Our review focuses on findings from mammals as part of a Special Issue "30th Anniversary of the Challenge Hypothesis". Here we put forth an integration of the mechanisms through which testosterone controls territorial behavior and consider how reproductive experience may alter these mechanisms. The emphasis is placed on the function of socially induced increases in testosterone (T) pulses, which occur in response to social interactions, as elegantly developed by Wingfield and colleagues. We focus on findings from the monogamous California mouse, as data from this species shows that reproductive status is a key factor influencing social interactions, site fidelity, and vigilance for offspring defense. Specifically, we examine differences in T pulses in sexually naïve versus sexually experienced pair bonded males. Testosterone pulses influence processes such as social decision making, the winner-challenge effect, and location preferences through rewarding effects of T. We also consider how social and predatory vigilance contribute to T pulses and how these interactions contribute to a territory centered around maximizing reproduction. Possible underlying mechanisms for these effects include the nucleus accumbens (rewarding effects of testosterone), hippocampus (spatial memories for territories), and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (social vigilance). The development of the challenge effect has provided an ideal framework for understanding the complex network of behavioral, environmental, physiological and neural mechanisms that ultimately relates to competition and territoriality across taxa. The opportunity to merge research on the challenge effect using both laboratory and field research to understand social behavior is unparalleled.

中文翻译：

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重新挑战的假设：专注于生殖经验和神经机制。

我们的综述着重于哺乳动物的发现，这是特刊“挑战假设30周年”的一部分。在这里，我们提出了通过睾丸激素控制领土行为的各种机制的整合，并考虑了生殖经验如何改变这些机制。重点放在社交诱发的睾丸激素（T）脉冲增加的功能上，这是由Wingfield及其同事精心开发的，是响应社交互动而发生的。我们关注一夫一妻制加利福尼亚老鼠的发现，因为该物种的数据表明生殖状态是影响社交互动，场所忠诚度和对后代防御保持警惕的关键因素。具体来说，我们研究了天真的和性经历过的成对键合男性中T脉冲的差异。睾丸脉冲通过T的奖励作用影响诸如社会决策，获胜者挑战效应和位置偏好等过程。我们还考虑了社交和掠夺性警惕性如何对T脉冲做出贡献，以及这些相互作用如何对以最大化繁殖为中心的领土做出贡献。这些影响的可能潜在机制包括伏隔核（睾丸激素的奖励作用），海马（区域的空间记忆）和终末纹的床核（社会警惕）。挑战效应的发展为理解行为，环境，生理和神经机制的复杂网络提供了一个理想的框架，该网络最终与整个分类单元的竞争和领土性有关。