CAREER: Individual Variation in a Neuroendocrine Pathway

这项研究的重点是大脑如何工作的个体差异的资金原因。 在许多动物中，冬季白天短会导致个体不育，直到春季条件好转。 已经产生了两种小鼠品系，它们在这一特征上有很大差异。 一种菌株在短日照时间内变得不育，另一种则不会。 这些菌株将用于比较大脑中的化学物质和细胞，这些化学物质和细胞导致大脑如何控制生育能力的差异。 将在野生小鼠种群中进一步测试差异。 目的是了解动物生物学中的一个主要问题-细胞和大脑化学物质如何导致大脑功能的个体差异，特别是它们如何控制生育和不育。 更广泛地说，理解大脑中的个体差异将有助于理解动物行为的变化和对药物治疗的可变反应。 在教育方面，本科生需要更好的指导计划，将提供有关研究，伦理和科学职业的本科课程，将研究带入课堂，并通过深入参与实际研究来培训本科生的研究方法。

This study focuses on funding causes of individual differences in how the brain works. In many animals, short days during the winter cause individuals to become infertile until better conditions in spring. Two strains of mice have been produced that differ strongly in this feature. One strain becomes infertile in short day lengths, and the other does not. These strains will be used to compare brain chemicals and cells in the brain that cause these differences in how the brain controls fertility. Differences will be further tested in a wild population of mice. The goal is to understand a major question in animal biology - how do cells and brain chemicals cause individual differences in how the brain functions, and specifically how do they control fertility and infertility. More broadly, understanding individual differences in the brain will contribute to understanding variation in animal behavior and variable responses to medical treatment. In education, undergraduate students need better mentoring program, will provide an undergraduate course on research, ethics, and careers in science, will bring research into classroom, and will train undergraduates in research methods by intensive involvement in actual research.