Winning territorial disputes selectively enhances androgen sensitivity in neural pathways related to motivation and social aggression
Winning territorial disputes selectively enhances androgen sensitivity in neural pathways related to motivation and social aggression
复制标题
DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1001394107
复制
发表时间：
2010-07-06
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Marler, Catherine A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Fuxjager, Matthew J.;Forbes-Lorman, Robin M.;Marler, Catherine A.
赢得激烈的争端可以增强未来的战斗能力和寻求更多竞争的愿望。在某些情况下，这些影响是持久的，并因打架的物理位置而异。因此，从原则上讲，赢得攻击可能会导致控制对抗行为输出或战斗动机（或两者兼而有之）的大脑区域发生长期和情境依赖的变化。我们在有领地性的加利福尼亚鼠（Peromyscus californicus）中研究了这个问题，因为这个物种的雄性在自己的地盘上取得胜利后更有可能赢得战斗，而在不熟悉的地方取得胜利后则不会。通过免疫细胞化学和实时定量PCR，研究人员发现，无论是在主场还是客场赢得比赛，都会增加终纹内侧前床核中雄激素受体（AR）的表达，终纹是控制社交攻击的关键大脑区域。我们还发现，在调节动机和奖励的大脑区域，伏隔核（NAcc）和腹侧被盖区（VTA）中，AR的表达仅在对家庭领地的战斗做出反应时增加。获胜的这些影响很可能是神经雄激素系统所独有的，因为它们对黄体酮受体的表达没有可检测到的影响。最后，我们证明了在NAcc和VTA中观察到的雄激素敏感性的变化与赢得攻击性比赛的能力呈正相关。因此，赢得战斗可以以一种可能促进未来胜利的方式改变大脑表型，并可能启动激励个体战斗的神经回路。
Winning aggressive disputes can enhance future fighting ability and the desire to seek out additional contests. In some instances, these effects are long lasting and vary in response to the physical location of a fight. Thus, in principle, winning aggressive encounters may cause long-term and context-dependent changes to brain areas that control the output of antagonistic behavior or the motivation to fight (or both). We examined this issue in the territorial California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) because males of this species are more likely to win fights after accruing victories in their home territory but not after accruing victories in unfamiliar locations. Using immunocytochemistry and real-time quantitative PCR, we found that winning fights either at home or away increases the expression of androgen receptors (AR) in the medial anterior bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, a key brain area that controls social aggression. We also found that AR expression in brain regions that mediate motivation and reward, nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA), increases only in response to fights in the home territory. These effects of winning were likely exclusive to the neural androgenic system because they have no detectible impact on the expression of progestin receptors. Finally, we demonstrated that the observed changes in androgen sensitivity in the NAcc and VTA are positively associated with the ability to win aggressive contests. Thus, winning fights can change brain phenotype in a manner that likely promotes future victory and possibly primes neural circuits that motivate individuals to fight.