Testosterone acts within the medial amygdala of rats to reduce innate fear to predator odor akin to the effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection
Rats infected with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii exhibit a reduced aversion to cat odor. This behavioral change is thought to increase trophic transmission of the parasite. Infected male rats also show a greater testicular synthesis of testosterone and epigenetic change in arginine vasopressin wit...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/145655 |
| _version_ | 1826122389628387328 |
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| author | Singh, Dhiraj Kumar Dass, Shantala Arundathi Hari Abdulai-Saiku, Samira Vyas, Ajai |
| author2 | School of Biological Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Biological Sciences Singh, Dhiraj Kumar Dass, Shantala Arundathi Hari Abdulai-Saiku, Samira Vyas, Ajai |
| author_sort | Singh, Dhiraj Kumar |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Rats infected with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii exhibit a reduced aversion to cat odor. This behavioral change is thought to increase trophic transmission of the parasite. Infected male rats also show a greater testicular synthesis of testosterone and epigenetic change in arginine vasopressin within the medial amygdala. Here, we show that exogenous supply of testosterone within MeA of uninfected castrates recapitulates reduction in innate fear akin to behavioral change attributed to the parasite. We also show that castration post establishment of chronic infection precludes changes in fear and medial amygdala arginine vasopressin in the infected male rats. These observations support the role of gonadal hormones and pursuant neuroendocrine changes in mediating the loss of fear in the infected rats. This work also demonstrates that testosterone acting specifically within the medial amygdala sufficiently explains reduced defensive behaviors often observed during the appetitive component of reproductive behaviors. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:47:42Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/145655 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:47:42Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1456552023-02-28T17:08:36Z Testosterone acts within the medial amygdala of rats to reduce innate fear to predator odor akin to the effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection Singh, Dhiraj Kumar Dass, Shantala Arundathi Hari Abdulai-Saiku, Samira Vyas, Ajai School of Biological Sciences Science::Biological sciences Androgen Behavioral Manipulation Rats infected with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii exhibit a reduced aversion to cat odor. This behavioral change is thought to increase trophic transmission of the parasite. Infected male rats also show a greater testicular synthesis of testosterone and epigenetic change in arginine vasopressin within the medial amygdala. Here, we show that exogenous supply of testosterone within MeA of uninfected castrates recapitulates reduction in innate fear akin to behavioral change attributed to the parasite. We also show that castration post establishment of chronic infection precludes changes in fear and medial amygdala arginine vasopressin in the infected male rats. These observations support the role of gonadal hormones and pursuant neuroendocrine changes in mediating the loss of fear in the infected rats. This work also demonstrates that testosterone acting specifically within the medial amygdala sufficiently explains reduced defensive behaviors often observed during the appetitive component of reproductive behaviors. Published version 2021-01-04T01:33:31Z 2021-01-04T01:33:31Z 2020 Journal Article Singh, D. K., Dass, S. A. H., Abdulai-Saiku, S., & Vyas, A. (2020). Testosterone acts within the medial amygdala of rats to reduce innate fear to predator odor akin to the effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 630-. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00630 1664-0640 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/145655 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00630 32714222 11 en Frontiers in Psychiatry © 2020 Singh, Hari Dass, Abdulai-Saiku and Vyas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Science::Biological sciences Androgen Behavioral Manipulation Singh, Dhiraj Kumar Dass, Shantala Arundathi Hari Abdulai-Saiku, Samira Vyas, Ajai Testosterone acts within the medial amygdala of rats to reduce innate fear to predator odor akin to the effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection |
| title | Testosterone acts within the medial amygdala of rats to reduce innate fear to predator odor akin to the effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection |
| title_full | Testosterone acts within the medial amygdala of rats to reduce innate fear to predator odor akin to the effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection |
| title_fullStr | Testosterone acts within the medial amygdala of rats to reduce innate fear to predator odor akin to the effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection |
| title_full_unstemmed | Testosterone acts within the medial amygdala of rats to reduce innate fear to predator odor akin to the effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection |
| title_short | Testosterone acts within the medial amygdala of rats to reduce innate fear to predator odor akin to the effects of Toxoplasma gondii infection |
| title_sort | testosterone acts within the medial amygdala of rats to reduce innate fear to predator odor akin to the effects of toxoplasma gondii infection |
| topic | Science::Biological sciences Androgen Behavioral Manipulation |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/145655 |
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