels in the AH and CeA were correlated with defensive behavior. Together, our data indicate distinct patterns of neuronal activation associated with agonistic encounters in a behavior-specific manner in male greater long-tailed hamsters.
ISSN:0018-506X
1095-6867
DOI:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.05.001