Adult, sex-specific behavior characterized by elevated neuronal functional complexity

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Abstract
Adult, sex-specific behaviors are good models for context-specific behavioral patterns. Here, we focus on a unique example: locust oviposition. The neural network's rhythmic output can be activated at all life stages, including embryonic, in both females and males. All recorded patterns, independent of age and sex, showed similar basic statistics. Activity density plots and spectral analysis, however, revealed that oscillations in burst rates recorded from females show greater variation quantities than those recorded from males. Furthermore, only the neural output recorded from sexually mature females was characterized by significantly elevated functional complexity. Thus, while the neural network has inherent potential to generate motor activities at different levels of complexity, only the proper internal-environmental and behavioral context triggers expression of its full potential of information capacity.