Controlling the decision to fight or flee： the roles of biogenic amines and nitric oxide in the cricket

作     者：Paul A. STEVENSON Jan RILLICH 

作者机构：Institute for Biology Leipzig University Talstr. 33 04103 Leipzig 6ermany 

出 版 物：《Current Zoology》 (动物学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2016年第62卷第3期

页      面：265-275页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 071010[理学-生物化学与分子生物学] 081704[工学-应用化学] 07[理学] 08[工学] 0817[工学-化学工程与技术] 0703[理学-化学] 070301[理学-无机化学] 

基　　金：Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 

主　　题：agonistic behavior agonistic signals assessment decision-making experience-dependent plasticity insects neuro-modulation octopamine social behavior. 

摘      要：Aggression is a common behavioral strategy employed by animals to secure limited resources, but must be applied with restraint to limit potential costs including injury. How animals make the adap- tive decision to fight or flee is barely known. Here, we review our work on crickets that reveals the roles of biogenic amines, primarily octopamine （the insect analog of noradrenaline） and nitric oxide （NO）. Using aminergic drugs, we found that amines are not essential for actually initiating aggres- sion. However, octopamine is necessary for mediating the aggression-promoting effects of poten- tially rewarding experiences including stimulation with a male antenna, physical exertion, winning, and resource possession. Hence, octopamine can be considered as the motivational component of aggression. Imposed handicaps that impede aggressive signaling revealed that the agonistic actions of an opponent perceived during fighting act to reduce aggression, and that crickets make the deci- sion to flee the moment the accumulated sum of such aversive experiences exceeds some critical level. Treatment with nitridergic drugs revealed that the impact of the opponent＇s aggressive actions is mediated by NO. NO acts to suppress aggression by promoting the tendency to flee and is primarily responsible for the depressed aggressiveness of subordinates after social defeat. Octopamine and dopamine can each restore aggression in subordinates, but only dopamine is necessary for normal recovery. The role of serotonin remains unclear, and is discussed. We conclude that octopamine and NO control the decision to fight or flee by mediating the effects of potentially rewarding and aversive experiences, respectively.