title: Pubertal testosterone programs context-appropriate agonistic behavior and associated neural activation patterns in male Syrian hamsters.
abstract: Pubertal testosterone programs the level of aggressive behavior displayed by male Syrian hamsters during resident-intruder interactions. To further explore the pubertal programming of adult male agonistic behaviors, the current study investigated the formation, stability, and maintenance of dominant-subordinate relationships in males that either did (T@P) or did not (NoT@P) experience testicular hormones during adolescent development. NoT@P males were gonadectomized prepubertally and T@P males were gonadectomized in adulthood. Four weeks after gonadectomy, all males received testosterone-replacement. Two weeks later, two males of the same hormonal history were given a 60 min introductory trial in a neutral arena, followed immediately and again 24h later by three 5-min trials. During the introductory trial, each male was deemed dominant, subordinate, or no-status. Brains were collected 1h after the last trial and sections were stained for Fos-immunoreactivity. Dominant T@P males flank marked more frequently than subordinate and no-status T@P males; this difference was not found in NoT@P males. NoT@P males showed an increase in the number of offensive postures the day after the first series of tests, whereas T@P males did not. Dominant T@P males had significantly more Fos expression than no-status T@P males in anterior cingulate cortex; this relationship was not observed in NoT@P males. Additionally, dominant T@P males had higher Fos expression than dominant NoT@P males in lateral septum. Thus, pubertal testosterone does not organize the formation or stability of male-male relationships, but does program the behavioral strategies used to maintain these relationships over time and the neural correlates of status.
authors: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. delorme1@msu.edu
authors: Kayla C
authors: KC
authors: De Lorme
authors: Cheryl L
authors: CL
authors: Sisk
mesh_terms: D000378:Agonistic Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D000728:Androgens / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D006224:Cricetinae; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D009919:Orchiectomy; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D012930:Social Dominance; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D013739:Testosterone