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Baxter A, Karaskiewicz CL, Campbell LA, Kinnally EL, Ferrer E, Seelke AHM, Freeman SM, Bales KL. Parental experience is linked with lower vasopressin receptor 1a binding and decreased postpartum androgens in titi monkeys. J Neuroendocrinol 2023; 35:e13304. [PMID: 37267441 PMCID: PMC10521943 DOI: 10.1111/jne.13304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Parenting induces many neurological and behavioral changes that enable parents to rear offspring. Vasopressin plays an important role in this process via its effects on cognition, affect, and neuroplasticity, and in some cases, via interactions with decreased parental androgens. Thus far, the role of these hormones has been primarily studied in rodents. To address this gap, we explored vasopressin receptors and androgens in titi monkeys, a pair-bonding and biparental primate species. In Studies 1 and 2, we used receptor autoradiography to correlate arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (AVPR1a) binding in the hippocampus (Study 1, n = 10) and the rest of the forebrain (Study 2, n = 23) with parental status, parental experience, parity, infant carrying, and pair affiliation. We found that parents exhibited lower AVPR1a binding than non-parents throughout most brain regions assessed, with especially strong effects in the hippocampus (β = -.61), superior colliculus (β = -.88), lateral septum (β = -.35), and medial preoptic area (β = -.29). The other measures of parental experience also tended to be negatively associated with AVPR1a binding across different brain regions. In Study 3 (n = 44), we compared pre- and postpartum urinary androgen levels in parents and non-parents and found that mothers exhibited a sustained androgen decrease across 3-4 months postpartum (relative to 3 months prepartum; β ranged from -.72 to -.62 for different comparisons). For males, we found that multiparous fathers exhibited decreased androgen levels at 1-2 weeks postpartum (β = -.25) and at 3-4 months postpartum (β = -.40) compared to the prepartum, indicating both immediate and long-term reductions with subsequent paternal experience. Together, the results of this study suggest that decreases in AVPR1a binding and circulating androgens are associated with parental behavior and physiology in titi monkeys.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Baxter
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
- California National Primate Research Center
| | - Chloe L. Karaskiewicz
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
- California National Primate Research Center
| | - Lindsey A. Campbell
- California National Primate Research Center
- Department of Animal Biology, University of California, Davis
| | - Erin L. Kinnally
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
- California National Primate Research Center
| | - Emilio Ferrer
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
| | - Adele H. M. Seelke
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
- California National Primate Research Center
| | - Sara M. Freeman
- California National Primate Research Center
- Utah State University, Department of Biology
| | - Karen L. Bales
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
- California National Primate Research Center
- Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis
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Reduced reproductive success in voles Microtus arvalis and Myodes glareolus: Male presence negatively affects offspring survival and their growth rates. RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF THERIOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.20.1.02] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Van Cann J, Koskela E, Mappes T, Mikkonen A, Mokkonen M, Watts PC. Early life of fathers affects offspring fitness in a wild rodent. J Evol Biol 2019; 32:1141-1151. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Revised: 07/30/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Joannes Van Cann
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science University of Jyväskylä Jyvaskyla Finland
| | - Esa Koskela
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science University of Jyväskylä Jyvaskyla Finland
| | - Tapio Mappes
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science University of Jyväskylä Jyvaskyla Finland
| | - Anne‐Mari Mikkonen
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science University of Jyväskylä Jyvaskyla Finland
| | - Mikael Mokkonen
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science University of Jyväskylä Jyvaskyla Finland
- Department of Biological Sciences Simon Fraser University Burnaby British Columbia Canada
| | - Phillip C. Watts
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science University of Jyväskylä Jyvaskyla Finland
- Department of Biological Sciences Simon Fraser University Burnaby British Columbia Canada
- Ecology and Genetics Unit University of Oulu Oulu Finland
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Stokes RH, Sandel AA. Data quality and the comparative method: the case of pregnancy failure in rodents. J Mammal 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
In mammalian species where infanticide by males is likely, females exhibit counterstrategies to prevent or mitigate the costs of infanticide. One putative mitigation strategy is the “Bruce effect,” in which pregnant or inseminated females exposed to an unfamiliar male experience pregnancy block or failure. Females then mate with the new male, thus shifting investment from a “doomed” pregnancy to a more fruitful one. However, the Bruce effect may be an adaptive response to other factors besides infanticide. For example, if paternal care is necessary for offspring survival, and an unfamiliar male replacing the original mate is unlikely to provide such care to offspring of a litter it did not sire, then a female may terminate a pregnancy to initiate a new one. The infanticide and paternal care hypotheses have not been rigorously tested because comparative data on the Bruce effect across mammals are scarce. We compiled data on the Bruce effect, infanticide, and paternal care from one particularly rich source of information, rodents, but found the data set to be less rich than expected. The Bruce effect, infanticide, and paternal care were common among rodent species, but we found no clear relationship among the traits. However, this was likely due to 1) a bias toward positive results, 2) missing data, and 3) a reliance on studies of captive animals. These are common problems in comparative research, and we outline standards that should be implemented to successfully answer questions of importance in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Aaron A Sandel
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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Van Cann J, Koskela E, Mappes T, Sims A, Watts PC. Intergenerational fitness effects of the early life environment in a wild rodent. J Anim Ecol 2019; 88:1355-1365. [PMID: 31162628 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2018] [Accepted: 05/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
The early life environment can have profound, long-lasting effects on an individual's fitness. For example, early life quality might (a) positively associate with fitness (a silver spoon effect), (b) stimulate a predictive adaptive response (by adjusting the phenotype to the quality of the environment to maximize fitness) or (c) be obscured by subsequent plasticity. Potentially, the effects of the early life environment can persist beyond one generation, though the intergenerational plasticity on fitness traits of a subsequent generation is unclear. To study both intra- and intergenerational effects of the early life environment, we exposed a first generation of bank voles to two early life stimuli (variation in food and social environment) in a controlled environment. To assess possible intra-generational effects, the reproductive success of female individuals was investigated by placing them in large outdoor enclosures in two different, ecologically relevant environments (population densities). Resulting offspring were raised in the same population densities where they were conceived and their growth was recorded. When adult, half of the offspring were transferred to opposite population densities to evaluate their winter survival, a crucial fitness trait for bank voles. Our setup allowed us to assess: (a) do early life population density cues elicit an intra-generational adaptive response, that is a higher reproductive success when the density matches the early life cues and (b) can early life stimuli of one generation elicit an intergenerational adaptive response in their offspring, that is a higher growth and winter survival when the density matches the early life cues of their mother. Our results show that the early life environment directly affects the phenotype and reproductive success of the focal generation, but adaptive responses are only evident in the offspring. Growth of the offspring is maintained only when the environment matches their mother's early life environment. Furthermore, winter survival of offspring also tended to be higher in high population densities if their mothers experienced an competitive early life. These results show that the early life environment can contribute to maintain high fitness in challenging environments, but not necessarily in the generation experiencing the early life cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joannes Van Cann
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Esa Koskela
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Tapio Mappes
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Angela Sims
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Phillip C Watts
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.,Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
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Mukherjee A, Kumara HN, Bhupathy S. Environmental determinants of activity variation of an overlooked burrowing rodent: the Indian crested porcupine. MAMMALIA 2018. [DOI: 10.1515/mammalia-2017-0124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
A study of the activity patterns, time allocation for each activity and variations in activities due to environmental alterations are necessary for understanding the biology of any species. This study investigates the relationship of micro-habitat and environmental conditions with seasonal and temporal activities of Indian crested porcupines (ICP) around their burrows in Keoladeo National Park (KNP), India. This species is considered as a problem species, often ignoring its ecological importance as an ecosystem engineer. Of the 39 sampled burrows, 58.97%, 38.46% and 83.78% were occupied in winter, summer and monsoon, respectively. The estimated porcupine density was 3.21±1.32SD individuals/km2, accounting for a population size of 65.89±27.15SD individuals. A seasonal shift in rate of emergence was observed in monsoon and winter, when ICP emerged earlier, significantly correlating with the sunset timings. The daily activity records of adult ICP outside burrow significantly peaked in January–February when they prepare the burrows for the gestation period of 90–112 days, followed by rearing of the offspring. The temporal activity significantly reduced in the full moon nights, perhaps to avoid predators. The study affirms that environmental determinants including the timings of sunrise, sunset and lunar phase significantly affect the variations in temporal activity and burrow use patterns of ICP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aditi Mukherjee
- Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty (Post) , Coimbatore 641 108, Tamil Nadu , India
- Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Madhav Nagar , Manipal 576 104, Karnataka , India
| | - Honnavalli Nagaraj Kumara
- Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty (Post) , Coimbatore 641 108, Tamil Nadu , India
| | - Subramanian Bhupathy
- Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty (Post) , Coimbatore 641 108, Tamil Nadu , India
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Spacing and parental behavior in the Mongolian vole (Microtus mongolicus). RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF THERIOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.15.2.05] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Gromov VS, Osadchuk LV. Parental care and testosterone secretion in forest rodent males: Sensitization and androgenic stimulation of parental behavior. BIOL BULL+ 2015. [DOI: 10.1134/s106235901504007x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Gromov VS, Voznesenskaya VV. Care of young, aggressiveness, and secretion of testosterone in male rodents: A correlation analysis. BIOL BULL+ 2013. [DOI: 10.1134/s1062359013050063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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