Neural Biases for Elaborate Male Traits

这项拟议的研究调查了女性对精致男性特征的偏好的神经机制。在所有主要的动物类群中，通过所有的感官方式，雄性进化出了复杂的信号，这些信号起到了吸引雌性交配的作用。通常情况下，雌性会表现出对自己同类雄性的强烈偏爱，而且它们会表现出对某些雄性的偏爱。这两种类型的偏好通常都是由女性对男性产生的社会信号的反应所调节的。这项拟议的实验将利用金枪蛙(Physalaemus Pustulosus)模型系统来研究雌性对精致雄性特征的偏爱的神经机制。这项研究将检验这一假设，即女性的偏好是由处理男性产生的信号的感觉系统中的神经偏见所调节的。金枪蛙模型系统可以通过解决以下问题来检验这一假设：(1)雌性对同种雄性的交配叫声的偏好是由听觉系统的偏见介导的吗？(2)雌性对某些类型的交配叫声的偏好是由听觉系统的偏见介导的吗？(3)最后，听觉系统中的这些偏见是否与具有类似偏好的其他物种具有共同的一般特征？金枪鱼青蛙模型系统的一个优点是，它允许人们从进化的角度来处理神经生物学研究。因此，这项研究将极大地提高对选择作用于其上的神经底物的理解，从而塑造生物体的行为。此外，该项目预计将大大有助于理解复杂的生物声音是如何由听觉系统表示的。更广泛的影响：除了促进科学知识之外，拟议的研究还将对包括本科生、研究生和博士后在内的多个层面的教育和科学培训产生更广泛的影响。主要调查人员承诺通过在当地学校的客座讲座将科学学习推广到K-12年级的年轻学生。此外，拟议的研究还通过支持科学界的妇女和纳入巴拿马史密森热带研究所的拉丁美洲受训科学家来支持科学界代表性不足的群体。此外，拟议研究产生的出版物和讲座将有助于促进行为生态学和神经科学领域之间的交流，这反过来将增加本科生物学课程的跨学科视角。

The proposed research investigates the neural mechanisms of female preferences for elaborate male traits. In all major taxa of animals and operating through all sensory modalities, males have evolved elaborate signals that function in attracting females to mate. Typically, females demonstrate a strong preference for males of their own species and they demonstrate preferences for some males over others. Both types of preferences are typically mediated by a female's response to social signals produced by males. The proposed experiments will investigate the neural mechanisms that mediate female preferences for elaborate male traits using the tungara frog (Physalaemus pustulosus) model system. The research will test the hypothesis that female preferences are mediated by a neural bias in the sensory system processing the signals produced by males. The tungara frog model system allows testing of this hypothesis by addressing the following questions: (1) Is the female preference for the mating calls of conspecific males over heterospecific males mediated by a bias in the auditory system? (2) Is the female preference for some types of mating calls over others mediated by a bias in the auditory system? (3) Finally, are these biases in the auditory system general features that are shared by other species that have similar preferences? A strength of the tungara frog model system is that it allows one to approach neurobiological studies with an evolutionary perspective. Thus, the research will greatly enhance the understanding of the neural substrate on which selection acts to shape the behavior of organisms. In addition, the project is expected to contribute substantially to the understanding of how complex biological sounds are represented by the auditory system. Broader Impacts: In addition to advancing scientific knowledge, the proposed research will have broader impacts in education and scientific training at multiple levels, including undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels. The principal investigators have a commitment to extending scientific learning to young students in the K-12 grades through guest lectures at local schools. In addition, the proposed research supports under-represented groups in science by supporting women in science and by the inclusion of Latin American scientists-in-training at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Furthermore, the publications and lectures resulting from the proposed research will serve to foster an exchange between the fields of behavioral ecology and neuroscience, which, in turn, will increase interdisciplinary perspectives in undergraduate biology courses.