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

这一行动为NSF 2019财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，扩大了生物学领域代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持一项针对该研究员的研究和培训计划，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。关于父系照料相对于母系照料的研究很少，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，女性会经历神经和荷尔蒙的变化，这在一定程度上是通过增加对新生儿感官刺激的吸引力来增加产妇护理的。这位研究员将通过评估新爸爸对新生儿感官提示的反应，并探索听觉和嗅觉提示对引发父亲关怀的相对重要性，来检验新父亲是否会出现类似的模式。这项工作可以提供对父母关爱的正常表达以及反之，不适应父母-子女互动的洞察力。这些发现还有助于改善对关键人口的保护工作。由于人类活动会干扰许多濒危物种的声音和嗅觉交流，它们也可能干扰父母的行为。这项研究将为这位研究员提供宝贵的培训，并支持努力增加未被充分代表的少数群体在科学领域的参与度和职业持久性。这位研究员将测试一夫一妻、双亲加州小鼠(Permyscus CalforNicus)的父系照顾开始与吸引力增加和对幼崽嗅觉和听觉刺激的神经反应改变有关的假设。为了验证这一假设，我们将比较未婚男性、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/或发声的反应将被量化。神经活动将通过测量即刻早期基因产物Fos的表达来测量与嗅觉、听力、父母行为、奖励和/或恐惧相关的大脑区域。最后，我们将研究雄性幼崽对行为和神经反应的荷尔蒙控制。通过这项研究，该研究员将学习行为神经内分泌学技术，并将通过旨在为代表不足的少数族裔提供研究培训的项目，积极招聘本科生助理，从而为至少9名本科生提供指导。这项研究还将被用来产生开放获取的、基于APP的课程，以提高科学素养。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.