Mechanisms of Social Buffering of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Responses

下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺反应的社会缓冲机制

• 批准号: 1120932
• 负责人: Michael Hennessy
• 金额: $ 33万
• 依托单位: Wright State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-12-01 至 2015-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1120932&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Mechanisms; Social; Buffering; Hypothalamic; Pituitary

In our own and in other species, physiological responses to stress can be regulated in important ways by the social environment. Although much is known about how the presence of key social partners can reduce the secretion of stress hormones in challenging circumstances, almost nothing is known about how the perception of the presence of the companion is transformed into neural signals that ultimately reduce the stress hormone secretion. These questions will be studied in guinea pigs, a species in which the ability of social partners to reduce stress hormone secretion is well documented. This project will use pharmacological procedures, which temporarily inactivate selected brain regions to determine the effect of those specific regions on stress hormone secretion during challenge, as well as on the reduction of stress hormone secretion in the presence of a close social companion. These studies will provide new basic information on the neural pathways through which stress hormone secretion is regulated by the social environment. The results will also inform later studies aimed at managing the negative consequences of stress exposure. The work will integrate research and undergraduate education by involving promising undergraduates interested in careers in the life sciences in every aspect of the studies.

在我们自己和其他物种中，对压力的生理反应可以通过重要的方式受到社会环境的调节。尽管在充满挑战的环境中，关键社交伙伴的存在如何减少压力荷尔蒙的分泌已经知道得很多，但几乎没有人知道同伴的存在是如何转化为神经信号，最终减少压力荷尔蒙的分泌。这些问题将在豚鼠身上进行研究，在这种物种中，社会伴侣减少应激激素分泌的能力得到了很好的证明。该项目将使用药理学程序，暂时使选定的大脑区域失活，以确定这些特定区域在挑战过程中对应激激素分泌的影响，以及在亲密的社交伙伴在场的情况下对应激激素分泌的影响。这些研究将为社会环境调节应激激素分泌的神经通路提供新的基本信息。这一结果也将为以后旨在管理压力暴露的负面后果的研究提供参考。这项工作将把研究和本科教育结合起来，让对生命科学职业感兴趣的本科生参与到研究的各个方面。