Androgen receptor modulation of vocal circuitry in Alston's singing mouse

Abstract

Animal courtship and aggressive displays are dramatic, often sexually dimorphic behaviors that require the coordinated modulation of diverse motivational and motor circuits. In Alstons singing mice, a novel and elaborate advertisement vocalization is sexually dimorphic and steroid sensitive (Scotinomys teguina). Males sing more often than females, and on average male songs have more notes. Song is influenced by circulating androgens, but how such hormonal differences influence the diverse brain regions involved in vocal display is not understood. To characterize androgen-sensitive sites in the vocal motor pathway, we used two isoforms of pseudorabies virus (PRV) to double-label circuits ending in laryngeal and jaw muscles involved in vocalization, and co-labeled these neurons for androgen receptor (AR). Next we manipulated circulating androgens and observed the effects on AR distribution and male song. We find androgens drive coordinated changes in AR abundance across motor and motivational circuits, and both individual and group differences in song are associated with AR abundance. The results reveal how circulating androgens and the auto-regulation of androgen receptors can influence the diverse circuits necessary for elaborate advertisement displays. Significance statementCourtship and aggressive displays are among those most elaborate and dramatic of sexually dimorphic behaviors. We show that in Alstons singing mouse, an androgen-sensitive network defined by retrograde tracing shapes vocal display effort. Our results reveal how the intensity of singing mouse vocalizations is influenced by androgen actions in the vocal motor pathway.