Effects of Prenatal Testosterone Exposure and Adult Hormone Manipulation on Social Learning, Social Interactions, and Anxiety-Like Behaviour in Male and Female CD1 Mice

Date

2016-12-22

Authors

Howes, Colin

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Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Guelph

Abstract

We investigated interactions between organizational and activational effects of gonadal hormones on social behaviour and cognition. Dams were treated with testosterone propionate or sesame oil control. Litters underwent a battery of behavioural assays in adolescence and in adulthood, following sham surgery, gonadectomy, or gonadectomy with estradiol/testosterone replacement. Castration improved social learning in male mice treated prenatally with oil, but blocked learning in mice treated prenatally with testosterone. Social learning was blocked in ovariectomized female mice treated prenatally with testosterone, but was recovered via estradiol replacement. Male mice were less sociable than females, and prenatal testosterone exaggerated this difference. Prenatal testosterone shifted male mice from dominance aggression towards territorial aggression when interacting with a cage-mate, and reduced submissiveness in interactions with an intruder among females. Prenatal testosterone increased anxiety-like behaviour only in male mice. Our results have implications for understanding the role of hormones in mediating social and social cognitive behaviour.

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Keywords

Testosterone, Prenatal Development, Neuroendocrinology, Hormone Replacement, Puberty

Citation