Neuroendocrine Mechanisms Regulating Adolescent Social Development

青春期是社会、情感和认知能力显著发展的时期。然而，这也是一个更容易患上精神健康疾病的时期，人们认为，寻求刺激的现象增加是事故伤亡率上升的原因。这些行为变化伴随着激素和大脑之间复杂的相互作用，一个主要的挑战是解析出哪些神经和激素因素是青少年行为变化的原因，哪些只是与它们一致。青春期的青春期激素的激活是主要的候选人。在这个研究项目中，引入了一种新的模型，利用季节性繁殖的仓鼠物种，可以简单地通过操纵日长来控制青春期的时间-在长的夏季日长中出生和长大的仓鼠青春期提前，而那些在短的冬季日长中出生的仓鼠青春期推迟了几个月，以防止在严酷的冬季繁殖。拟议的实验使用这个模型来测试青春期激素在青少年社会行为和神经发育中的作用。这项研究将促进对神经和荷尔蒙因素的理解，这些因素既推动青少年的社会发展，又是这个生命阶段脆弱性增加的基础。该项目的另一部分是主要研究者监督与布法罗动物园合作的一个学生经营的推广项目，以创建旨在激发儿童对科学兴趣的动物园营地。大学生的参与促进并提供了科学推广和幼儿科学教育方面的培训。该项目测试青春期激素在青少年行为和神经发育中的作用，重点是玩耍行为，青少年动物的主要社会行为，以及“社会”加压素（VP）途径，最近涉及青少年社会发展的途径。目的1的目标是确定青春期激素在“社会”VP途径的发展中的作用。 其神经解剖学的发展，仓鼠模型正在揭示使用免疫组织化学和原位杂交。目的2用于确定“社会”VP途径调节游戏的投射。四个关键投射区的作用正在测试与VP激动剂和拮抗剂的位点特异性输注，以确定这一途径如何调节社会发展。目的3涉及雌二醇在早期青少年行为中的作用的初步测试。在仓鼠模型中使用酶免疫测定法测量雌二醇水平，以确定日长是否影响幼年仓鼠中的循环雌二醇水平。这项研究计划将开始绘制依赖于青春期和不依赖于青春期的神经回路，并说明它们如何相互作用，以调节青少年的社会发展。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Adolescence is a time of remarkable development in social, emotional, and cognitive abilities. However, it is also a time of increased vulnerability to mental health disorders and increased sensation seeking thought to underlie an elevated incidence of deaths and injuries from accidents. These behavioral changes are accompanied by complex interactions between hormones and the brain, and a major challenge is to parse out which neural and hormonal factors are responsible for adolescent behavioral changes and which merely coincide with them. Activation of pubertal hormones in adolescence is the primary candidate. In this research project, a new model is introduced that makes use of a seasonally-breeding hamster species, for which the timing of puberty can be controlled simply by manipulating day length -- hamsters born and raised in long, summer-like day lengths undergo puberty early, whereas those born in short, winter-like day lengths delay puberty by several months in order to prevent breeding during the harsh winter months. The proposed experiments use this model to test the role of pubertal hormones in adolescent social behavioral and neural development. This research will advance understanding of the neural and hormonal factors that both drive adolescent social development and underlie the increased vulnerability of this life stage. An additional part of this project is the principal investigator's oversight of a student-run outreach program with the Buffalo Zoo to create zoo camps designed to spark children's interest in the sciences. The inclusion of University student participation promotes and provides training in science outreach and early childhood science education. This project tests the role of pubertal hormones in adolescent behavioral and neural development, focusing on play behavior, the predominant social behavior in adolescent animals, and the 'social' vasopressin (VP) pathway, a pathway recently implicated in adolescent social development. The goal of Aim 1 is to determine the role of pubertal hormones in the development of the 'social' VP pathway. Its neuroanatomical development in the hamster model is being uncovered using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Aim 2 serves to determine the projections through which the 'social' VP pathway regulates play. The role of four key projection areas is being tested with site-specific infusions of a VP agonist and antagonist to determine how this pathway regulates social development. Aim 3 involves an initial test of the role of estradiol in early adolescent behavior. Estradiol levels are measured using enzyme immunoassay in the hamster model to determine whether day length impacts circulating estradiol levels in juvenile hamsters. This research program will begin to map puberty-dependent and puberty-independent neural circuits and specify how they interact to regulate adolescent social development.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.