Evidence map›Paper›PMID 10885513›Full record

ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2000

Oestrogen regulates male aggression in the non-breeding season.

K K Soma, A D Tramontin, J C Wingfield

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2000. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
43citing papers in PubMed
20.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

43 citing papers in PubMed, 210 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) as a tool for conservation.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. An Aggressive Interaction Rapidly Increases Brain Androgens in a Male Songbird during the Non-breeding Season.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024
    Article
  6. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

K K SomaDepartment of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195-1800, USA. ksoma@u.washington.edu
A D Tramontin
J C Wingfield
University of Washington · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Extensive research has focused on territorial aggression during the breeding season and the roles of circulating testosterone (T) and its conversion to 17beta-oestradiol (E2) in the brain. However, many species also defend territories in the non-breeding season, when circulating T-levels are low. The endocrine control of non-breeding territoriality is poorly understood. The male song sparrow of Washington State is highly territorial year-round, but plasma T is basal in the non-breeding season (autumn and winter). Castration has no effect on aggression in autumn, suggesting that autumnal territoriality is independent of gonadal hormones. However, non-gonadal sex steroids may regulate winter territoriality (e.g. oestrogen synthesis by brain aromatase). In this field experiment, we treated wild non-breeding male song sparrows with a specific aromatase inhibitor (fadrozole, FAD) using micro-osmotic pumps. FAD greatly reduced several aggressive behaviours. The effects of FAD were reversed by E2 replacement. Treatment did not affect body condition or plasma corticosterone, suggesting that all subjects were healthy These data indicate that E2 regulates male aggression in the non-breeding season and challenge the common belief that aggression in the non-breeding season is independent of sex steroids. More generally, these results raise fundamental questions about how sexual and/or aggressive behaviours are maintained in a variety of model vertebrate species despite low circulating levels of sex steroids or despite castration. Such non-classical endocrine mechanisms may be common among vertebrates and play an important role in the regulation of behaviour.

Indexed as

AggressionAnimalsEstradiolEstrogen AntagonistsEstrogensFadrozoleMaleReproductionSeasonsSexual Behavior, AnimalSongbirdsTerritorialityTestosteroneWashingtonEstradiolEstrogen AntagonistsEstrogensFadrozoleTestosterone

Identifiers

PMID10885513
PMCPMC1690643
OpenAlexW1966562279

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.