Testosterone promotes paternal behaviour in a monogamous mammal via conversion to oestrogen
Open accessAbstract
Although high testosterone (T) levels inhibit paternal behaviour in birds breeding in temperate zones many paternal mammals have a very different breeding biology, characterized by a post-partum oestrus. In species with post-partum oestrus, males may engage in T-dependent behaviours such as aggression and copulation simultaneously with paternal behaviour. We previously found that T promotes paternal behaviour in the California mouse, Peromyscus californicus. We examine whether this effect is mediated by the conversion of T to oestradiol (E(2)) by aromatase. In the first experiment, gonadectomized males treated with T or E(2) implants showed higher levels of huddling and pup grooming behaviour than gonadectomized males treated with dihydrotestosterone or empty implants. In the second experiment, we used an aromatase inhibitor (fadrozole) (FAD) to confirm these results. Gonadectomized males treated with T + vehicle or E(2) + FAD showed higher levels of huddling and pup grooming behaviour than gonadectomized males treated with T + FAD or empty implants. Although E(2) is known to promote the onset of maternal behaviour to our knowledge our results are the first to demonstrate that E(2) can promote paternal behaviour in a paternal mammal. These results may explain how mammals express paternal behaviour while T levels are elevated.
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Silastic implants containing testosterone, DHT, or sealant produce plasma hormone levels within the physiological range of adult male California mice.
“These implants produce plasma hormone levels within the physiological range of adult male California mice (61).”
From Sexual differentiation of neural mechanisms of stress sensitivity during puberty (2023) · cites this paper as [61]
Male juveniles were randomly assigned to castration, sham surgery, or no-surgery control between PN35 and PN40.
“Male juveniles were randomly assigned to castration, sham surgery, or no-surgery control between PN35 and PN40 (61).”
From Sexual differentiation of neural mechanisms of stress sensitivity during puberty (2023) · cites this paper as [61]
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BackgroundDistribution and regulation of aromatase activity in the rat hypothalamus and limbic system
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Sexual differentiation of neural mechanisms of stress sensitivity during puberty
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- Authors
- Trainor, B. C., & Marler, C. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Corresponding author
- Trainor, Brian C.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Published
- 2002-04-22
- Volume
- 269
- Issue
- 1493
- Pages
- 823-829
- ISSN
- 0080-4649 (ISSN-L)
- 0962-8452
- 1471-2954
- PMC
- PMC1690962
- OpenAlex
- W2037507839
- Cited by
- 238
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 23.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (F31MH064328, MH64328-01)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
- Keywords
- testosterone, estradiol, aromatase, fadrozole, Peromyscus californicus, huddling, gonadectomy, dihydrotestosterone
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Behavior, Animal, Enzyme Inhibitors, Estradiol, Female, Male, Neurosecretory Systems, Paternal Behavior, Peromyscus, Dihydrotestosterone, Testosterone, Fadrozole, Aromatase Inhibitors
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