ABS 2023
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Friends and Food: Investigating Neural Mechanisms of Behavior Across Contexts in Pupfish
Michelle E. St. John, Laura R. Stein. University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States

Behavioral decisions, such as those made while obtaining food or navigating social interactions, are ubiquitous across an animal’s life and often tied to fitness outcomes. However, much of our understanding about the neural and molecular mechanisms underlying these processes is based on adult, model organisms. Identifying connections from molecules to brain to behavior across multiple contexts, life stages, and species is crucial for an improved understanding of behavioral evolution. Here, we investigate neural mechanisms associated with feeding and social interactions in juvenile pupfish (Cyprinodon variegatus) and present the first brain atlas for the system. We exposed fish to an isolated control environment, an isolated feeding environment, and a social environment and quantified behavioral variation between treatments. We subsequently characterized variation in neural activation across brain regions using immunohistochemistry for the pS6 marker. Connecting behavioral and neural variation across contexts can provide putative mechanisms, laying a foundation for investigating selection and constraints on decision-making processes.