CAREER: Harnessing species differences to identify the cellular basis of social attachment

职业：利用物种差异来识别社会依恋的细胞基础

• 批准号: 2045348
• 负责人: Zoe Donaldson
• 金额: $ 161万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-06-01 至 2026-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2045348&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Harnessing; species; differences; identify

What are the changes in brain function that enable only a handful of mammalian species to form pair bonds, an essential behavior for monogamy? Prairie and meadow voles provide an ideal opportunity to home in on such changes in brain function. While these two species live in the same areas, have evolved from a common ancestor, and share many physical characteristics, they exhibit strikingly different social behaviors. Prairie voles form life long pair bonds while meadow voles are promiscuous. In this CAREER award the PI uses observational approaches and manipulations to ask how differences in brain activity in response to interactions with mating partners contribute to these species-level differences in behavior. In addition to answering a key question in biology, the implementation of new experimental approaches in voles, previously limited to mice, facilitates investigation of questions that are beyond the scope of more traditional laboratory animals. The research activities provide genuine research experiences and training in advanced neuroscience techniques for undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, incorporation of the project’s results in existing undergraduate coursework enhances interdisciplinary STEM education. The formation of a Pathway to PhD program provides transformative research experiences and opportunities for advancement in STEM for students at a local Hispanic-serving institution. Social behavior can differ dramatically even between closely related species, and species-appropriate social behavior is critical for survival and reproduction. The mechanisms that enable this diversity remain largely unexamined at the level of neuronal encoding. For instance, how do experience-dependent patterns of neuronal activity differ across species to produce vast differences in monogamy versus promiscuity even in the face of similar social experiences, such as mating? The goal of this proposal is to identify the neuronal basis of social attachment by leveraging differences in pair bonding in monogamous and promiscuous voles. The PI uses orthogonal imaging and functional approaches to test the hypothesis that species differences in pair bonding in microtine voles result from differences in the encoding of social attachment in mesolimbic reward circuits, and not in brain regions that encode social memory. Specifically, we compare and manipulate neural ensemble stability across two social brain regions in two species to illuminate the cellular and systems-level controls of complex sociocognitive behaviors. The PI’s passion for social neuroscience, comparative research, outreach, and education is also harnessed to strengthen interdisciplinary and applied STEM education by training undergraduate and graduate students in cutting-edge neuroscience techniques. Advances from these studies are being incorporated into existing courses at CU Boulder via a Pathway to PhD program for students at a local Hispanic-serving institution. In sum, this CAREER proposal will foundationally advance the PI’s long-term goals by providing insight into the neuronal encoding of social bonds and creating opportunities for STEM education.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.

是什么样的大脑功能变化使得只有少数哺乳动物物种能够形成配偶结合，这是一夫一妻制的基本行为？草原田鼠和草地田鼠提供了一个理想的机会，以家庭在这种变化的大脑功能。虽然这两个物种生活在同一地区，从一个共同的祖先进化而来，并有许多共同的身体特征，但它们表现出截然不同的社会行为。草原田鼠形成终身配对，而草地田鼠是滥交的。在这个职业奖中，PI使用观察方法和操作来询问大脑活动的差异如何响应与交配伙伴的互动，从而导致这些物种水平的行为差异。除了回答生物学中的一个关键问题外，在田鼠中实施新的实验方法，以前仅限于小鼠，有助于研究超出传统实验室动物范围的问题。研究活动为本科生和研究生提供真正的研究经验和先进神经科学技术的培训。此外，将该项目的成果纳入现有的本科课程，加强了跨学科STEM教育。博士课程的形成为当地西班牙裔服务机构的学生提供了变革性的研究经验和STEM进步的机会。即使在密切相关的物种之间，社会行为也会有很大的差异，而适合物种的社会行为对生存和繁殖至关重要。使这种多样性的机制仍然在很大程度上未在神经元编码的水平进行检查。例如，不同物种的神经元活动的经验依赖模式是如何不同的，从而在一夫一妻制和滥交制中产生巨大差异的，即使是在面对类似的社会经验时，比如交配？本研究的目的是通过利用一夫一妻制和滥交田鼠的配对关系差异来确定社会依恋的神经基础。PI使用正交成像和功能的方法来测试的假设，种属差异的配对结合在microtine田鼠的结果从不同的编码中的社会依恋的中脑边缘奖励电路，而不是在大脑区域编码的社会记忆。具体来说，我们比较和操纵两个物种的两个社会大脑区域的神经系综稳定性，以阐明复杂的社会认知行为的细胞和系统水平的控制。PI对社会神经科学，比较研究，外展和教育的热情也被用来通过培训本科生和研究生尖端神经科学技术来加强跨学科和应用STEM教育。这些研究的进展正在通过当地西班牙裔服务机构的学生的博士学位课程纳入CU Boulder的现有课程。总而言之，这个CAREER提案将从根本上推进PI的长期目标，通过提供对社会纽带的神经元编码的洞察，并为STEM教育创造机会。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。