Same, same, or different? Mechanisms of Parental Care Between Sexes

性别差异是动物行为的共同特征。然而，事实证明，这些行为差异背后的机制很难理解，因为男性和女性的大脑和基因几乎相同，而且一个性别的典型行为有时可能是异性做出的。这个项目的目标是了解荷尔蒙、神经活动和基因表达是如何相互作用，从而引起性别差异和行为逆转的。父母行为是一个很有希望的起点，因为许多物种在父母照顾方面表现出性别差异，以及性别反转照顾的可能性。该项目利用了新热带毒蛙Dendrobates tinctorius自然产生的亲代灵活性。在这个系统中，男性是主要的照顾者，女性只是偶尔接手，这对哺乳动物现有的工作提供了重要的补充，在哺乳动物中，父母的照顾是偏向女性的，并受到对哺乳的依赖的限制。该项目的结果将提供新的理解，了解行为性别差异是如何在大脑中编码的，这些差异如何导致不同的行为模式，以及在什么条件下它们可以被改变或逆转。该项目将对所有阶段的研究人员进行培训，重点是从STEM中代表性不足的群体中招募受训人员。此外，毒蛙是令人着迷的、有魅力的生物，有助于向不同的受众授课，包括通过“青蛙学校计划”教授K-12学生和教师，以及通过社区参与活动向普通公众授课。进化论、行为学和神经生物学的一个基本问题是，新的行为是如何产生的，并被合并到现有的神经系统中。跨性别转移，最初只在异性中的一个性别中表现出的特征的出现，已经被认为是行为进化中一种被忽视的主要力量。然而，促进异性融入生理、神经和分子系统的机制在很大程度上是未知的。解决这一难题与理解行为是如何在组织的各个层面上编码的密切相关--从基因、基因网络、细胞类型、神经回路、生理到行为。利用Dendrobates tinctorius毒蛙中自然发生的父母照顾，该项目测试了跨组织级别的机械性交互作用塑造性别之间的行为灵活性和进化的中心假设。具体地说，该项目将荷尔蒙和神经活动模式与行为中的个体差异和性别差异联系起来，询问男性和女性共有和不同的基因和细胞类型是否与父母的照顾有关，并通过追踪激素操纵在组织层面上的影响来因果检验这些假设。跨多个组织级别的数据合成是这项工作的一个主要特点。此外，该项目将有助于培训不同的研究人员和社区参与。项目成果将有助于理解行为性别差异是如何在大脑中编码的，在什么条件下它们可以被改变或逆转，以及潜在的机制如何在环境、发展和进化上进行调整以协调复杂的行为。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Sex differences are a common feature of animal behavior. Yet, the mechanisms underlying these behavioral differences have proven difficult to understand because brains and genes are nearly identical between males and females, and behavior typical of one sex may occasionally be performed by the opposite sex. The goal of this project is to understand how hormones, neural activity, and gene expression interact to give rise to sex differences and reversals in behavior. Parental behavioral is a promising starting point, as many species exhibit sex differences in parental care, as well as the potential for sex-reversed care. The project capitalized on naturally occurring parental flexibility in a Neotropical poison frog, Dendrobates tinctorius. Males are the primary care givers in this system, with females only occasionally taking over, providing an important complement to existing work in mammals where parental care is female biased and limited by reliance on lactation. Outcomes of the project will provide new understanding of how behavioral sex differences are coded in the brain, how these differences lead to distinct behavioral patterns, and the conditions under which they can be altered or reversed. The project will train researchers at all stages, with a focus on recruitment of trainees from groups underrepresented in STEM. Additionally, poison frogs are fascinating, charismatic creatures that facilitate teaching of diverse audiences, including K-12 students and teachers through the “Froggers School Program” and the general public through community engagement events. A fundamental question at the intersection of evolution, behavior, and neurobiology is how novel behaviors arise and are incorporated into existing neural systems. Cross-sexual transfer, the emergence of traits initially exhibited only in one sex in the opposite sex, has been proposed as a major, underappreciated force in the evolution of behavior. Yet, the mechanisms that facilitate integration into opposite sex physiological, neural, and molecular systems are largely unknown. Solving this puzzle is intimately tied to understanding how behavior is coded across levels of organization – from genes, to gene networks, to cell types, to neural circuits, to physiology, to behavior. Leveraging naturally occurring parental care in Dendrobates tinctorius poison frogs, this project tests the central hypothesis that mechanistic interactions across levels of organization shape behavioral flexibility and evolution between sexes. Specifically, the project links hormone and neural activity patterns to individual variation and sex differences in behavior, asks whether shared versus distinct genes and cell types are associated with parental care in males and females, and causally tests these hypotheses by tracing the effects of hormone manipulations across levels of organization. Synthesis of data across multiple levels of organization is a key feature of this work. Additionally, the project will contribute to training of diverse researchers and community engagement. Project outcomes will provide inroads to understanding how behavioral sex differences are coded in the brain, the conditions under which they can be altered or reversed, and how underlying mechanisms are environmentally, developmentally, and evolutionarily tuned to coordinate complex behavior.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.