RUI: Vasotocin Mechanisms Controlling Social Behavior

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Vasotocin is a chemical produced in the brains of fish, reptiles, amphibians and birds and is very similar to a chemical produced in the brains of mammals, including humans, which is called vasopressin. These related chemicals influence a variety of social behaviors, including courtship, aggression, and pair-bonding in numerous animals, possibly even in humans. However, little is known about how these chemicals act inside of the brain to exert their influences on a variety of behaviors. Goldfish are an ideal species in which to study such processes because they are very social and because the vasotocin systems in their brains are easily manipulated, to reveal important mechanisms for how these chemicals might work. In goldfish, vasotocin inhibits a very basic form of social behavior, approach responses toward other fish. The present project will use behavioral, neuroanatomical and molecular techniques to determine how and where vasotocin acts within the brain to induce such effects and if different levels of sociality are associated with individual differences in these brain systems. It is predicted that vasotocin inhibits social approach behavior in this species by activating brain systems involved in the control of body processes related to emotional fight or flight reactions. Because the brain vasotocin and vasopressin systems that potentially control such processes are similar in many animals, including humans, such findings could implicate mechanisms that may be widespread in the animal kingdom and may even represent one of the original ways through which this chemical affected social behavior in vertebrate animals. Therefore, these studies have the potential to increase our understanding of how the brain systems that control social behavior may have evolve, as well as of how specific neurochemical processes influence social behavior in modern species. Undergraduate students, many whom are senior honor's students, will play an important role in the implementation of studies addressing these specific goals.