Localizing brain regions associated with female mate preference behavior in a swordtail.

ABSTRACT: Female mate choice behavior is a critical component of sexual selection, yet identifying the neural basis of this behavior is largely unresolved. Previous studies have implicated sensory processing and hypothalamic brain regions during female mate choice and there is a conserved network of brain regions (Social Behavior Network, SBN) that underlies sexual behaviors. However, we are only beginning to understand the role this network has in pre-copulatory female mate choice. Using in situ hybridization, we identify brain regions associated with mate preference in female Xiphophorus nigrensis, a swordtail species with a female choice mating system. We measure gene expression in 10 brain regions (linked to sexual behavior, reward, sensory integration or other processes) and find significant co

SUBMITTER: Wong RY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3510203 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature