CAREER: The integrative neurobiology of species recognition

该奖项由2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》（公共法111-5）资助。物种识别是动物将其自身物种（同种）与其他密切相关的物种（异种）区分开来的过程。虽然物种识别已经从生态学和进化的角度进行了很好的研究，但对其机制的研究很少。研究人员将使用一种新的哺乳动物模型，阿尔斯顿的歌唱老鼠，从这些不同的角度研究物种识别。本项目的研究目的是：1）研究两个密切相关的唱歌小鼠之间的相互作用，测试物种之间的个体和群体水平的相互作用如何塑造小鼠对异种歌曲的反应。2)去研究物种识别的神经回路。研究人员将测量Foxp 2（一种与人类语言有关的基因）是否在被同种歌曲激活的同一神经元中表达。在最终的研究目标（3）中，研究人员将操纵Foxp 2在感觉和听觉结构中的表达。这将使研究人员能够了解Foxp 2如何（以及是否）以一种可能告知我们对人类语言理解的方式对小鼠歌曲的感官和动机处理做出贡献。由于老鼠非常有魅力，研究人员将在针对不同学生群体的教育材料中使用由此产生的数据。在本科教育的背景下，研究结果与几种新技术（基于短信的个人响应系统，在线学习模块和同行评议的写作软件）相结合，将用于开发创新的新课程内容。最后，研究数据将被纳入我们正在开发的一系列学习模块中，用于基于探究的协作教育中的科学合作伙伴，这是一个针对少数民族入学率高的表现不佳的中学的推广计划。这个项目共同承诺，以进一步我们的社会行为的理解，同时简化新的发现纳入教育的一般公众。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Species recognition is the process by which an animal distinguishes between members of its own species, conspecifics, from other closely related species, heterospecifics. Although species recognition has been well studied from ecological and evolutionary perspectives, there has been little work on its mechanisms. The investigators will study species recognition from these diverse perspectives using a novel mammalian model, Alston's singing mouse. The research aims in this project are 1) To examine interactions between two closely related singing mice, testing how individual and population-level interactions between species shape the responses of mice to heterospecific songs. 2) To examine the neural circuitry underlying species recognition. The investigators will measure whether Foxp2, a gene implicated in human language, is expressed in the same neurons that are activated by conspecific song. In the final research aim (3), the investigators will manipulate Foxp2 expression in both sensory and auditory structures. This will enable the investigators to understand how (and if) Foxp2 contributes to sensory and motivational processing of mouse song in a way that might inform our understanding of human speech. Because the mice are remarkably charismatic, the investigators will use the resulting data in educational materials targeting diverse groups of students. In the context of undergraduate education the research findings in combination with several new technologies (personal response systems based on text-messaging, online learning modules, and peer-reviewed writing software) will be used to develop innovative new course content. And lastly, the research data will be incorporated into a series of learning modules we are developing for use in Science Partners in Inquiry-based Collaborative Education, an outreach program that targets underperforming middle schools with high minority enrollments. Together this project promises to further our understanding of social behavior while streamlining the incorporation of new findings into the education of the general public.