title: Agonistic encounters and brain activation in dominant and subordinate male greater long-tailed hamsters.
abstract: During an agonistic encounter test, dominant male greater long-tailed hamsters (Tscheskia triton) initiated attacks sooner and displayed higher levels of aggression and flank marking behavior than their subordinate counterparts. Accordingly, subordinate males exhibited more defensive behavior than dominant ones. Specific patterns of neuronal activation, measured by Fos-immunoreactive staining (Fos-ir), were found in the hamster brain following agonistic interactions. Increased Fos-ir was observed in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), and medial (MeA) and anterior cortical (ACo) nuclei of the amygdala (AMYG) in both dominant and subordinate males. In contrast, dominant males had significantly higher Fos-ir densities in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) than subordinate males, whereas subordinate males expressed higher densities of Fos-ir in the anterior hypothalamus (AH) and central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA). Additionally, Fos-ir levels in the MPOA were significantly correlated with aggression and Fos-ir levels in the AH and CeA were correlated with defensive behavior. Together, our data indicate distinct patterns of neuronal activation associated with agonistic encounters in a behavior-specific manner in male greater long-tailed hamsters.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents in Agriculture, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, PR China.
authors.forename: Yongliang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Linxi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Zuoxin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000378:Agonistic Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D006224:Cricetinae; D004291:Dominance-Subordination; D008297:Male; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos
references.citation: Am J Phys Anthropol. 1973 Mar;38(2):543-7
references.pmid: 4632102
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2003 Oct;80(1):95-101
references.pmid: 14568313
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2005 Oct 15;86(3):369-78
references.pmid: 16115657
references.citation: Crit Rev Neurobiol. 1996;10(3-4):371-94
references.pmid: 8978987
references.citation: J Neurosci Methods. 1980 Dec;3(2):129-49
references.pmid: 6110810
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2001 Nov-Dec;74(4-5):415-20
references.pmid: 11790399
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2009 Jun 22;97(3-4):347-52
references.pmid: 19296908
references.citation: Brain Res. 2001 Apr 20;898(2):232-41
references.pmid: 11306009
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1976 Sep;17(3):507-13
references.pmid: 1034941
references.citation: Neuroreport. 2002 Jul 19;13(10):1267-70
references.pmid: 12151784
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2006 Jun 15;88(1-2):173-82
references.pmid: 16687160
references.citation: J Comp Neurol. 2007 Jun 20;502(6):1109-22
references.pmid: 17444499
references.citation: Neurosci Res. 1996 Oct;26(2):157-70
references.pmid: 8953578
references.citation: Neuroscience. 1995 Jun;66(3):721-36
references.pmid: 7644033
references.citation: Brain Res. 2009 Apr 10;1265:186-95
references.pmid: 19232330
references.citation: Behav Brain Res. 1983 Jul;9(1):59-81
references.pmid: 6411099
references.citation: Int J Neurosci. 1988 Aug;41(3-4):241-50
references.pmid: 3182182
references.citation: J Neuroendocrinol. 1999 Jul;11(7):547-59
references.pmid: 10444312
references.citation: Eur J Pharmacol. 2005 Dec 5;526(1-3):226-39
references.pmid: 16263109
references.citation: Brain Res. 1997 Sep 5;767(2):321-32
references.pmid: 9367264
references.citation: Brain Behav Evol. 2000 Feb;55(2):53-76
references.pmid: 10838477
references.citation: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2006;30(3):304-18
references.pmid: 16289283
references.citation: Neuroscience. 2004;127(3):611-24
references.pmid: 15283961
references.citation: Eur J Neurosci. 1998 Jan;10(1):20-33
references.pmid: 9753110
references.citation: Brain Res. 1994 Sep 26;658(1-2):112-8
references.pmid: 7834331
references.citation: J Neuroendocrinol. 1990 Apr 1;2(2):123-9
references.pmid: 19210374
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1986;38(1):135-8
references.pmid: 3786493
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1986;38(2):169-73
references.pmid: 3797483
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1997 Nov 15;17(22):8842-55
references.pmid: 9348352
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2006 Oct 30;89(3):420-7
references.pmid: 16914175
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1987;40(5):661-4
references.pmid: 3671532
references.citation: Prog Brain Res. 1998;119:395-408
references.pmid: 10074802
references.citation: Horm Behav. 2006 Aug;50(2):338-45
references.pmid: 16753164
references.citation: Trends Neurosci. 1997 Feb;20(2):78-84
references.pmid: 9023876