Objetivo Effects of hormones on behaviour have been recognized for over a century. The reciprocal is also true behaviour can have profound effects on hormone secretions. For example, in response to conspecific intruders, testosterone in territorial male birds can increase to maintain aggression over the course of a challenge.Thus, social cues are often powerful stimuli for the induction of neuroendocrine responses. Recognition of competitors can be altered by sexual imprinting birds reared by heterospecifics (cross-fostered birds) often misdirect territorial aggression toward the foster species. However, it is not known whether neuroendocrine responses are misdirected in a similar fashion.The organization of the neuroendocrine system may be pre-programmed to respond only to conspecific cues. Great tits and blue tits misdirect aggressive responses after cross-fostering. We will examine whether the testosterone response of free-living tits toward heterospecifics becomes similarly misdirected to determine whether the organization of hormonal responses is flexible to early social learning.We hypothesize that early social memory will have a tremendous impact not only on behaviour, but also on the structuring of endocrine responses in the brain. Tits will be cross-fostered in woodland plots near Oslo, Norway. Great tits and blue tits are especially well-suited for this proposed research because they show species-specific differences in the degree of sexual imprinting.The behavioural responses of adult cross-fostered males toward conspecific and heterospecific decoys will be investigated with simulated territorial intrusions. Blood from focal birds will then be collected and assayed for testosterone. Birds raised by unrelated conspecifics will serve as controls.These studies w ill strengthen our understanding of the role of early social cues in the control of neuroendocrine secretions, and will provide a solid basis for future studies of hormone-behaviour interactions. Palabras clave Environmental endocrinology behavioral ecology Programa(s) FP6-MOBILITY - Human resources and Mobility in the specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration "Structuring the European Research Area" under the Sixth Framework Programme 2002-2006 Tema(s) MOBILITY-2.3 - Marie Curie Incoming International Fellowships (IIF) Convocatoria de propuestas FP6-2002-MOBILITY-7 Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoria Régimen de financiación IIF - Marie Curie actions-Incoming International Fellowships Coordinador UNIVERSITETET I OSLO Aportación de la UE Sin datos Dirección Problemveien 7 OSLO Noruega Ver en el mapa Coste total Sin datos
