Effect of Wnt Expression on Dopaminergic Neurons and Behavior

Monogamy is the practice of maintaining a single sexual partner in a given amount of time. On the other hand, polygamy is the practice of having multiple sexual partners at a given time. Convict cichlids exhibit monogamous behavior, while zebrafish exhibit polygamous behavior. Our goal is to determine when, during embryonic development, this monogamous behavior in convict cichlids is established. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that affects mood and reward processing. Dopaminergic neurons (DA) release dopamine and are most abundant in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The VTA is defined by a morphogen called Wnt. Wnt binds to Fzd receptors affecting the number of DA neurons produced. Wnt expression and the number of DA neurons have an inverse relationship. We predict that monogamous convict cichlids will have less wnt than polygamous zebrafish and, therefore, more DA neurons which would explain their behavior.