Meeting Abstract
The social behavior network of the brain plays an important role in mediating social behaviors across vertebrates, but each region of the network plays a unique role. Certain regions of the social behavior network, such as the preoptic area of the forebrain and midbrain, are involved in multiple forms of social behavior including aggression and sexual behavior, but which regions are involved in differentiating these similar social contexts? To determine which regions of the social behavior network are involved in differentiating social contexts, we quantified behavior and immediate early gene (ps6) activity in the brain across multiple regions, including the telencephalic zone and preoptic area. Using male guppies (Poecilia reticulata), we observed behavior in two conditions: courtship and competition. In the courtship condition, males were observed interacting with females. In the competition condition, males were observed interacting with other males. We saw elevated activity levels in the anterior preoptic area of fish in the courtship group compared to the competition and control solo males. Additional regions in the social behavior network did not show increased activity in either group, compared to solo males. These results implicate the involvement of the anterior preoptic area in differentiating sexual behavior from aggressive behavior. By looking across multiple regions of the social behavior network in two different social contexts, we were able to identify the unique role of the anterior preoptic area in guppies.
