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Ghahramani ZN, Perelmuter JT, Varughese J, Kyaw P, Palmer WC, Sisneros JA, Forlano PM. Activation of noradrenergic locus coeruleus and social behavior network nuclei varies with duration of male midshipman advertisement calls. Behav Brain Res 2022; 423:113745. [PMID: 35033611 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.113745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Revised: 12/28/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Vocal courtship is vital to the reproductive success of many vertebrates and is therefore a highly-motivated behavioral state. Catecholamines have been shown to play an essential role in the expression and maintenance of motivated vocal behavior, such as the coordination of vocal-motor output in songbirds. However, it is not well-understood if this relationship applies to anamniote vocal species. Using the plainfin midshipman fish model, we tested whether specific catecholaminergic (i.e., dopaminergic and noradrenergic) nuclei and nodes of the social behavior network (SBN) are differentially activated in vocally courting (humming) versus non-humming males. Herein, we demonstrate that tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive (TH-ir) neuron number in the noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC) and induction of cFos (an immediate early gene product and proxy for neural activation) in the preoptic area differentiated humming from non-humming males. Furthermore, we found relationships between activation of the LC and SBN nuclei with the total amount of time that males spent humming, further reinforcing a role for these specific brain regions in the production of motivated reproductive-related vocalizations. Finally, we found that patterns of functional connectivity between catecholaminergic nuclei and nodes of the SBN differed between humming and non-humming males, supporting the notion that adaptive behaviors (such as the expression of advertisement hums) emerge from the interactions between various catecholaminergic nuclei and the SBN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary N Ghahramani
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA, USA; Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Doctoral Subprograms in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior,.
| | - Jonathan T Perelmuter
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Neuroscience, and Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Joshua Varughese
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Phoo Kyaw
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | | | - Joseph A Sisneros
- Departments of Biology and Psychology,; University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Virginia Bloedel Hearing Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Paul M Forlano
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Doctoral Subprograms in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior,; Neuroscience, and Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA; Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
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Schuppe ER, Zhang MD, Perelmuter JT, Marchaterre MA, Bass AH. Oxytocin-like receptor expression in evolutionarily conserved nodes of a vocal network associated with male courtship in a teleost fish. J Comp Neurol 2021; 530:903-922. [PMID: 34614539 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Revised: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Neuropeptides, including oxytocin-like peptides, are a conserved group of hormones that regulate a wide range of social behaviors, including vocal communication. In the current study, we evaluate whether putative brain sites for the actions of isotocin (IT), the oxytocin (OT) homolog of teleost fishes are associated with vocal courtship and circuitry in the plainfin midshipman fish (Porichthys notatus). During the breeding season, nesting males produce advertisement calls known as "hums" to acoustically court females at night and attract them to nests. We first identify IT receptor (ITR) mRNA in evolutionarily conserved regions of the forebrain preoptic area (POA), anterior hypothalamus (AH), and midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG), and in two topographically separate populations within the hindbrain vocal pattern generator- duration-coding vocal prepacemaker (VPP) and amplitude-coding vocal motor nuclei (VMN) that also innervate vocal muscles. We also verify that ITR expression overlaps known distribution sites of OT-like immunoreactive fibers. Next, using phosphorylated ribosomal subunit 6 (pS6) as a marker for activated neurons, we demonstrate that ITR-containing neurons in the anterior parvocellular POA, AH, PAG, VPP, and VMN are activated in humming males. Posterior parvocellular and magno/gigantocellular divisions of the POA remain constitutively active in nonhumming males that are also in a reproductive state. Together with prior studies of midshipman fish and other vertebrates, our findings suggest that IT-signaling influences male courtship behavior, in part, by acting on brain regions that broadly influence behavioral state (POA) as well as the initiation (POA and PAG) and temporal structure (VPP and VMN) of advertisement hums.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric R Schuppe
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Melissa D Zhang
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | | | | | - Andrew H Bass
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
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Ye C, Xu S, Hu Q, Hu M, Zhou L, Qin X, Jia J, Hu G. Structure and function analysis of various brain subregions and pituitary in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus). COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY D-GENOMICS & PROTEOMICS 2020; 33:100653. [PMID: 31923798 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbd.2019.100653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2019] [Revised: 12/23/2019] [Accepted: 12/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
It has been generally acknowledged that environment could alter the morphology and functional differentiation of vertebrate brain. However, as the largest group of all vertebrates, studies about the structures and functions of various brain subregions in teleost are still scarce. In this study, using grass carp as a model, histology method and RNA-sequencing were recruited to examine the microstructure and transcript levels among different brain subregions and pituitary. Histological results showed that the grass carp brain was composed of six parts, including olfactory bulb, telencephalon, hypothalamus, optic tectum, cerebellum, and medulla oblongata. In addition, compared to elasmobranchs and non-teleost bony ray-finned fishes, grass carp lost the hypothalamo-hypophyseal portal system, instead the hypophysiotropic neurons were directly terminated in the pituitary cells. At the transcriptomic level, our results suggested that the olfactory bulb might be related to reproduction and immune function. The telencephalon was deemed to be involved in the regulation of appetite and reproduction. The optic tectum might play important roles in the vision system and feeding. The hypothalamus could regulate feeding, and reproduction process. The medulla oblongata was related with the auditory system. The pituitary seemed to play pivotal roles in energy metabolism, organ development and reproduction. Finally, the correlation analysis suggested that the hypothalamus and the telencephalon were highly related, and close anatomical connection and overlapping functions suggested that the telencephalon and hypothalamus might be the regulation center of feeding and reproduction among teleost brain. This study provided a global view of the microstructures and specific functions of various brain subregions and pituitary in teleost. These results will be very helpful for further study in the neuroendocrinology regulation of growth and reproduction in teleost brain-pituitary axis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Ye
- College of Fisheries, Hubei Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Pond Aquaculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Shaohua Xu
- College of Fisheries, Hubei Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Pond Aquaculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Qiongyao Hu
- College of Fisheries, Hubei Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Pond Aquaculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Minqiang Hu
- College of Fisheries, Hubei Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Pond Aquaculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Lingling Zhou
- College of Fisheries, Hubei Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Pond Aquaculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Xiangfeng Qin
- College of Fisheries, Hubei Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Pond Aquaculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Jingyi Jia
- College of Fisheries, Hubei Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Pond Aquaculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Guangfu Hu
- College of Fisheries, Hubei Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Pond Aquaculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
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Mohr RA, Chang Y, Bhandiwad AA, Forlano PM, Sisneros JA. Brain Activation Patterns in Response to Conspecific and Heterospecific Social Acoustic Signals in Female Plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2018; 91:31-44. [PMID: 29597197 DOI: 10.1159/000487122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2017] [Accepted: 01/24/2018] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
While the peripheral auditory system of fish has been well studied, less is known about how the fish's brain and central auditory system process complex social acoustic signals. The plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, has become a good species for investigating the neural basis of acoustic communication because the production and reception of acoustic signals is paramount for this species' reproductive success. Nesting males produce long-duration advertisement calls that females detect and localize among the noise in the intertidal zone to successfully find mates and spawn. How female midshipman are able to discriminate male advertisement calls from environmental noise and other acoustic stimuli is unknown. Using the immediate early gene product cFos as a marker for neural activity, we quantified neural activation of the ascending auditory pathway in female midshipman exposed to conspecific advertisement calls, heterospecific white seabass calls, or ambient environment noise. We hypothesized that auditory hindbrain nuclei would be activated by general acoustic stimuli (ambient noise and other biotic acoustic stimuli) whereas auditory neurons in the midbrain and forebrain would be selectively activated by conspecific advertisement calls. We show that neural activation in two regions of the auditory hindbrain, i.e., the rostral intermediate division of the descending octaval nucleus and the ventral division of the secondary octaval nucleus, did not differ via cFos immunoreactive (cFos-ir) activity when exposed to different acoustic stimuli. In contrast, female midshipman exposed to conspecific advertisement calls showed greater cFos-ir in the nucleus centralis of the midbrain torus semicircularis compared to fish exposed only to ambient noise. No difference in cFos-ir was observed in the torus semicircularis of animals exposed to conspecific versus heterospecific calls. However, cFos-ir was greater in two forebrain structures that receive auditory input, i.e., the central posterior nucleus of the thalamus and the anterior tuberal hypothalamus, when exposed to conspecific calls versus either ambient noise or heterospecific calls. Our results suggest that higher-order neurons in the female midshipman midbrain torus semicircularis, thalamic central posterior nucleus, and hypothalamic anterior tuberal nucleus may be necessary for the discrimination of complex social acoustic signals. Furthermore, neurons in the central posterior and anterior tuberal nuclei are differentially activated by exposure to conspecific versus other acoustic stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert A Mohr
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Yiran Chang
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Ashwin A Bhandiwad
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Paul M Forlano
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, USA.,Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, New York, USA.,Program in Neuroscience, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, New York, USA.,Program in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Joseph A Sisneros
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.,Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.,Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
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Miranda RA, Searcy BT, Propper CR. Arginine vasotocin induces calling behavior with a female social stimulus and interacts with gonadotropins to affect sexual behaviors in male Xenopus tropicalis. Physiol Behav 2015; 151:72-80. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.06.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2015] [Revised: 06/18/2015] [Accepted: 06/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Feng NY, Fergus DJ, Bass AH. Neural transcriptome reveals molecular mechanisms for temporal control of vocalization across multiple timescales. BMC Genomics 2015; 16:408. [PMID: 26014649 PMCID: PMC4446069 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-015-1577-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2015] [Accepted: 04/24/2015] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Vocalization is a prominent social behavior among vertebrates, including in the midshipman fish, an established model for elucidating the neural basis of acoustic communication. Courtship vocalizations produced by territorial males are essential for reproductive success, vary over daily and seasonal cycles, and last up to hours per call. Vocalizations rely upon extreme synchrony and millisecond precision in the firing of a homogeneous population of motoneurons, the vocal motor nucleus (VMN). Although studies have identified neural mechanisms driving rapid, precise, and stable neuronal firing over long periods of calling, little is known about underlying genetic/molecular mechanisms. Results We used RNA sequencing-based transcriptome analyses to compare patterns of gene expression in VMN to the surrounding hindbrain across three daily and seasonal time points of high and low sound production to identify candidate genes that underlie VMN’s intrinsic and network neuronal properties. Results from gene ontology enrichment, enzyme pathway mapping, and gene category-wide expression levels highlighted the importance of cellular respiration in VMN function, consistent with the high energetic demands of sustained vocal behavior. Functionally important candidate genes upregulated in the VMN, including at time points corresponding to high natural vocal activity, encode ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors, hormone receptors and biosynthetic enzymes, neuromodulators, aerobic respiration enzymes, and antioxidants. Quantitative PCR and RNA-seq expression levels for 28 genes were significantly correlated. Many candidate gene products regulate mechanisms of neuronal excitability, including those previously identified in VMN motoneurons, as well as novel ones that remain to be investigated. Supporting evidence from previous studies in midshipman strongly validate the value of transcriptomic analyses for linking genes to neural characters that drive behavior. Conclusions Transcriptome analyses highlighted a suite of molecular mechanisms that regulate vocalization over behaviorally relevant timescales, spanning milliseconds to hours and seasons. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive characterization of gene expression in a dedicated vocal motor nucleus. Candidate genes identified here may belong to a conserved genetic toolkit for vocal motoneurons facing similar energetic and neurophysiological demands. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1577-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ni Y Feng
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA.
| | - Daniel J Fergus
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA. .,Current Address: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Genomics and Microbiology, 27601, Raleigh, NC, USA.
| | - Andrew H Bass
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA.
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Forlano PM, Sisneros JA, Rohmann KN, Bass AH. Neuroendocrine control of seasonal plasticity in the auditory and vocal systems of fish. Front Neuroendocrinol 2015; 37:129-45. [PMID: 25168757 PMCID: PMC4342331 DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2014.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2014] [Revised: 08/09/2014] [Accepted: 08/14/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Seasonal changes in reproductive-related vocal behavior are widespread among fishes. This review highlights recent studies of the vocal plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, a neuroethological model system used for the past two decades to explore neural and endocrine mechanisms of vocal-acoustic social behaviors shared with tetrapods. Integrative approaches combining behavior, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, neuroanatomy, and gene expression methodologies have taken advantage of simple, stereotyped and easily quantifiable behaviors controlled by discrete neural networks in this model system to enable discoveries such as the first demonstration of adaptive seasonal plasticity in the auditory periphery of a vertebrate as well as rapid steroid and neuropeptide effects on vocal physiology and behavior. This simple model system has now revealed cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying seasonal and steroid-driven auditory and vocal plasticity in the vertebrate brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul M Forlano
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY 11210, United States; Programs in Neuroscience, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, and Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, United States; Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY 11210, United States.
| | - Joseph A Sisneros
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States; Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States; Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center, Seattle, WA 98195, United States
| | - Kevin N Rohmann
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
| | - Andrew H Bass
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States; Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California, Bodega Bay, CA, 94923, United States
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Chagnaud BP, Bass AH. Vocal behavior and vocal central pattern generator organization diverge among toadfishes. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2014; 84:51-65. [PMID: 25115796 DOI: 10.1159/000362916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2013] [Accepted: 04/17/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Among fishes, acoustic communication is best studied in toadfishes, a single order and family that includes species commonly known as toadfish and midshipman. However, there is a lack of comparative anatomical and physiological studies, making it difficult to identify both shared and derived mechanisms of vocalization among toadfishes. Here, vocal nerve labeling and intracellular in vivo recording and staining delineated the hindbrain vocal network of the Gulf toadfish Opsanus beta. Dextran-biotin labeling of the vocal nerve or intracellular neurobiotin fills of motoneurons delineated a midline vocal motor nucleus (VMN). Motoneurons showed bilaterally extensive dendritic arbors both within and lateral to the paired motor nuclei. The motoneuron activity matched that of the spike-like vocal nerve motor volley that determines the natural call duration and frequency. Ipsilateral vocal nerve labeling with biocytin or neurobiotin yielded dense bilateral transneuronal filling of motoneurons and coextensive columns of premotor neurons. These premotor neurons generated pacemaker-like action potentials matched 1:1 with vocal nerve and motoneuron firing. Transneuronal transport further revealed connectivity within and between the pacemaker-motor circuit and a rostral prepacemaker nucleus. Unlike the pacemaker-motor circuit, prepacemaker firing did not match the frequency of vocal nerve activity but instead was predictive of the duration of the vocal nerve volley that codes for call duration. Transneuronally labeled terminal-like boutons also occurred in auditory-recipient hindbrain nuclei, including neurons innervating the inner ear and lateral line organs. Together with studies of midshipman, we propose that separate premotor populations coding vocal frequency and duration with direct premotor coupling to auditory-lateral line nuclei are plesiomorphic characters for toadfishes. Unlike in midshipman, transneuronal labeling in toadfishes reveals an expansive column of pacemaker neurons that is weakly coupled to prepacemaker neurons, a character that likely depends on the extent of gap junction coupling. We propose that these and other anatomical characters contribute to neurophysiological properties that, in turn, sculpt the species-typical patterning of frequency and amplitude-modulated vocalizations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boris P Chagnaud
- Department of Biology II, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
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Kittelberger JM, Bass AH. Vocal-motor and auditory connectivity of the midbrain periaqueductal gray in a teleost fish. J Comp Neurol 2013; 521:791-812. [PMID: 22826153 DOI: 10.1002/cne.23202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2012] [Revised: 06/03/2012] [Accepted: 07/20/2012] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG) plays a central role in the descending control of vocalization across vertebrates. The PAG has also been implicated in auditory-vocal integration, although its precise role in such integration remains largely unexplored. Courtship and territorial interactions in plainfin midshipman fish depend on vocal communication, and the PAG is a central component of the midshipman vocal-motor system. We made focal neurobiotin injections into the midshipman PAG to both map its auditory-vocal circuitry and allow evolutionary comparisons with tetrapod vertebrates. These injections revealed an extensive bidirectional pattern of connectivity between the PAG and known sites in both the descending vocal-motor and the ascending auditory systems, including portions of the telencephalon, dorsal thalamus, hypothalamus, posterior tuberculum, midbrain, and hindbrain. Injections in the medial PAG produced dense label within hindbrain auditory nuclei, whereas those confined to the lateral PAG preferentially labeled hypothalamic and midbrain auditory areas. Thus, the teleost PAG may have functional subdivisions playing different roles in vocal-auditory integration. Together the results confirm several pathways previously identified by injections into known auditory or vocal areas and provide strong support for the hypothesis that the teleost PAG is centrally involved in auditory-vocal integration.
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Petersen CL, Timothy M, Kim DS, Bhandiwad AA, Mohr RA, Sisneros JA, Forlano PM. Exposure to advertisement calls of reproductive competitors activates vocal-acoustic and catecholaminergic neurons in the plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus. PLoS One 2013; 8:e70474. [PMID: 23936438 PMCID: PMC3735598 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2013] [Accepted: 06/18/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
While the neural circuitry and physiology of the auditory system is well studied among vertebrates, far less is known about how the auditory system interacts with other neural substrates to mediate behavioral responses to social acoustic signals. One species that has been the subject of intensive neuroethological investigation with regard to the production and perception of social acoustic signals is the plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, in part because acoustic communication is essential to their reproductive behavior. Nesting male midshipman vocally court females by producing a long duration advertisement call. Females localize males by their advertisement call, spawn and deposit all their eggs in their mate’s nest. As multiple courting males establish nests in close proximity to one another, the perception of another male’s call may modulate individual calling behavior in competition for females. We tested the hypothesis that nesting males exposed to advertisement calls of other males would show elevated neural activity in auditory and vocal-acoustic brain centers as well as differential activation of catecholaminergic neurons compared to males exposed only to ambient noise. Experimental brains were then double labeled by immunofluorescence (-ir) for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), an enzyme necessary for catecholamine synthesis, and cFos, an immediate-early gene product used as a marker for neural activation. Males exposed to other advertisement calls showed a significantly greater percentage of TH-ir cells colocalized with cFos-ir in the noradrenergic locus coeruleus and the dopaminergic periventricular posterior tuberculum, as well as increased numbers of cFos-ir neurons in several levels of the auditory and vocal-acoustic pathway. Increased activation of catecholaminergic neurons may serve to coordinate appropriate behavioral responses to male competitors. Additionally, these results implicate a role for specific catecholaminergic neuronal groups in auditory-driven social behavior in fishes, consistent with a conserved function in social acoustic behavior across vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher L. Petersen
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America
| | - Miky Timothy
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America
| | - D. Spencer Kim
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America
| | - Ashwin A. Bhandiwad
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Robert A. Mohr
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Joseph A. Sisneros
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- Virginia Bloedel Hearing Research Center, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Paul M. Forlano
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America
- Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America
- Programs in Neuroscience, and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Bass AH. Steroid-dependent plasticity of vocal motor systems: Novel insights from teleost fish. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008; 57:299-308. [PMID: 17524490 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresrev.2007.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2007] [Revised: 04/18/2007] [Accepted: 04/18/2007] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Vocal communication is a trait shared by most vertebrates. Non-mammalian model systems have provided exquisite examples of how motor and sensory systems, respectively, produce and encode the physical attributes of acoustic communication signals that play essential roles in mediating the dynamics of social behavior. These same models, mainly developed for a few species of fish, amphibians and birds, have proven to be equally important for demonstrating how steroids and other hormones shape the neural mechanisms of vocal communication. This review mainly considers recent studies in teleost fish demonstrating the role of steroids in the rapid modulation of the firing properties of a central pattern generator for vocalization. Thus, steroids, like other classes of neurochemicals, can play an instrumental role in reshaping the neurophysiological coding of motor patterning, in this case for social signaling behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- A H Bass
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Seeley G. Mudd Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
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Kittelberger JM, Land BR, Bass AH. Midbrain periaqueductal gray and vocal patterning in a teleost fish. J Neurophysiol 2006; 96:71-85. [PMID: 16598068 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00067.2006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Midbrain structures, including the periaqueductal gray (PAG), are essential nodes in vertebrate motor circuits controlling a broad range of behaviors, from locomotion to complex social behaviors such as vocalization. Few single-unit recording studies, so far all in mammals, have investigated the PAG's role in the temporal patterning of these behaviors. Midshipman fish use vocalization to signal social intent in territorial and courtship interactions. Evidence has implicated a region of their midbrain, located in a similar position as the mammalian PAG, in call production. Here, extracellular single-unit recordings of PAG neuronal activity were made during forebrain-evoked fictive vocalizations that mimic natural call types and reflect the rhythmic output of a known hindbrain-spinal pattern generator. The activity patterns of vocally active PAG neurons were mostly correlated with features related to fictive call initiation. However, spike trains in a subset of neurons predicted the duration of vocal output. Duration is the primary feature distinguishing call types used in different social contexts and these cells may play a role in directly establishing this temporal dimension of vocalization. Reversible, lidocaine inactivation experiments demonstrated the necessity of the midshipman PAG for fictive vocalization, whereas tract-tracing studies revealed the PAG's connectivity to vocal motor centers in the fore- and hindbrain comparable to that in mammals. Together, these data support the hypotheses that the midbrain PAG of teleosts plays an essential role in vocalization and is convergent in both its functional and structural organization to the PAG of mammals.
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Bass AH, Zakon HH. Sonic and electric fish: at the crossroads of neuroethology and behavioral neuroendocrinology. Horm Behav 2005; 48:360-72. [PMID: 16005002 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2005.05.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2005] [Revised: 05/23/2005] [Accepted: 05/31/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Field and laboratory studies of weakly electric and sound-producing teleost fishes demonstrate how steroidal and non-steroidal hormones mediate the translation of neural events into behavior. The development of this research program has depended upon an interdisciplinary neuroethological approach that has characterized the neurophysiological properties of the motor and sensory pathways that lead to the production and detection of easily quantified highly stereotyped behaviors, namely, electric organ discharges (EODs) and vocalizations. Neuroethological studies of these teleosts have now integrated a behavioral neuroendocrinology approach that has provided several examples of how hormone-sensitive neurobiological traits contribute to adaptive behavioral plasticity in natural habitats. As such, these studies provide guideposts for comparable studies in other groups of teleosts and vertebrates in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew H Bass
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Seeley G. Mudd Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
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Matsuda K, Maruyama K, Nakamachi T, Miura T, Uchiyama M, Shioda S. Inhibitory effects of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) on food intake in the goldfish, Carassius auratus. Peptides 2005; 26:1611-6. [PMID: 16112400 DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2005.02.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2005] [Revised: 02/24/2005] [Accepted: 02/28/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) has a similar structure to that of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and both the polypeptides belong to the same molecular group, the secretin-glucagon superfamily. PACAP and VIP have possible potency as hypothalamic factors mediating the release of pituitary hormones in the fish pituitary. However, the roles of PACAP and VIP in the central nervous systems of fish have not yet been made clear. Recently, it was reported that PACAP and/or VIP are involved in the feeding behavior of the mouse and chick. Therefore, we investigated the effects of intracerebroventricular (ICV) and intraperitoneal (IP) administration of synthetic PACAP and VIP on food intake in the goldfish, Carassius auratus. Cumulative food intake was significantly decreased by ICV injection of PACAP (11 or 22 pmol/g body weight) or VIP (11 or 22 pmol/g) during a 60-min observation period after treatment. IP administration of PACAP (44 or 88 pmol/g) or VIP (22 or 44 pmol/g) induced a significant decrease in food intake during a 60-min observation period after treatment. These results suggest that PACAP and VIP may be involved as feeding regulators in goldfish.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kouhei Matsuda
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Toyama University, 3190-Gofuku, Toyama 930-8555, Japan.
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Goodson JL. The vertebrate social behavior network: evolutionary themes and variations. Horm Behav 2005; 48:11-22. [PMID: 15885690 PMCID: PMC2570781 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2005.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 535] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2005] [Revised: 01/29/2005] [Accepted: 02/01/2005] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Based on a wide variety of data, it is now clear that birds and teleost (bony) fish possess a core "social behavior network" within the basal forebrain and midbrain that is homologous to the social behavior network of mammals. The nodes of this network are reciprocally connected, contain receptors for sex steroid hormones, and are involved in multiple forms of social behavior. Other hodological features and neuropeptide distributions are likewise very similar across taxa. This evolutionary conservation represents a boon for experiments on phenotypic behavioral variation, as the extraordinary social diversity of teleost fish and songbirds can now be used to generate broadly relevant insights into issues of brain function that are not particularly tractable in other vertebrate groups. Two such lines of research are presented here, each of which addresses functional variation within the network as it relates to divergent patterns of social behavior. In the first set of experiments, we have used a sexually polymorphic fish to demonstrate that natural selection can operate independently on hypothalamic neuroendocrine functions that are relevant for (1) gonadal regulation and (2) sex-typical behavioral modulation. In the second set of experiments, we have exploited the diversity of avian social organizations and ecologies to isolate species-typical group size as a quasi-independent variable. These experiments have shown that specific areas and peptidergic components of the social behavior network possess functional properties that evolve in parallel with divergence and convergence in sociality.
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Affiliation(s)
- James L Goodson
- Psychology Department, 0109, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
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Carlson BA, Hopkins CD. Central control of electric signaling behavior in the mormyrid Brienomyrus brachyistius: segregation of behavior-specific inputs and the role of modifiable recurrent inhibition. J Exp Biol 2004; 207:1073-84. [PMID: 14978050 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.00851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARY
Like all mormyrid fish, Brienomyrus brachyistius produces an electric organ discharge (EOD) with a constant waveform and variable sequence of pulse intervals (SPI). Periodic bursts fall into two display categories termed `scallops' and `accelerations', with a third category termed `rasps'that appears to combine the two. The medullary EOD command nucleus (CN)receives excitatory input from the midbrain precommand nucleus (PCN) and the thalamic dorsal posterior nucleus (DP), both of which are regulated by a recurrent inhibitory projection from the ventroposterior nucleus of the torus semicircularis (VP). We tested the following hypotheses: (1) PCN and DP are responsible for generating different burst types (scallops and accelerations,respectively), (2) differences in the strength of recurrent inhibition are related to physiological differences between PCN and DP and (3) recurrent inhibition regulates the resting electromotor rhythm, while disinhibition releases PCN and DP, allowing them to generate bursts. Iontophoresis of the excitatory neurotransmitter l-glutamate (l-Glu) into DP led to acceleration-like output patterns, while in PCN it led to scallop-like output patterns. Iontophoresis of the inhibitory neurotransmitterγ-amino-butyric acid (GABA) into DP and PCN led to an elongation of intervals, as did iontophoresis of l-Glu into VP. Iontophoresis of the GABAA receptor blocker bicuculline methiodide (BMI) into DP and PCN induced repetitive bursting behavior and eliminated differences in the effects of l-Glu iontophoresis in the two nuclei. These results support our three hypotheses, suggesting that production of different communication behaviors may be regulated by spatially distinct groups of neurons, and recurrent inhibition and disinhibition may play an active role in driving and shaping such behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce A Carlson
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
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Goodson JL, Bass AH. Vocal-acoustic circuitry and descending vocal pathways in teleost fish: convergence with terrestrial vertebrates reveals conserved traits. J Comp Neurol 2002; 448:298-322. [PMID: 12115710 DOI: 10.1002/cne.10258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Vocal behavior is multifaceted and requires that vocal-motor patterning be integrated at multiple brain levels with auditory, neuroendocrine, and other social behavior processes (e.g., courtship and aggression). We now provide anatomical evidence for an extensive vocal network in teleost fishes (Batrachoididae: Porichthys notatus; Opsanus beta) that is strongly integrated with neuroendocrine and auditory pathways and that exhibits striking similarities to the vocal-acoustic circuitry known for mammals. Biotin compound injections into neurophysiologically identified vocal regions of the forebrain (preoptic area and anterior hypothalamus) and of the midbrain (periaqueductal gray and paralemniscal tegmentum) reveal extensive connectivity within and between these regions, as well as reciprocal relationships with the auditory thalamus and/or auditory midbrain (torus semicircularis). Thus, specific components of the basal forebrain and midbrain are here designated as the forebrain vocal-acoustic complex (fVAC) and midbrain vocal-acoustic complex (mVAC), respectively. Biotin injections into the mVAC and a previously identified hindbrain vocal pattern generator likewise provide anatomical evidence for a distributed network of descending projections to the vocal pacemaker-motoneuron circuitry. Together, the present experiments establish a vocal-auditory-neuroendocrine network in teleost fish that links the forebrain and midbrain to the hindbrain vocal pattern generator (i.e., fVAC --> mVAC --> pattern generator) and provides an anatomical framework for the previously identified neuropeptide modulation of vocal activity elicited from the forebrain and midbrain, which contributes to the expression of sex- and male morph-specific behavior. We conclude with a broad comparison of these findings with those for other vertebrate taxa and suggest that the present findings provide novel insights into the structure of conserved behavioral regulatory circuits that have led to evolutionary convergence in vocal-acoustic systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- James L Goodson
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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