Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: The Neuroendocrine & Neurobiological Bases of Complex Social Behavior

博士论文改进：神经内分泌

• 批准号: 1413395
• 负责人: Adrian Jaeggi
• 金额: $ 2.98万
• 依托单位: Emory University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-07-01 至 2018-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1413395&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Neuroendocrine; &amp

Recent scientific advances in our understanding of the forces shaping social behavior have been driven by growing appreciation of the influence of hormones, especially the neuropeptides oxytocin (OXT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP). These hormones are being implicated as essential mechanisms in shaping a range of affiliative and aggressive social relationships and behavior, including pair-bonding, territoriality, parenting, and cooperation. Fully comprehensive understanding of how these hormones function could provide not only knowledge of the organization of social life, but also therapeutic benefits to organisms, including humans, with social impairments. Research into oxytocin and vasopressin utilizing rodent models has begun to suggest potential treatments for several human conditions, including autism spectrum disorders, social anxiety, and schizophrenia. While these studies provide essential data on the roles of hormones such as OXT and AVP, they are limited by the fact that they focus on animals with social systems characterized by less complexity and richness, relative to those of our species. With the goal of more thoroughly investigating the roles that these hormones play in mediating complex social behavior, this dissertation research by doctoral student Daniel Coppeto (under the supervision of Dr. James Rilling, Emory University) will utilize anthropological and neuroscientific approaches to linking hormones and social behavior in two primates with complex, yet differing social systems.This project will advance the study of how oxytocin and vasopressin mediate complex social relationships by investigating the roles that these hormones play in the social lives of two types of baboons with vastly differing societies, the hamadryas and the anubis baboon. Like humans, baboons display a range of sociality and intricate social structures, and as such, present a unique opportunity to employ an animal model with enhanced relevance to understanding the phenomenon in our own species. To test the hypothesis that these contrasting societies can be understood through assessing the roles of oxytocin and vasopressin, this project will first collect biological samples to measure oxytocin and vasopressin levels utilizing enzyme immunoassays, comparing these between the two subspecies. By then linking the hormonal data to observations of social behavior of the subjects within social groups of each subspecies, the project will provide a highly contextualized understanding of how OXT and AVP mold sociality. These will be complemented through neurobiological examination of how oxytocin and vasopressin receptors are distributed in the brain, as differences in the pattern of brain hormone receptors are a common avenue by which these hormones may affect behavior. The results of this research will have impacts across several dimensions, from basic science and education, to potential therapeutic translation. While this project will show how oxytocin and vasopressin are integral to shaping primate societies, it also will demonstrate in appropriate animal models how these forces are capable of influencing our own behavior. Likewise, an analysis of how these hormones operate in primates will provide insight into how they can potentially be refined for usage in therapy for a range of human social disorders.

最近，我们对塑造社会行为的力量的理解取得了科学进展，这得益于对激素影响的日益认识，尤其是神经肽催产素 (OXT) 和精氨酸加压素 (AVP)。 这些激素被认为是塑造一系列亲和和攻击性社会关系和行为的重要机制，包括配对、领地、养育和合作。 全面全面地了解这些激素如何发挥作用，不仅可以提供有关社会生活组织的知识，还可以为有社会障碍的生物体（包括人类）提供治疗益处。利用啮齿动物模型对催产素和加压素进行的研究已经开始提出对多种人类疾病的潜在治疗方法，包括自闭症谱系障碍、社交焦虑症和精神分裂症。 虽然这些研究提供了有关 OXT 和 AVP 等激素作用的重要数据，但它们的局限性在于，它们关注的动物的社会系统相对于我们物种而言，其社会系统的复杂性和丰富性较低。 为了更彻底地研究这些激素在调节复杂社会行为中所发挥的作用，博士生 Daniel Coppeto（在埃默里大学 James Rilling 博士的指导下）的这篇论文研究将利用人类学和神经科学的方法，将两种具有复杂但不同社会系统的灵长类动物的激素和社会行为联系起来。该项目将推进催产素和加压素如何调节复杂社会行为的研究。 通过研究这些激素在两种社会截然不同的狒狒（狒狒和阿努比斯狒狒）的社会生活中所发挥的作用，研究了社会关系。与人类一样，狒狒表现出一系列的社会性和复杂的社会结构，因此，提供了一个独特的机会，可以使用动物模型来增强理解我们自己物种中的现象的相关性。 为了检验通过评估催产素和加压素的作用可以理解这些截然不同的社会的假设，该项目将首先收集生物样本，利用酶免疫测定法测量催产素和加压素水平，并比较两个亚种之间的水平。 然后，通过将荷尔蒙数据与每个亚种社会群体中受试者的社会行为观察联系起来，该项目将为 OXT 和 AVP 如何塑造社会性提供高度情境化的理解。 这些将通过神经生物学检查催产素和加压素受体如何在大脑中分布来补充，因为大脑激素受体模式的差异是这些激素可能影响行为的常见途径。这项研究的结果将在多个方面产生影响，从基础科学和教育到潜在的治疗转化。虽然该项目将展示催产素和加压素如何成为塑造灵长类社会不可或缺的一部分，但它还将在适当的动物模型中展示这些力量如何能够影响我们自己的行为。同样，对这些激素如何在灵长类动物中发挥作用的分析将有助于深入了解如何改进它们以用于治疗一系列人类社会疾病。