Sex differences in song syntax and syllable diversity in testosterone-induced songs of adult male and female canaries

Biology of Sex Differences

Research

David M. Logue¹  Jacques Balthazart²  Ednei B. dos Santos²  Charlotte A. Cornil²  Gregory F. Ball³ 

[1] Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada;Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, GIGA Neurosciences, University of Liege, 15 Avenue Hippocrate (Bat. B36), Sart Tilman, 4000, Liège 1, Belgium;Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science; Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA;

关键词: Song diversity;    Syllable sequences;    Sex differences;    Testosterone;    Network analysis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13293-023-00533-8

 received in 2023-03-30, accepted in 2023-07-18,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundBehavioral sex differences are widespread in the animal world. These differences can be qualitative (i.e., behavior present in one sex but not the other, a true sex dimorphism) or quantitative (behavior is present at a higher rate or quality in one sex compared to the other). Singing in oscine songbirds is associated with both types of differences. In canaries, female rarely sing spontaneously but they can be induced to do so by treatments with steroids. Song in these females is, however, not fully masculinized and exhibits relatively subtle differences in quality as compared with male song. We analyzed here sex differences in syllable content and syllable use between singing male and female canaries.MethodsSongs were recorded from three groups of castrated male and three groups of photoregressed female canaries that had received Silastic™ implants filled with testosterone (T), with T plus estradiol (E2), or left empty (control). After 6 weeks of hormone treatment, 30 songs were recorded from each of the 47 subjects. Songs were segmented and each syllable was annotated. Various metrics of syllable diversity were extracted and network analysis was employed to characterize syllable sequences.ResultsMale and female songs were characterized by marked sex differences related to syllable use. Compared to females, males had a larger syllable-type repertoire and their songs contained more syllable types. Network analysis of syllable sequences showed that males follow more fixed patterns of syllable transitions than females. Both sexes, however, produced song of the same duration containing the same number of syllables produced at similar rates (numbers per second).ConclusionsUnder the influence of T, canaries of both sexes are able to produce generally similar vocalizations that nevertheless differ in specific ways. The development of song during ontogeny appears to be a very sophisticated process that is presumably based on genetic and endocrine mechanisms but also on specific learning processes. These data highlight the importance of detailed behavioral analyses to identify the many dimensions of a behavior that can differ between males and females.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

40517_2023_266_Article_IEq67.gif

40517_2023_266_Article_IEq55.gif