Effects of Sexual Interactions with a Male on Fos‐Like Immunoreactivity in the Female Quail Brain

Meddle · Foidart · Wingfield · Ramenofskyand · Balthazart

43 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Neuroendocrinology

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Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior Animal Behavior and Reproduction Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones

Abstract

Sexual interactions can cause changes in plasma hormone levels and activate immediate early genes within the mammalian brain. There are marked anatomical differences between the regions activated that relate directly to the sexual specific behaviour and neuroendocrinology of each sex. The aim of this study was to determine if such a sexual dimorphism exists in birds by examining the brain regions stimulated in adult virgin female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) during sexual behaviour and comparing this to previously reported data concerning males. Female quail were allowed to freely interact with adult males and both female and male sexual behaviour was recorded. Contrary to previous findings in male quail, no significant induction of Fos-like immunoreactive (FLI) cells was observed following sexual interactions in the preoptic area of females; this area is fundamentally involved in the control of male-type copulatory behaviour. Sexual interactions significantly induced FLI cells in the hyperstriatum ventrale, the part of the archistriatum just lateral to the anterior commissure, and the nucleus intercollicularis. Moreover, prominent activation was detected throughout most of the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, a region reported to be rich in oestrogen receptors. FLI induction was not a consequence of sexual behaviour induced changes in luteinizing hormone (LH) as plasma LH levels were unaltered. Instead, brain activation must be a consequence of copulation-associated somatosensory inputs or direct stimuli originating from the male. Male quail, like the majority of other birds, lack an intromittant organ (penis) so that the somatosensory inputs to the female are rather different from those in mammals; the precise nature of these inputs is yet to be determined.

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References

1972Hormonal control of behavior in the Japanese quail.2020Introduction to Factor Analysis 1998Role of the Archistriatal Nucleus taeniae in the Sexual Behavior of Male Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica): A Comparison of Function with the Medial Nucleus of the Amygdala in Mammals 1998Anatomical and neurochemical definition of the nucleus of the stria terminalis in japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)1997Copulation activates Fos-like immunoreactivity in the male quail forebrain 1997Effects of Paced Mating on c‐fos Gene Expression in the Female Rat Brain 1997Hormonal Activation of the Striatum and the Nucleus Accumbens Modulates Paced Mating Behavior in the Female Rat 1995c-Fos expression in female hamster brain following sexual and aggressive behaviors

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