title: A neural mechanism underlying mating preferences for familiar individuals in medaka fish.
abstract: Social familiarity affects mating preference among various vertebrates. Here, we show that visual contact of a potential mating partner before mating (visual familiarization) enhances female preference for the familiarized male, but not for an unfamiliarized male, in medaka fish. Terminal-nerve gonadotropin-releasing hormone 3 (TN-GnRH3) neurons, an extrahypothalamic neuromodulatory system, function as a gate for activating mating preferences based on familiarity. Basal levels of TN-GnRH3 neuronal activity suppress female receptivity for any male (default mode). Visual familiarization facilitates TN-GnRH3 neuron activity (preference mode), which correlates with female preference for the familiarized male. GnRH3 peptides, which are synthesized specifically in TN-GnRH3 neurons, are required for the mode-switching via self-facilitation. Our study demonstrates the central neural mechanisms underlying the regulation of medaka female mating preference based on visual social familiarity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
authors.forename: Teruhiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okuyama
authors.forename: Saori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yokoi
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Yasuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Isoe
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suehiro
authors.forename: Haruka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imada
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.forename: Shunsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yuba
authors.forename: Yoshihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamei
authors.forename: Kataaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okubo
authors.forename: Atsuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Naruse
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal; D009154:Mutation; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009990:Oryzias / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011761:Pyrrolidonecarboxylic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012737:Sex Factors; D014796:Visual Perception
chemical_list: C448022:gonadotropin-releasing hormone-III; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone; D011761:Pyrrolidonecarboxylic Acid