Neuroanatomical basis of sexual dimorphism in the mosquito brain.

ABSTRACT: Female but not male mosquitoes are vectors for multiple deadly human diseases including malaria, dengue, yellow fever, and West Nile virus. However, the underlying neural substrates of sexually dimorphic behaviors remain largely unknown in mosquitoes. In this study, we found striking sexual dimorphism in brain regions in two major disease vectors, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus, through voxel-wise comparison of the whole brain. Female-enlarged regions include those associated with chemosensation and vision, while male-enlarged regions are linked to hearing and memory. However, some brain regions associated with vision and memory are sexually dimorphic in A e . aegypti but not C x . quinquefasciatus. As the first global voxel

SUBMITTER: Li J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9583127 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature