2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Functional demonstration of sexual signal neural circuits
| Project/Area Number |
15K14881
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Integrative animal science
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| Research Institution | Azabu University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
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| Keywords | フェロモン / 性差 / 嗅覚 / 性行動 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Male and female mice can recognize the conspecific sex information and show adaptive behavior to the counterpart. In this study, we aimed to reveal the functional differences in male and female brain conveying the sex-related signals. ESP1 is a male pheromone secreted into male tears. ESP1 stimulates female receptive behavior and enhances male aggression. We identified the nuclei that were activated by ESP1 both in male and females, using neural activity marker C-fos. By pharmacogenetics approach, we artificially activated these nuclei and were able to reproduce the female sexual behavior and male aggression. Therefore, we demonstrated the functional sex differences in the brain that regulating ESP1-related sex-specific behavior.
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| Free Research Field |
行動神経科学
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