:: Current research project

The social brain: how social stimuli are translated into neuroendocrine signals?

In social species individuals interact frequently with each other and the outcome of these interactions fine-tunes the expression of their social behavior in subsequent interactions. These motivational changes induced by social experience are mediated by changes in circulating androgens. Therefore, hormones can be seen as biochemical switches that signal socially-dependent internal states to the central nervous system which modifies neural circuits underlying the expression of social behaviour. However, the mechanisms involved in the translation of social stimuli into neuroendocrine signals remain poorly studied. With this project we aim to unravel these mechanisms using the cichlid fish Oreochromis mossambicus as a model system. For this purpose we propose the characterization of: (a) the multimodal social signals used in standardized social interactions; (b) the brain activation patterns elicited by unimodal social stimuli, using the expression of immediate early genes and fMRI; and (c) the brain activation patterns elicited by whole social interactions.

Funded by: FCT - SFRH/BD/40976/2007

:: Selected publications

- Vasconcelos, R.O., Simões, J.M., Almada, V.C. Fonseca, P.J. and Amorim, M.C.P. (2010). Vocal Behavior During Territorial Intrusions in the Lusitanian Toadfish: Boatwhistles Also Function as Territorial ‘Keep-Out’ Signals. Ethology 116: 155–165.

- Amorim, M.C.P., Simões, J.M., Fonseca, P.J. and Turner, G.F. (2008). Species differences in acoustic signals among five Lake Malawi cichlid species (Pseudotropheus spp.): implications for evolutionary processes. Journal of Fish Biology 72: 1355-1368.

- Simões, J.M., Fonseca, P.J., Turner, G.F. and Amorim, M.C.P. (2008). African cichlid Pseudotropheus spp. males moan to females during foreplay. Journal of Fish Biology 72: 2689-2694.

- Simões, J.M., Fonseca, P.J., Turner, G.F. and Amorim, M.C.P. (2008). Courtship and agonistic sounds by the cichlid fish Pseudotropheus zebra. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 124: 1332-1339.

- Amorim, M.C.P., Simões, J.M. and Fonseca, P.J. (2008). Acoustic communication in the Lusitanian toadfish, Halobatrachus didactylus: evidence for an unusual large vocal repertoire. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 88: 1069-1073.