This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.A long term goal of this project is to determine the role of neuropeptides in male and female parental care. Parental care is modulated via the mammalian neuropeptides arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OT). However, due the paucity of biparental mammals which are also viable experimental species, it remains unclear the role each hormone actually plays in specific behaviors within each sex where males and females have distinct parental roles. The social ecology of systems tested is typically overlooked, and it is plausible that the interaction between these neuropeptides is dependant on the degree to which parental care roles are shared or divided between the parents. The well known behavioral model, the convict cichlid, Archocentrus nigrofasiatum is a species that exhibits just such a division of labor between parents in care. An added benefit of using teleosts is that fish provide a pliable laboratory system with complex social structures. The teleost homologue of AVP and OT is arginine vasotocin (AVT) and isotocin (IT) respectively and they are known to modulate similar social behaviors as in mammalian systems. Using exogenous injections and behavioral analysis, I will explore the modulation of sex differences in parental care.
My specific aims are as follows: 1) To explore the relationship between social ecology (i.e. a biparental species that exhibits a stark division of labor) and neuropeptide AVT on a) male parental aggression and male parental care abilities and b) female parental aggression and direct care abilities. 2) to explore the neuropeptide IT a) the parental aggression and parental care abilities of males and b) female parental aggression and direct care abilities. The outcome of these experiments will determine the future studies which will explore the potential of these hormones to modulate biparental care through interacting with each other.
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