DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Developmental mechanisms organizing affiliative behavior and pair bonding

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Long-term pairing (selective affiliation) between males and females is rare in mammals, but is a very common reproductive arrangement in birds. Selective affiliation begins with parents and family early in development and switches to the opposite-sex pair partner as the individual reaches adulthood. Using a common laboratory species that forms lifelong close cooperative pair relationships, the zebra finch, this project investigates the development of such selective affiliative behavior and its neural and hormonal mechanisms. The goal of the research is to test the hypothesis that the brain nonapeptide arginine vasotocin (AVT, avian homolog of vasopressin) plays an important role in the organization of affiliative behavior at two critical periods in development in the zebra finch: 1) early in life prior to leaving the nest and 2) during the transition from juvenile to adult life. This research aims to establish a causal link between changes in the nervous system and changes in affiliative behavior by using an advanced technique that measures the expression of a hormone receptor gene and neural activity in the same neurons in the brain. The research will provide new information on the mechanisms of selective affiliation in birds, which can then be compared to the mechanisms operating in socially monogamous mammals. Thus, this study has the potential to increase understanding of how brains and hormones produce close relationships in all animals, including humans. This research project will contribute to the training of undergraduates, including women and underrepresented minorities, who will be working in the laboratory. Additionally, the results from this work will be promptly published in journals accessed by a broad audience of researchers and presented at national meetings. The results will be disseminated to the public through a website and outreach programs for middle school girls.All recordings and data in digital form will be archived at Cornell University using the archiving services of the CU Library (including eCommons) or other services that are currently under development under the leadership of the Research Data Management Service Group (http://data.research.cornell.edu/).