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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Moderately Elevated Glucocorticoids Increase Mate Choosiness But Do Not Affect Sexual Proceptivity Or Preferences In Female Gray Treefrogs, Alexander T. Baugh, M. D. Gall, Stewart C. Silver , '20, M. A. Bee
Moderately Elevated Glucocorticoids Increase Mate Choosiness But Do Not Affect Sexual Proceptivity Or Preferences In Female Gray Treefrogs, Alexander T. Baugh, M. D. Gall, Stewart C. Silver , '20, M. A. Bee
Biology Faculty Works
Glucocorticoids (GCs) are rarely studied in the context of female mate choice, despite the expression of receptors for these products in sexual, sensory and decision-making brain areas. Here we investigated the effects of GC concentrations on three aspects of female sexual behavior in breeding Cope's gray treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis): proceptivity—a measure of sexual motivation, intraspecific mate preferences, and mate choosiness. To our knowledge this is the first experimental study on the endocrine basis of mate choosiness. We predicted that mate choosiness—forfeiting an initial mate preference to pursue a suddenly more attractive mate—would be particularly impacted by elevated GCs with moderate …
Novelty Induces Behavioural And Glucocorticoid Responses In A Songbird Artificially Selected For Divergent Personalities, Alexander T. Baugh, Kailyn Faye R. Witonsky , '16, S. C. Davidson, Laura P. Hyder , '16, M. Hau, K. Van Oers
Novelty Induces Behavioural And Glucocorticoid Responses In A Songbird Artificially Selected For Divergent Personalities, Alexander T. Baugh, Kailyn Faye R. Witonsky , '16, S. C. Davidson, Laura P. Hyder , '16, M. Hau, K. Van Oers
Biology Faculty Works
Stress physiology is thought to contribute to individual differences in behaviour. In part this reflects the fact that canonical personality measures consist of responses to challenges, including novel objects and environments. Exposure to novelty is typically assumed to induce a moderate increase in glucocorticoids (CORT), although this has rarely been tested. We tested this assumption using great tits, Parus major, selected for divergent personalities (bold-fast and shy-slow explorers), predicting that the shy birds would exhibit higher CORT following exposure to a novel object. We also scored behavioural responses to the novel object, predicting that bold birds would more frequently approach …
Risk-Averse Personalities Have A Systemically Potentiated Neuroendocrine Stress Axis: A Multilevel Experiment In Parus Major, Alexander T. Baugh, Rebecca A. Senft , '15, Marian L. Firke , '14, Abigail P. Lauder , '15, J. Schroeder, S. L. Meddle, Kees Van Oers, M. Hau
Risk-Averse Personalities Have A Systemically Potentiated Neuroendocrine Stress Axis: A Multilevel Experiment In Parus Major, Alexander T. Baugh, Rebecca A. Senft , '15, Marian L. Firke , '14, Abigail P. Lauder , '15, J. Schroeder, S. L. Meddle, Kees Van Oers, M. Hau
Biology Faculty Works
Hormonal pleiotropy—the simultaneous influence of a single hormone on multiple traits—has been hypothesized as an important mechanism underlying personality, and circulating glucocorticoids are central to this idea. A major gap in our understanding is the neural basis for this link. Here we examine the stability and structure of behavioral, endocrine and neuroendocrine traits in a population of songbirds (Parus major). Upon identifying stable and covarying behavioral and endocrine traits, we test the hypothesis that risk-averse personalities exhibit a neuroendocrine stress axis that is systemically potentiated—characterized by stronger glucocorticoid reactivity and weaker negative feedback. We show high among-individual variation and covariation …