Collaborative Research on Central Neuroplasticity of the Avian Vasotocinergic System During Stress

健壮性和可塑性是生物体维持其适应不断变化的环境的能力所需的两个基本特性。大脑包含一个复杂的神经网络，使个体能够对他们的行为和生理功能进行快速和持续的调整，以科普意外的压力，如过度拥挤，温度变化和食物短缺。该神经网络是一组通过称为下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴的信号分子相互连接的解剖结构。 该网络调节对压力的反应，并在所有脊椎动物的适应中发挥重要作用。在这个网络中，神经激素催产素在所有亚哺乳类脊椎动物中具有广泛的生理和行为效应。计划中的研究有三个目标。首先，合作团队将确定在压力期间，催产素系统的各种细胞和分子成分如何相互作用。其次，他们将描述当急性压力暴露变成慢性压力暴露时，这些相互作用的变化。第三，将检查血管缩宫素和另一种神经激素促肾上腺皮质激素释放激素对动物适应压力的协同作用的结构和分子基础。拟议的活动是两个非常不同的教育机构的共同努力，一个主要以农业为重点的赠地大学和一个学术健康科学中心，都位于阿肯色州，那里的神经科学培训机会较少。成功的合作将向学生展示，他们将接受培训并介绍一些最新的技术，不同学术文化之间建立网络以促进知识和建立独特的科学事业的重要性。

Robustness and plasticity are two fundamental properties of living organisms required to sustain their ability to adapt to the changing environment. The brain contains a complex neural network enabling individuals to make rapid as well as sustained adjustments to their behavior and physiological functions to cope with unexpected stresses such as overcrowding, temperature changes, and food shortages. This neural network is a set of anatomical structures interconnected by signaling molecules that is termed the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This network regulates responses to stress and plays a fundamental role in adaptation in all vertebrates. Within this network, the neurohormone vasotocin has a wide range of physiological and behavioral effects in all sub-mammalian vertebrate classes. The planned studies have three goals. First, the collaborative team will determine how various cellular and molecular components of the vasotocin system interact during stress. Second, they will characterize the changes in these interactions when an acute stress exposure instead becomes a chronic one. Third, the structural and molecular basis for concerted effects of vasotocin and another neurohormone, corticotrophin-releasing hormone, on an animal's adaptation to stress will be examined. The proposed activity is a joint effort of two very different educational institutions, a land grant university with a major agricultural focus and an academic health sciences center, both located in Arkansas where fewer training opportunities in neuroscience exist. The successful collaboration will demonstrate to students, who will be trained and introduced to a number of up-to-date techniques, the importance of networking between diverse academic cultures to advance knowledge and build unique scientific careers.