Corrigendum: Testosterone Acts Within the Medial Amygdala of Rats to Reduce Innate Fear to Predator Odor Akin to the Effects of Toxoplasma gondii Infection.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00630.].

Testosterone Acts Within the Medial Amygdala of Rats to Reduce Innate Fear to Predator Odor Akin to the Effects of Toxoplasma gondii Infection.

Rats infected with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii exhibit a reduced aversion to cat odor. This behavioral change is thought to increase trophic transmission of the parasite. Infected male rats also show a greater testicular synthesis of testosterone and epigenetic change in arginine vasopressin within the medial amygdala. Here, we show that exogenous supply of testosterone within MeA of uninfected castrates recapitulates reduction in innate fear akin to behavioral change attributed to the parasite. We also show that castration post establishment of chronic infection precludes changes in fear and medial amygdala arginine vasopressin in the infected male rats. These observations support the role of gonadal hormones and pursuant neuroendocrine changes in mediating the loss of fear in the infected rats. This work also demonstrates that testosterone acting specifically within the medial amygdala sufficiently explains reduced defensive behaviors often observed during the appetitive component of reproductive behaviors.

Copulation or sensory cues from the female augment Fos expression in arginine vasopressin neurons of the posterodorsal medial amygdala of male rats.

BACKGROUND: The posterodorsal part of the medial amygdala is essential for processing reproductively salient sensory information in rodents. This is the initial brain structure where information from olfactory system and male hormones intersect. The neurochemical identity of the neurons participating in the sensory processing in medial amygdala remains presently undetermined. Many neurons in this brain structure express arginine vasopressin in a testosterone-dependent manner, suggesting that this neuropeptide is maintained by the androgenic milieu. METHOD: Here we use Fos, a protein expressed by recently active neurons, to quantify activation of arginine vasopressin neurons after exposure to odor from physically inaccessible female. We compare it to mating with accessible female and to reproductively innocuous odor. RESULTS: We show that inaccessible female activate arginine vasopressin neurons in the male posterodorsal medial amygdala. The magnitude of activation is not further enhanced when physical access with resultant mating is granted, even though it remains undetermined if same population of AVP neurons is activated by both inaccessible female and copulation. We also show that arginine vasopressin activation cannot be fully accounted for by mere increase in the number of Fos and AVP neurons. CONCLUSION: These observations posit a role for the medial amygdala arginine vasopressin in reproductive behaviors, suggesting that these neurons serve as integrative node between the hormonal status of the animal and the availability of reproductive opportunities.