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Specific neural representation for a conceptual set of behavior: pair bonding

Authors Dios AM, Alexander K, Hanson SJ, Cheng MF

Received 9 April 2013

Accepted for publication 1 May 2013

Published 9 October 2013 Volume 2013:4 Pages 33—38

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/RRB.S46459

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



Amanda Maria Dios, Katherine Alexander, Stephen Jose Hanson, Mei Fang Cheng

Rutgers University, Department of Psychology, Newark, NJ, USA

Abstract: Our study examines whether ZENK expression in the nucleus taeniae (avian amygdala) serves as a predictor for pair bonding in ring doves. We were able to predict pair bonding in two experiments at 90%–100% using a quadratic discriminant analysis on principal component scores conducted on ZENK cell counts in the nucleus taeniae. This method appears to be more sensitive in predicting pair bonding than behavioral preference tests, which are subject to environmental factors such as housing conditions and testing parameters.

Keywords: pair bonding, taeniae (avian amygdala), ZENK expression, ring doves

Corrigendum for this paper has been published

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