RUI: Non-genomic Androgen Receptor Mechanisms Involved in Social Regulation

第一部分：本研究将研究所有脊椎动物产生的类固醇激素如何直接激活大脑神经元表面的受体来影响行为。一旦被激活，这些受体迅速改变这些细胞对传入的感觉输入的内部反应，从而改变生物体对周围世界的感知。确定类固醇是否通过这种机制起作用，将有助于我们更好地理解基本的激素信号机制，以及复杂的神经化学过程，这些过程使动物（包括人类）能够根据不断变化的社会环境调整自己的行为反应。这些实验将有助于培养我们国家未来的科学家、教育工作者和医生，通过实践研究经验，这些经验将提供给专门的本科院校的学生。学生将通过PI开设的实验课程以及在PI实验室的重点独立研究经验参与与该奖项相关的项目。pi将招募来自不同社会经济和种族背景的学生参与研究。此外，PI将通过神经科学研讨会在缅因州的美国原住民保留区推广STEM教育。第2部分：尽管非基因组雄激素受体信号机制在各种脊椎动物的外周组织中已经得到了充分的证明，但它们的快速中枢影响尚未得到彻底的研究。本项目将研究雄激素快速影响雄性金鱼社会行为的新机制。这个项目的目标是评估1)睾酮是否通过雄激素受体在竞争环境中迅速促进求爱；2)雄激素受体通过影响对信息素的反应来快速调节求爱；3)雄激素受体影响早期嗅觉处理和/或大脑网络的功能耦合。通过描述雄激素快速调节社会刺激处理的新机制，对允许动物快速调整其行为反应以适应不断变化的社会环境的基本神经内分泌信号机制的新见解将有可能揭示。该项目还将产生两种主要的更广泛的影响。首先，通过将拟议的研究整合到现有的神经科学实验课程中，并通过独立的暑期实习和荣誉项目，它将直接加强鲍登学院本科生的科学教育。其次，pi将继续在缅因州北部为美国原住民七年级学生举办为期四天的研讨会，这是围绕这个项目建立的。

Part 1: This research will examine how steroid hormones, which are produced by all vertebrates, directly activate receptors on the surfaces of neurons in the brain to influence behavior. Once activated, these receptors rapidly change the internal responsiveness of those cells to incoming sensory inputs and thus alter an organism's perception of the world around it. Determining if steroids work through such mechanisms will help us better understand basic hormone signaling mechanisms as well as the complex neurochemical processes that enable animals, including humans, to adjust their behavioral responses to constantly changing social environments. The experiments will contribute to the training of our nation's future scientists, educators and doctors through the hands-on research experiences that will be provided for students at an exclusively undergraduate institution. Students will participate in projects related to the award through a lab course run by the PI as well as through focused independent research experiences in the PI's lab. The PIs will recruit students from diverse socioeconomic and racial backgrounds to participate in the research. Additionally, the PI will promote STEM education on a Native American reservation in Maine through a neuroscience workshop.Part 2: Although non-genomic androgen receptor signaling mechanisms have been well-documented in the peripheral tissue of a variety of vertebrates their rapid, central influences have not been thoroughly examined. This project will investigate a novel mechanism through which androgens may rapidly affect social behavior in male goldfish. The goals of this project are to assess whether 1) testosterone rapidly promotes courtship in competitive contexts through androgen receptors; 2) androgen receptors rapidly modulate courtship by influencing responses to pheromones; and 3) androgen receptors affect early olfactory processing and/or functional coupling across brain networks. By characterizing a novel mechanism through which androgens rapidly modulate the processing of social stimuli, new insight into the fundamental neuroendocrine signaling mechanisms that allow animals to rapidly adjust their behavioral responses to constantly changing social environments will be potentially revealed. This project will also have two major types of broader impact. First, it will directly enhance the scientific education of undergraduates at Bowdoin College by integrating the proposed research into an existing neuroscience laboratory course and through independent summer internships and honors projects. Second, the PIs will continue a 4-day workshop in northern Maine for Native American 7th grade students that is built around this project.