Multidisciplinary Collaborative Research: Amines and Agonistic Behavior in Crustaceans

大脑中的一些生化物质显然会影响行为；例如，高水平的胺类化合物血清素与大量脊椎动物和无脊椎动物的攻击性有关。在脊椎动物复杂的大脑中，研究特定化学物质影响特定单个神经细胞或神经元功能的方式是非常困难的。相比之下，一些无脊椎动物只有有限数量的可识别的大神经元，允许在被认为参与的精确细胞水平上分析复杂的行为过程。这项在三个不同实验室进行的合作研究充分利用了小龙虾的行为和这些动物非常容易接近的神经系统作为模型系统。各种行为学、药理学、分子和生理学方法被用来确定胺类化合物如何调节优势和非优势动物在其社会等级中的攻击活动，以及特定的含胺神经细胞在这些行为中是如何重要的。这项工作的结果将是理解某些细胞用作神经递质的化合物如何对调节行为产生影响的基础。通过阐明胺在复杂行为过程中的作用，例如远比该模型系统复杂的动物神经系统中的攻击行为，研究结果将对细胞神经科学和神经行为学以外的行为神经科学和心理学的其他领域产生影响。

Some biochemicals in the brain apparently affect behavior; for example, a high level of the amine compound serotonin has been linked to aggression in a wide range of both vertebrate and invertebrate species. It is very difficult in the complex brain of vertebrate animals to study the way in which particular chemicals affect the function of particular single nerve cells, or neurons. In contrast, some invertebrate animals have limited numbers of large identifiable neurons, allowing analysis of complex behavioral processes at the level of the precise cells thought to be involved. This collaborative work in three different laboratories exploits the well-studied behavior of crayfish and the very accessible nervous system of these animals, as a model system. A variety of behavioral, pharmacological, molecular and physiological approaches are used to determine how amine compounds modulate the aggressive activity of dominant and non-dominant animals in their social hierarchies, and how particular amine- containing nerve cells are important in these behaviors. Results from this work will be fundamental to understanding how compounds that are used by certain cells as neural transmitters also can have effects on modulating behavior. By clarifying the roles of amines in complex behavioral processes, such as aggression in the nervous systems of animals far more complex than this model system, the results will have an impact beyond cellular neuroscience and neuroethology to other areas of behavior neuroscience and psychology.