Abstract
During nest building in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), several regions in the social behaviour network and the dopaminergic reward system, which are two neural circuits involved in social behaviour, appear to be active in male and female nest-building finches. Because the nonapeptides, mesotocin and vasotocin and the neurotransmitter, dopamine, play important roles in avian social behaviour, we tested the hypothesis that mesotocinergic-vasotocinergic and dopaminergic neuronal populations in the social behaviour network and dopaminergic reward system, respectively, are active during nest building. We combined immunohistochemistry for Fos (an indirect marker of neuronal activity) and vasotocin, mesotocin or tyrosine hydroxylase on brain tissue from nest-building and non-nest-building male and female zebra finches and compared Fos immunoreactivity in these neuronal populations with the variation in nest-building behaviour. Fos immunoreactivity in all three types of neuronal populations increased with some aspect of nest building: (i) higher immunoreactivity in a mesotocinergic neuronal population of nest-building finches compared to controls; (ii) increased immunoreactivity in the vasotocinergic neuronal populations in relation to the amount of material picked up by nest-building males and the length of time that a male spent in the nest with his mate; and (iii) increased immunoreactivity in a dopaminergic neuronal population in relation to the length of time that a male nest-building finch spent in the nest with his mate. Taken together, these findings provide evidence for a role of the mesotocinergic-vasotocinergic and dopaminergic systems in avian nest building.
Highlights
During nest building in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), several regions in the social behaviour network and the dopaminergic reward system, which are two neural circuits involved in social behaviour, appear to be active in male and female nest-building finches
Nonapeptide hormones and parental behaviour The demonstration that vasotocinergic and mesotocinergic neuronal populations are active during nest building in zebra finches suggests that, in addition to nonapeptide hormones acting in the brain to regulate pair formation [37], they may be involved in nest
In conjunction with previous studies demonstrating a role for nonapeptide signalling within the brain in parental behaviour in mammals [38] and fish [39], it appears that a role for nonapeptide hormone systems in parental behaviour may be evolutionarily conserved across vertebrate taxa
Summary
During nest building in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), several regions in the social behaviour network and the dopaminergic reward system, which are two neural circuits involved in social behaviour, appear to be active in male and female nest-building finches. Many of the brain regions in the social behaviour network and dopaminergic reward system that exhibit elevated neuronal activity with nest-building behaviour are known to contain populations of neurones characterised as using specific signalling molecules to transmit neuronal information to target brain regions [6] In zebra finches, these populations include the vasotocinergic and mesotocinergic parvocellular neuronal populations in the medial bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTm) of the social behaviour network, which release the nonapeptide hormones vasotocin (the avian analogue of arginine vasopressin in mammals) and mesotocin (the avian analogue of oxytocin in mammals), respectively. In addition to releasing these nonapeptides, which may bind to receptors in brain regions including the social behaviour network [10], these neuronal populations innervate hypothalamic and social behaviour network targets, including the medial preoptic area [10], which exhibits elevated neuronal activity during nest building [9]. In the dopaminergic reward system, dopaminergic neuronal populations in the ventral tegmental area and central grey synthesise and release the neurotransmitter dopamine, which may act on dopaminergic receptors in both the striatum and regions in the social behaviour network, including BSTm and the septum [15,16], amongst other sites
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