Physiological Bases for Long Term Effects of Winning

。了解过去的经历如何塑造未来的行为是现代动物行为和神经生物学面临的基本挑战之一。应对这一挑战将需要表征由已知影响特定行为的经历引发的生理变化，例如在男女相遇期间的攻击性。有两个因素被证明对一次相遇中表现出的攻击性强度有重要影响：1)以前相遇的结果，无论是赢还是输；2)相遇的地点，无论熟悉还是不熟悉。这项拟议工作的目标是检查有助于获胜对未来相遇的影响的生理成分(赢家效应)，以及那些有助于与熟悉相遇地点相关的攻击性的成分。具体地说，将评估在竞争性相互作用后观察到的睾酮变化的作用。此外，还将记录因睾丸激素的短暂变化而发生的神经化学变化。为了开始研究场地熟悉度在攻击强度中的作用，我们将比较常驻入侵者攻击(特定地点攻击)和中性攻击(在中立场所的攻击)。据预测，神经化学物质加压素与居民-入侵者攻击的关系将比中性攻击更密切。一夫一妻制，高度亲缘的加州小鼠，和混杂的，亲缘关系较少的白纹伊蚊(白足小鼠)将被开发为分析经验和攻击强度之间交互作用的模型系统。在这些研究中获得的信息可能为深入了解哺乳动物攻击强度可塑性背后的一些生理机制提供帮助。

. LAY ABSTRACTUnderstanding how past experience shapes future behavior is one of the fundamental challenges for modern animal behavior and neurobiology. Meeting this challenge will require characterization of physiological changes triggered by experiences known to influence specific behaviors, such as aggression during male-male encounters. Two factors have been shown to critically influence the intensity of aggression expressed in an encounter: 1) the outcomes of previous encounters, whether won or lost, and 2) the location of the encounter, whether familiar or unfamiliar. It is the goal of the proposed work to examine the physiological components that contribute to the effect winning has on future encounters (winner effect), as well as those components that contribute to aggression associated with familiarity with the encounter location. Specifically, the function of observed changes in testosterone after competitive interactions will be evaluated. In addition, neurochemical changes that occur in response to transient changes in testosterone will be documented. To begin examining the role of site familiarity in the intensity of aggression, comparisons will be made between resident-intruder aggression (site-specific aggression) and neutral aggression (aggression in a neutral arena). It is predicted that the neurochemical vasopressin will be more closely associated with resident-intruder aggression than neutral aggression. The monogamous, highly parental Peromyscus californicus (California mouse), and the promiscuous, less parental P. leucopus (white-footed mouse) will be developed as model systems for this analysis of interactions between experience and intensity of aggression. Information obtained in these studies may provide insight into some of the physiological mechanisms underlying plasticity in the intensity of aggression in mammals.