NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: The mechanisms and evolution of decision-making under conflict: scaling up from molecules to individuals and populations

这一行动为NSF 2021财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，综合研究调查了支配基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，这些研究员将以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。这个项目试图回答一个基本的生物学问题：父母如何决定为他们的后代提供多少照顾？父母可以不遗余力地提供照顾，但父母总是面临着时间上的竞争要求。例如，父母必须决定投入多少时间来照顾后代，而不是保护自己的巢不受入侵者的侵扰或追求新的伴侣。这项研究利用刺鱼，父亲是唯一的养育者，这项研究探索了父母如何决定何时照顾、宫廷伴侣或保卫自己的领土-这些决定对父母将自己的基因传递给下一代的能力至关重要。这项研究将有助于揭示做出这些决定时父母的大脑中发生了什么，并最终帮助我们理解为什么有些人比其他人更善于决策。这个项目还将为本科生提供研究机会，结果将被纳入当地博物馆的外展活动，特别关注扩大未被充分代表的群体在科学领域的参与。该项目使用一种新兴的行为基因组学研究模式系统，三刺刺鱼(Gasterbone Aculeatus)，以研究父母在照顾、求爱和领土防御方面决策的机制和演变。首先，实验方法将揭示个人内部、跨个人和群体之间的行为决策过程。其次，分子技术将揭示父母处理相互竞争的需求的最接近的神经、分子和激素机制。比较个体内部和个体之间以及不同群体之间的决策将提供对父母照料的生态和进化后果的洞察。研究最接近的机制将揭示大脑是如何管理相互冲突的需求的，并提供对机械约束的洞察。总而言之，这些结果将有助于解释如何在增加健康的竞争机会之间做出重要决定，以及更广泛地说，如何从基因组、环境和表型之间的相互作用中产生行为模式。这个项目将为这位研究员提供有价值的行为基因组学培训。此外，结果将通过会议和外展活动广泛传播，并通过为初中生和高中生开发教材。该奖项反映了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 2021, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the Fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. This project seeks to answer a fundamental biological question: how do parents decide how much care to provide to their offspring? Parents can go to incredible lengths to provide care, yet parents are constantly faced with competing demands on their time. For example, parents must decide how much time to invest in caring for offspring versus defending their nest from intruders or courting new mates. Using stickleback fish, where fathers are the sole care providers, this research explores how parents make decisions over when to care, court mates, or defend their territories - decisions that are profoundly important to a parent’s ability to pass on their genes to the next generation. This research will help uncover what happens in the parental brain when these decisions are made and, ultimately, help us understand why some individuals are better at decision-making than others. This project will also provide research opportunities for undergraduates and results will be incorporated into outreach activities at local museums, with a particular focus on broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in science.This project uses an emerging model system for studying behavioral genomics, the three spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), to study the mechanisms and evolution of parental decisions over care, courtship, and territory defense. First, experimental methods will reveal the behavioral decision-making process within individuals, across individuals, and among populations. Second, molecular techniques will uncover the proximate neural, molecular, and hormonal mechanisms by which parents juggle competing demands. Comparing decision-making within and among individuals, as well as across populations will provide insight into the ecological and evolutionary consequences of parental care. Studying the proximate mechanisms will uncover how the brain manages conflicting demands, as well as provide insight into the mechanistic constraints. Together, results will help explain how vital decisions between competing opportunities to increase fitness are made, and more generally, how patterns of behavior emerge from interactions between genomes, environments, and phenotypes. This project will provide valuable training to the Fellow in behavioral genomics. Additionally, results will be broadly disseminated through conferences and outreach activities, and through the development of educational materials for middle and high school students.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.