Final Report Summary - BRAIN & MATE CHOICE (The neural basis of mate choice: Which brain structures are involved in mate assessment in mice?)
Mate choice is a key driving force of evolution but the proximate mechanisms allowing mate assessment by the nervous system are still unknown. In order to understand how mate value and preferences are represented in the brain, the first aim of this project was to establish a behavioural paradigm in which mate choice is stable and reproducible, using mice as model system. We have achieved this goal by using a combination of inbred strains of mice and by taking advantage of a natural situation occurring in Europe where two subspecies of mouse, Mus musculus musculus and Mus musculus domesticus, form a narrow hybrid zone, and show asymmetric mate preferences. By translating this situation in the laboratory, we have obtained an extensive series of results demonstrating that:
1) musculus females show a strong preference for musculus over domesticus males, as they do in the wild;
2) this preference is stable over time and increases with repeated testing;
3) it reflects a broad homosubspecific mate preference, as similar results can be obtained using various domesticus and musculus strains of mice;
4) mate preference is relative and not absolute as it depends on the males available;
5) and it is influenced by female's early experience as shown by adoption experiments of musculus females in a domesticus environment at birth.
This work therefore resulted in the establishment of a reliable and biologically relevant behavioural paradigm that allows us to investigate the neuronal basis of mate preference. As we are able to manipulate male subjective value by manipulating either female's experience or the context of the choice, we can now study mate value representation in the female's brain and identify brain regions encoding mate value information. This will hopefully provide in the near future a better understanding of the neural mechanism underlying mate choice, an essential decision making process in animal's life, and will ultimately provide further insight into our understanding of brain function.
1) musculus females show a strong preference for musculus over domesticus males, as they do in the wild;
2) this preference is stable over time and increases with repeated testing;
3) it reflects a broad homosubspecific mate preference, as similar results can be obtained using various domesticus and musculus strains of mice;
4) mate preference is relative and not absolute as it depends on the males available;
5) and it is influenced by female's early experience as shown by adoption experiments of musculus females in a domesticus environment at birth.
This work therefore resulted in the establishment of a reliable and biologically relevant behavioural paradigm that allows us to investigate the neuronal basis of mate preference. As we are able to manipulate male subjective value by manipulating either female's experience or the context of the choice, we can now study mate value representation in the female's brain and identify brain regions encoding mate value information. This will hopefully provide in the near future a better understanding of the neural mechanism underlying mate choice, an essential decision making process in animal's life, and will ultimately provide further insight into our understanding of brain function.