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Is sexual‐aggressive vocal communication related to asymmetric mechanisms in the brain?
Author(s) -
Holman S. D.,
Hutchison J. B.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/1098-2337(1994)20:3<223::aid-ab2480200309>3.0.co;2-0
Subject(s) - aggression , lateralization of brain function , courtship , psychology , gerbil , sexual dimorphism , medicine , endocrinology , neuroscience , developmental psychology , biology , zoology , ischemia
In Mongolian gerbil males, a reliable asymmetric relationship has been discovered between a stereotyped ultrasonic vocalizattion and the volume of a discrete nucleus within the preoptic‐anterior hypothalamic area, the sexually dimorphic area, pars compacta (SDApc). The steroid‐sensitive ultrasonic, emitted at high levels during courtship interactions, is associated with the absence of aggressive encounters and appears to be necessary for the formation and maintenance of pair‐bonds with females. Interactions between unfamilliar, non‐pair‐bonded adult male and estrous female gerbils result in male aggression, reduction of male ultrasonic calling, and disruption of normal female dartmale follow sociosexual sequences. Castration further reduces ultrasonic calling, inhibits normal sociosexual sequences, and increses aggression in interaction between unfamiliar compared to pair‐bonded individuals. Bothg brain structure and lateralization of vocal function in males depend on the action of sex steroids during sexual differentiation and in adulthood. Thus, the gerbil provides a new model to study steroid‐dependent lateralization of brain mechanisms of vocal behavior mediating aggressive‐sexual relationships. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.