A sex-specific switch between visual and olfactory inputs underlies adaptive sex differences in behavior

While males and females largely share the same genome and nervous system, they differ profoundly in reproductive investments and require distinct behavioral, morphological and physiological adaptations. How can the nervous system, while bound by both developmental and biophysical constraints, produc...

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Main Authors: Nojima, T, Rings, A, Allen, A, Otto, N, Verschut, T, Billeter, J-C, Neville, M, Goodwin, SF
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021
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author Nojima, T
Rings, A
Allen, A
Otto, N
Verschut, T
Billeter, J-C
Neville, M
Goodwin, SF
author_facet Nojima, T
Rings, A
Allen, A
Otto, N
Verschut, T
Billeter, J-C
Neville, M
Goodwin, SF
author_sort Nojima, T
collection OXFORD
description While males and females largely share the same genome and nervous system, they differ profoundly in reproductive investments and require distinct behavioral, morphological and physiological adaptations. How can the nervous system, while bound by both developmental and biophysical constraints, produce these sexdifferences in behavior? Here we uncover a novel dimorphism in Drosophila melanogaster that allows deployment of completely different behavioral repertoires in males and females with minimum changes to circuit architecture. Sexual differentiation of only a small number of higher-order neurons in the brain leads to a change in connectivity related to the primary reproductive needs of both sexes - courtship pursuit in males and communal oviposition in females. This study explains how an apparently similar brain generates distinct behavioral repertoires in the two sexes and presents a fundamental principle of neural circuit organization that may be extended to other species.
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spelling oxford-uuid:25bd5d6a-e259-43ae-815e-93fd9fd31b592022-03-26T11:57:11ZA sex-specific switch between visual and olfactory inputs underlies adaptive sex differences in behaviorJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:25bd5d6a-e259-43ae-815e-93fd9fd31b59EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2021Nojima, TRings, AAllen, AOtto, NVerschut, TBilleter, J-CNeville, MGoodwin, SFWhile males and females largely share the same genome and nervous system, they differ profoundly in reproductive investments and require distinct behavioral, morphological and physiological adaptations. How can the nervous system, while bound by both developmental and biophysical constraints, produce these sexdifferences in behavior? Here we uncover a novel dimorphism in Drosophila melanogaster that allows deployment of completely different behavioral repertoires in males and females with minimum changes to circuit architecture. Sexual differentiation of only a small number of higher-order neurons in the brain leads to a change in connectivity related to the primary reproductive needs of both sexes - courtship pursuit in males and communal oviposition in females. This study explains how an apparently similar brain generates distinct behavioral repertoires in the two sexes and presents a fundamental principle of neural circuit organization that may be extended to other species.
spellingShingle Nojima, T
Rings, A
Allen, A
Otto, N
Verschut, T
Billeter, J-C
Neville, M
Goodwin, SF
A sex-specific switch between visual and olfactory inputs underlies adaptive sex differences in behavior
title A sex-specific switch between visual and olfactory inputs underlies adaptive sex differences in behavior
title_full A sex-specific switch between visual and olfactory inputs underlies adaptive sex differences in behavior
title_fullStr A sex-specific switch between visual and olfactory inputs underlies adaptive sex differences in behavior
title_full_unstemmed A sex-specific switch between visual and olfactory inputs underlies adaptive sex differences in behavior
title_short A sex-specific switch between visual and olfactory inputs underlies adaptive sex differences in behavior
title_sort sex specific switch between visual and olfactory inputs underlies adaptive sex differences in behavior
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