Event Abstract Back to Event The neural correlates of mate competition in dominant male rhesus macaques James Rilling1* 1 University of Zagreb, United States Dominant male rhesus macaques respond aggressively when their exclusive sexual access to a female mate is threatened. This study was designed to identify the neural and hormonal correlates of this response. Nine groups of monkeys were formed, each with two adult males and one adult female. In 8 groups, one male emerged as clearly dominant and established exclusive sexual access to the female. In each group, the dominant male was injected with [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]-FDG) and then exposed to one of two conditions: a “challenge” condition in which he witnessed a potential sexual interaction between his female consort and a rival male, and a control condition in which the consort was present without the rival male. After the brain uptake period for [18F]-FDG, dominant males were sedated, blood samples were drawn, and regional cerebral glucose metabolism was measured with positron emission tomographic imaging. The challenge condition was associated with activation in both right superior temporal sulcus and right amygdala, activations that might relate to increased social vigilance and threat detection, respectively. Amygdala activation was also correlated across subjects with yawning frequency, a behavior linked with anxiety in this species. Males that showed larger increases in plasma testosterone in the challenge condition also showed more aggression and greater activation in the central gray matter of the midbrain, a brain area rich in androgen receptors. Human males experiencing sexual jealousy have been described with terms like hypervigilant and anxious. These are terms that also describe the behavior of the dominant male monkeys in our study, thus suggesting that the neural circuit described here for monkeys might also be engaged when men are faced with similar threats, real or imagined, to an exclusive sexual union. Supported by a National Institutes of Health grant (MH12736-02), Emory Center for PET, and Yerkes Center base grant (NIH RR-00165). Conference: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting, Rhodes Island, Greece, 13 Sep - 18 Sep, 2009. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Symposia lectures Citation: Rilling J (2009). The neural correlates of mate competition in dominant male rhesus macaques. Conference Abstract: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.08.2009.09.045 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 05 Jun 2009; Published Online: 05 Jun 2009. * Correspondence: James Rilling, University of Zagreb, Atlanta, United States, jrillin@emory.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers James Rilling Google James Rilling Google Scholar James Rilling PubMed James Rilling Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.