Neuroendocrine Mechanisms Underlying Reproductive Decision Making Across Taxa

Animals from every taxon invest significant energy into reproduction. Research on reproductive decision making often focuses on how females choose mates and the features that attract them, but there is much more to reproductive decision making than simple mate choice. In this chapter, we highlight the diversity of reproductive decisions that males and females make, with an emphasis on the timing of mating, and means by which to mate. We discuss a central network of brain areas known as the social decision making network (SDMN) as an anchor for the modulation of reproductive decisions. We also promote the idea that the SDMN works intimately and reciprocally with other brain networks and neuroendocrine signaling pathways that are necessary for sensory/perceptive processing and motor output to enable reproductive decisions. Throughout, we (1) highlight examples that take place over different timescales and contexts, (2) take a comparative approach to emphasize common themes across animals, and (3) show the pervasiveness of neuroendocrine mechanisms that impact this profoundly important process. The decisions of when and with whom to mate are surely among the most important that any animal will make. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that influence and shape reproductive decisions is critical.