A lateralized functional auditory network is involved in anuran sexual selection

Journal of biosciences

ERMI ZHAO²  YEZHONG TANG²  FEI XUE²  GUANGZHAN FANG1²  STEVEN E BRAUTH¹  XIZI YUE² 

[1] Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA$$;Department of Herpetology, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, P.R. China$$

关键词: Auditory network;    frog;    Granger causal connectivity analysis (GCCA);    reproductive status;    sexual selection;   

DOI  :  

来源: Indian Academy of Sciences

【 摘 要 】

Right ear advantage (REA) exists in many land vertebrates in which the right ear and left hemisphere preferentiallyprocess conspecific acoustic stimuli such as those related to sexual selection. Although ecological and neural mechanismsfor sexual selection have been widely studied, the brain networks involved are still poorly understood. In this study weused multi-channel electroencephalographic data in combination with Granger causal connectivity analysis to demonstrate,for the first time, that auditory neural network interconnecting the left and right midbrain and forebrain functionasymmetrically in the Emei music frog (Babina daunchina), an anuran species which exhibits REA. The results showedthe network was lateralized. Ascending connections between the mesencephalon and telencephalon were stronger in theleft side while descending ones were stronger in the right, which matched with the REA in this species and implied thatinhibition from the forebrainmay induce REA partly. Connections from the telencephalon to ipsilateral mesencephalon inresponse to white noise were the highest in the non-reproductive stage while those to advertisement calls were the highestin reproductive stage, implying the attention resources and living strategy shift when entered the reproductive season.Finally, these connection changes were sexually dimorphic, revealing sex differences in reproductive roles.

【 授权许可】

Unknown