Contributions of testosterone and territory ownership to sexually-motivated behaviors and mRNA expression in the medial preoptic area of male European starlings.

ABSTRACT: Animals integrate social information with their internal endocrine state to control the timing of behavior, but how these signals are integrated in the brain is not understood. The medial preoptic area (mPOA) may play an integrative role in the control of courtship behavior, as it receives projections from multiple sensory systems, and is central to the hormonal control of courtship behavior across vertebrates. Additionally, data from many species implicate opioid and dopaminergic systems in the mPOA in the control of male courtship behavior. We used European starlings to test the hypothesis that testosterone (T) and social status (in the form of territory possession) interact to control the timing of courtship behavior by modulating steroid hormone-, opioid- and dopaminergic-related gene

SUBMITTER: Spool JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5159298 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature