title: Neural endocannabinoid CB1 receptor expression, social status, and behavior in male European starlings.
abstract: Many species modify behavior in response to changes in resource availability or social status; however, the neural mechanisms underlying these modifications are not well understood. Prior work in male starlings demonstrates that status-appropriate changes in behavior involve brain regions that regulate social behavior and vocal production. Endocannabinoids are ubiquitously distributed neuromodulators that are proposed to play a role in adjusting behavior to match social status. As an initial step to provide insight into this hypothesis we observed flocks of male starlings in outdoor aviaries during the breeding season. We used quantitative real-time PCR to measure expression of endocannabinoid CB1 receptors in brain regions involved in social behavior and motivation (lateral septum [LS], ventral tegmental area [VTA], medial preoptic nucleus [POM]) and vocal behavior (Area X and robust nucleus of the arcopallium; RA). Males with nesting sites sang to females and displaced other males more than males without nesting sites. They also had higher levels of CB1 receptor expression in LS and RA. CB1 expression in LS correlated positively with agonistic behaviors. CB1 expression in RA correlated positively with singing behavior. CB1 in VTA also correlated positively with singing when only singing birds were considered. These correlations nicely map onto the well-established role of LS in agonistic behavior and the known role of RA in song production and VTA in motivation and song production. Studies are now needed to precisely characterize the role of CB1 receptors in these regions in the production of status-appropriate social behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, 428 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 USA.
authors.forename: M Susan
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: DeVries
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, 428 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 USA.
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cordes
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, 428 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, 428 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 USA.
authors.forename: Sharon A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, 428 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 USA. Electronic address: LVRiters@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Lauren V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Riters
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030161:Avian Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology; D009425:Nesting Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D011301:Preoptic Area / Q000378:metabolism; D043884:Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012686:Septal Nuclei / Q000378:metabolism; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior; D046749:Starlings; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000378:metabolism; D014828:Vocalization, Animal
chemical_list: D030161:Avian Proteins; D043884:Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1
keywords: Cannabinoids; Dominance; Motivation; Social behavior; Songbird; Territoriality