Salmon fish have a remarkable reproductive cycle among vertebrate animals because in many species the adults die after spawning. It is now known that this death is not simply a result of the exhaustively long migration also common to many species. Hormones of the neuroendocrine system are involved in behaviors such as reproduction and responses to stress. This project will use salmon as a model system to test the novel idea whether reproductive activity in might be acting as the equivalent of a chronic stress, leading to advanced aging and death in salmon. Tissue culture and immunological techniques will be used to determine the role of hormones secreted by the pituitary gland or the hypothalamus, and whether, compared to other animals, an overproduction may cause the surge of cortisol found in spawning animals, which may in turn be a factor leading to early death. Results from this study will not only be important for understanding the interactions of neuroendocrine hormones and the brain, but it also will have an impact beyond neuroscience into the areas of reproductive physiology and of aging.
