Abstract

How does the brain generate social behaviors? Social interactions are widespread and important for psychological health, but their underlying control remains poorly understood. Cichlid fish are excellent models to uncover these mechanisms because they display a large repertoire of social behaviors, and many experimental tools now exist to identify and test hypotheses. I used the recently sequenced genome of the cichlid Astatotilapia burtoni to develop transgenesis and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and have identified neural pathways that mediate reproductive behavior. Specifically, I have focused on the female brain, a historically neglected area of research. My pharmacological and genetic experiments show that specific aspects of female sexual behavior are driven by prostaglandin F2α signaling in anatomically discrete sets of neurons. Prostaglandin F2α signaling is promoted by progestin, allowing the incorporation of these two female hormones into a model for mating behavior. These results provide a platform to interrogate the function of specific genes and neurons in robust social behavior assays. I will present additional mechanisms controlling reproduction that I have identified and will discuss the implications for understanding social behaviors across vertebrate species.