AUDITORY AND ENDOCRINE INPUTS TO FOREBRAIN CENTERS IN ANURAN AMPHIBIANS

Vertebrate reproduction requires the coordinated expression of somatomotor behavior and visceral responses. Acoustic communication signals and circulating gonadal steroids are two important cues used by anuran amphibians to prime and trigger reproductive behavior. An examination of central nervous system auditory pathways and the binding sites for gonadal steroids shows that somatomotor (striatum) and visceromotor (preoptic area and ventral hypothalamus) control regions of the forebrain each receive an independent, parallel input from auditory relay nuclei in the thalamus, and each contains receptors for gonadal steroid hormones. This suggests that the different aspects of anuran reproductive behavior are coordinated by having the different areas responsible for each aspect concurrently primed by circulating gonadal steroids and simultaneously provided with information regarding the presence of conspecific acoustic communication signals.