Hormonal and neural correlates of care in active versus observing poison frog parents

• Published in: Hormones and behavior Vol. 120; p. 104696
• Main Authors: Fischer, Eva K., O'Connell, Lauren A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.04.2020
• Subjects: Animals; Anura - physiology; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Brain - physiology; Dendrobatidae; Female; Gene Expression; Hormones - metabolism; Larva; Male; Maternal Behavior - physiology; Nesting Behavior - physiology; Neuronal Plasticity - physiology; Neurosecretory Systems - physiology; Parental care; Paternal Behavior - physiology; Plasticity; RNAseq; Sex differences; Sex Factors; Parental care; Dendrobatidae; Sex differences; RNAseq; Plasticity
• ISSN: 0018-506X; 1095-6867
• DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104696

The occasional reversal of sex-typical behavior suggests that many of the neural circuits underlying behavior are conserved between males and females and can be activated in response to the appropriate social condition or stimulus. Most poison frog species (Family Dendrobatidae) exhibit male uniparental care, but flexible compensation has been observed in some species, where females will take over parental care duties when males disappear. We investigated hormonal and neural correlates of sex-typical and sex-reversed parental care in a typically male uniparental species, the Dyeing Poison Frog (Dendrobates tinctorius). We first characterized hormone levels and whole brain gene expression across parental care stages during sex-typical care. Surprisingly, hormonal changes and brain gene expression differences associated with active parental behavior in males were mirrored in their non-caregiving female partners. To further explore the disconnect between neuroendocrine patterns and behavior, we characterized hormone levels and neural activity patterns in females performing sex-reversed parental care. In contrast to hormone and gene expression patterns, we found that patterns of neural activity were linked to the active performance of parental behavior, with sex-reversed tadpole transporting females exhibiting neural activity patterns more similar to those of transporting males than non-caregiving females. We suggest that parallels in hormones and brain gene expression in active and observing parents are related to females' ability to flexibly take over parental care in the absence of their male partners. [Display omitted] •Dendrobates tinctorius is a male uniparental poison frog species.•Female D. tinctorius sometimes exhibit parental care in the absence of their mates.•Hormones and brain gene expression are similar in active versus observing parents.•In contrast, neural activity is linked to active performance of parental behavior.•Neuroendocrine changes in observing females may prime them to take over care.