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NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2019: The effect of fatherhood on behavioral and neural responsiveness to offspring sensory cues

2019 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：父亲身份对后代感官线索的行为和神经反应的影响

基本信息

批准号：
1907268
负责人：
Kerianne Wilson
金额：
$ 13.8万
依托单位：
Wilson, Kerianne Murphy
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Fellowship Award
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2020-01-01 至 2023-12-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1907268&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship Biology FY

项目摘要

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2019, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. This research will be valuable for better understanding the role of males in caring for offspring in species in which both males and females care for young. Few studies have been conducted on paternal care, relative to maternal care, and many of the studies on paternal care were conducted in species in which only females care for young, making it difficult to gauge their ecological relevance. Before, during, and after giving birth, females undergo neural and hormonal changes that increase maternal care, in part by increasing attraction to sensory stimuli from newborns. The fellow will examine whether similar patterns occur in new fathers by assessing their responsiveness to newborn sensory cues and exploring the relative importance of acoustic and olfactory cues for eliciting paternal care. This work could provide insights into the normal expression of parental care as well as, conversely, maladaptive parent-offspring interactions. Findings can also help improve conservation efforts for critical populations. Because human activities can interfere with acoustic and olfactory communication in many endangered species, they may also interfere with parental behaviors. This research will provide valuable training for the fellow, and support efforts to increase the participation and career persistence of underrepresented minorities in science. The fellow will test the hypothesis that the onset of paternal care in the monogamous, biparental California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) will be associated with increased attraction and altered neural responses to olfactory and auditory stimuli from pups. To test this hypothesis, the behaviors and neural responses of un-mated males, expectant fathers and new fathers will be compared. First, males behavior in response to pup odors and/or vocalizations will be quantified. Neural activity will be measured in brain regions associated with olfaction, audition, parental behavior, reward and/or fear by measuring the expression of an immediate-early gene product, Fos. Lastly, the hormonal control of behavioral and neural responses to pup stimuli in males will be examined. Through this research, the fellow will learn techniques in behavioral neuroendocrinology and will actively recruit undergraduate assistants through programs aimed at providing research training to underrepresented minorities, resulting in mentorship of at least nine undergraduates. This research will also be used to generate open-access, app-based lessons to improve science literacy.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.

该行动为2019财年美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。这项研究将有助于更好地理解在雄性和雌性都照顾幼崽的物种中雄性在照顾后代方面的作用。相对于母系照料，很少有关于父系照料的研究，而且许多关于父系照料的研究都是在只有雌性照料幼崽的物种中进行的，因此很难衡量它们的生态相关性。在分娩之前、期间和之后，女性经历了神经和荷尔蒙的变化，增加了母性护理，部分原因是新生儿对感官刺激的吸引力增加。该研究员将通过评估新父亲对新生儿感官线索的反应，以及探索声音和嗅觉线索在激发父亲关怀方面的相对重要性，来研究是否类似的模式也会发生在新父亲身上。这项工作可以深入了解亲代关爱的正常表达，以及相反的，不适应的亲子互动。研究结果还可以帮助改善对关键种群的保护工作。因为人类活动可以干扰许多濒危物种的听觉和嗅觉交流，它们也可能干扰父母的行为。这项研究将为研究员提供有价值的培训，并支持努力增加在科学领域未被充分代表的少数民族的参与和职业坚持。该研究员将验证这样一个假设：在一夫一妻制的双亲加利福尼亚小鼠（Peromyscus californicus）中，父系照顾的开始与幼崽对嗅觉和听觉刺激的吸引力增加和神经反应改变有关。为了验证这一假设，我们将比较未交配的雄性、准爸爸和新爸爸的行为和神经反应。首先，雄性对幼犬气味和/或叫声的反应将被量化。通过测量即时早期基因产物Fos的表达，将测量与嗅觉、听觉、亲代行为、奖励和/或恐惧相关的大脑区域的神经活动。最后，激素控制的行为和神经反应的幼犬刺激雄性将被检查。通过这项研究，该研究员将学习行为神经内分泌学的技术，并将通过旨在为未被充分代表的少数民族提供研究培训的项目积极招募本科生助理，从而至少指导9名本科生。这项研究还将用于生成开放获取的、基于应用程序的课程，以提高科学素养。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。