Mate choice in the brain: species differ in how male traits 'turn on' gene expression in female brains.

Mate choice plays a fundamental role in speciation, yet we know little about the molecular mechanisms that underpin this crucial decision-making process. Stickleback fish differentially adapted to limnetic and benthic habitats are reproductively isolated and females of each species use different male traits to evaluate prospective partners and reject heterospecific males. Here, we integrate behavioural data from a mate choice experiment with gene expression profiles from the brains of females actively deciding whether to mate.

The evolution of exceptional diversity in parental care and fertilization modes in ray-finned fishes.

Among vertebrates, ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) display the highest diversity in parental care, and their diversification has been hypothesized to be related to phylogenetic changes in fertilization modes. Using the most comprehensive, sex-specific data from 7,600 species of 62 extant orders of ray-finned fishes, we inferred ancestral states and transitions among care types and caring episodes (i.e.

Extinction training suppresses activity of fear memory ensembles across the hippocampus and alters transcriptomes of fear-encoding cells.

Contextual fear conditioning has been shown to activate a set of "fear ensemble" cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) whose reactivation is necessary and sufficient for expression of contextual fear. We previously demonstrated that extinction learning suppresses reactivation of these fear ensemble cells and activates a competing set of DG cells-the "extinction ensemble." Here, we tested whether extinction was sufficient to suppress reactivation in other regions and used single nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) of cells in the dorsal dentate gyrus to examine how extinction affects the transcriptomic activity of fear ensemble and fear recall-activated cells.

The spread of fear in an empathetic fish.

An evolutionarily ancient signaling pathway mediates emotional contagion.

Social status mediates behavioral, endocrine, and neural responses to an intruder challenge in a social cichlid, Astatotilapia burtoni.

Most animals encounter social challenges throughout their lives as they compete for resources. Individual responses to such challenges can depend on social status, sex, and community-level attributes, yet most of our knowledge of the behavioral and physiological mechanisms by which individuals respond to challenges has come from dyadic interactions between a resource holder and a challenger (usually both males). To incorporate differences in individual behavior that are influenced by surrounding group members, we use naturalistic communities of the cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, and examine resident dominant male responses to a territorial intrusion within the social group.

Vasopressin mediates nonapeptide and glucocorticoid signaling and social dynamics in juvenile dominance hierarchies of a highly social cichlid fish.

Early-life social experience can strongly affect adult behavior, yet the behavioral mechanisms underlying developmental trajectories are poorly understood. Here, we use the highly social cichlid, Burton's Mouthbrooder (Astatotilapia burtoni) to investigate juvenile social status and behavior, as well as the underlying neuroendocrine mechanisms. We placed juveniles in pairs or triads and found that they readily establish social status hierarchies, with some group structural variation depending on group size, as well as the relative body size of the group members.

Neural activity patterns differ between learning contexts in a social fish.

Learning and decision-making are greatly influenced by context. When navigating a complex social world, individuals must quickly ascertain where to gain important resources and which group members are useful sources of such information. Such dynamic behavioural processes require neural mechanisms that are flexible across contexts.

Effect of public corruption on the COVID-19 immunization progress.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has resulted in the death of over four million people since late 2019. To reduce the human and economic costs of COVID-19, different vaccines have been developed and distributed across countries. There has been significant cross-country variation in the vaccination of people against COVID-19.

A 2b-RAD parentage analysis pipeline for complex and mixed DNA samples.

Next-generation sequencing technology has revolutionized genotyping in many fields of study, yet parentage analysis often still relies on microsatellite markers that are costly to generate and are currently available only for a limited number of species. 2b-RAD sequencing (2b-RAD) is a DNA sequencing technique developed for ecological population genomics that utilizes type IIB restriction enzymes to generate consistent, uniform fragments across samples. This technology is inexpensive, effective with low DNA inputs, and robust to DNA degradation.

Comparative Transcriptomics Reveals Distinct Patterns of Gene Expression Conservation through Vertebrate Embryogenesis.

Despite life's diversity, studies of variation often remind us of our shared evolutionary past. Abundant genome sequencing and analyses of gene regulatory networks illustrate that genes and entire pathways are conserved, reused, and elaborated in the evolution of diversity. Predating these discoveries, 19th-century embryologists observed that though morphology at birth varies tremendously, certain stages of vertebrate embryogenesis appear remarkably similar across vertebrates.

Effects of air pollution exposure on social behavior: a synthesis and call for research.

Background: There is a growing literature from both epidemiologic and experimental animal studies suggesting that exposure to air pollution can lead to neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Here, we suggest that effects of air pollutant exposure on the brain may be even broader, with the potential to affect social decision-making in general.

Methods: We discuss how the neurobiological substrates of social behavior are vulnerable to air pollution, then briefly present studies that examine the effects of air pollutant exposure on social behavior-related outcomes.

Social network dynamics predict hormone levels and behavior in a highly social cichlid fish.

Group living confers many benefits while simultaneously exposing group members to intense competition. An individual's rise to prominence within a group may conflict with the overall functioning of the group. There is therefore a complex and dynamic relationship between the behavioral displays that directly benefit an individual, the consequences of these actions for the community, and how they feed back on individual-level fitness.

EDCs Reorganize Brain-Behavior Phenotypic Relationships in Rats.

All species, including humans, are exposed to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Previous experiments have shown behavioral deficits caused by EDCs that have implications for social competence and sexual selection. The neuromolecular mechanisms for these behavioral changes induced by EDCs have not been thoroughly explored.

Decision-making in a social world: Integrating cognitive ecology and social neuroscience.

Understanding animal decision-making involves simultaneously dissecting and reconstructing processes across levels of biological organization, such as behavior, physiology, and brain function, as well as considering the environment in which decisions are made. Over the past few decades, foundational breakthroughs originating from a variety of model systems and disciplines have painted an increasingly comprehensive picture of how individuals sense information, process it, and subsequently modify behavior or states. Still, our understanding of decision-making in social contexts is far from complete and requires integrating novel approaches and perspectives.

Equal performance but distinct behaviors: sex differences in a novel object recognition task and spatial maze in a highly social cichlid fish.

Sex differences in behavior and cognition can be driven by differential selection pressures from the environment and in the underlying neuromolecular mechanisms of decision-making. The highly social cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni exhibits dynamic and complex social hierarchies, yet explicit cognitive testing (outside of social contexts) and investigations of sex differences in cognition have yet to be fully explored. Here we assessed male and female A.

Transcription Factor Motifs Associated with Anterior Insula Gene Expression Underlying Mood Disorder Phenotypes.

Mood disorders represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide but the brain-related molecular pathophysiology in mood disorders remains largely undefined. Because the anterior insula is reduced in volume in patients with mood disorders, RNA was extracted from the anterior insula postmortem anterior insula of mood disorder samples and compared with unaffected controls for RNA-sequencing identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in (a) bipolar disorder (BD; n = 37) versus (vs.) controls (n = 33), and (b) major depressive disorder (MDD n = 30) vs.

Neural and molecular mechanisms underlying female mate choice decisions in vertebrates.

Female mate choice is a dynamic process that allows individuals to selectively mate with those of the opposite sex that display a preferred set of traits. Because in many species males compete with each other for fertilization opportunities, female mate choice can be a powerful agent of sexual selection, often resulting in highly conspicuous traits in males. Although the evolutionary causes and consequences of the ornamentation and behaviors displayed by males to attract mates have been well studied, embarrassingly little is known about the proximate neural mechanisms through which female choice occurs.

Behavioral traits that define social dominance are the same that reduce social influence in a consensus task.

Dominant individuals are often most influential in their social groups, affecting movement, opinion, and performance across species and contexts. Yet, behavioral traits like aggression, intimidation, and coercion, which are associated with and in many cases define dominance, can be socially aversive. The traits that make dominant individuals influential in one context may therefore reduce their influence in other contexts.

Behavior-related gene regulatory networks: A new level of organization in the brain.

Neuronal networks are the standard heuristic model today for describing brain activity associated with animal behavior. Recent studies have revealed an extensive role for a completely distinct layer of networked activities in the brain-the gene regulatory network (GRN)-that orchestrates expression levels of hundreds to thousands of genes in a behavior-related manner. We examine emerging insights into the relationships between these two types of networks and discuss their interplay in spatial as well as temporal dimensions, across multiple scales of organization.

Brain transcriptomics of agonistic behaviour in the weakly electric fish Gymnotus omarorum, a wild teleost model of non-breeding aggression.

Differences in social status are often mediated by agonistic encounters between competitors. Robust literature has examined social status-dependent brain gene expression profiles across vertebrates, yet social status and reproductive state are often confounded. It has therefore been challenging to identify the neuromolecular mechanisms underlying social status independent of reproductive state.