Brain and Behavior HOME VARIATION within a SPECIES PATHOLOGY GENDER SEXUALITY LINKS

Variation Within a Species hermaphroditic fish domestic cats crayfish aggression Alzheimer's and other Pathologies The Question of Gender The Question of Sexuality Links Bibliography

Females to Supermales . . . Behavior and AVT Some female fish turn into supermales when the original supermales are taken out of the group. In essence, the fish has changed behavior drastically. What changes, if any, do you expect to see in her brain? Researchers discovered that indeed, there are significant changes in the brain of these "hermaphrodite" fish. Associated with the dramatic change in sex-typical behavior, there is an increase in arginine vasotocin (AVT) production in the brain. AVT is a protein that is involved in reproductive behavior in non-mammalian vertebrates. Both behavior and AVT change rapidly and even exceed levels that are associated with the TP (intermediate) males. CONCLUSION?! Differences in behavior are associated with differences in the brain. And even more importantly -- this is true even among individuals of the SAME SPECIES. I'm not sure I believe you-- can you show me another example, please? I don't remember how we got to that conclusion-- can we start over? I'd like to learn more about hermaphrodite fish HOME || VARIATION || PATHOLOGY || GENDER || SEXUALITY || LINKS