NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2022: Gene-Brain-Behavior Phenotypes of Dog Aggression

这一行动为NSF 2022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。几个世纪以来，人类根据外貌和行为特征有选择地饲养家犬。这种做法减少了品种之间的遗传差异，并导致了一项“自然实验”，为当前的研究人员提供了一个可控的机会，让他们了解驯化对行为的作用，并确定其生理基础。遗传学和神经科学等领域传统上在受控的实验室环境中使用小鼠和大鼠等动物，由于它们与人类共同进化的悠久历史，现在正向狗寻求答案。通过研究与人类生活在同一环境中的狗的基因-大脑-行为联系，我们有更大的潜力了解生活在现实世界中是如何塑造生理和行为的。由于非常宽松的负选择和非常强的正选择，某些特征在驯化物种中很常见。这些有害特征的存在已经通过行为、遗传和大脑成像在狗的行为和认知中得到了证明。在一个多方法项目中，该研究员将结合这些不同研究领域的见解，研究攻击性的基因-大脑-行为表型，将行为评估调查与神经成像(MRI)和遗传分析相结合。这位研究员将研究与攻击相关的大脑区域的形态和连通性、遗传变异和个人生活史的系统性差异是否对狗的攻击表型起作用。社区中最初的宠物狗样本将参与C-Barq(已建立的行为评估工具)的行为预筛选。在攻击性评分中得分在前20%和后20%的狗将参加额外的不良生活经历筛查，为进行基因分型的个体提供脸颊拭子，并被邀请在实验室进行核磁共振扫描。这位研究员将接受MRI分析方面的培训，以调查与基因、脑表型和早期不良经历相关的脑表型之间的差异和相互作用。这项工作将阐明支配攻击性的基因-大脑-环境相互作用，这对改善人与动物的关系非常重要，并对理解人类心理健康和社会福祉具有影响。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 2022, 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. Over centuries, humans have selectively bred domestic dogs for appearance and behavioral characteristics. This practice has reduced genetic variance between breeds and resulted in a “natural experiment,” providing current researchers with a controlled opportunity for understanding the role of domestication on behavior and identifying its physiological underpinnings. Fields such as genetics and neuroscience, which have traditionally used animals such as mice and rats in controlled laboratory settings, are now looking to dogs for answers because of their long history of co-evolution with humans. By investigating the gene-brain-behavior link in dogs, who live in the same environment as humans, there is greater potential to understand how physiology and behavior are shaped by living in real-world environments. Due to very relaxed negative selection and very strong positive selection, certain traits can become common in domesticated species. The presence of these deleterious traits has been demonstrated in dog behavior and cognition using behavioral, genetic, and brain imaging. Uniting insights from these separate lines of research in a multimethod project, the Fellow will investigate gene-brain-behavior phenotypes of aggression, combining behavior assessment surveys with neuroimaging (MRI) and genetic analysis. The Fellow will investigate if systematic differences in the morphology and connectivity of aggression-related brain regions, genetic variation, and individual life histories play a role in aggressive phenotypes in dogs. An initial sample of pet dogs from the community will participate in behavior prescreening with C-BARQ (established behavior assessment instrument). Dogs that score in the top 20% and bottom 20% of aggression scales will participate in additional screening for adverse life experiences, provide cheek swabs for genotyping individuals, and be invited for an MRI scan in the lab. The Fellow will be trained in MRI analyses to investigate differences between and interactions among brain phenotypes linked to genotype, brain phenotype, and early adverse experiences. This work will shed light on the gene-brain-environment interactions that govern aggression, which is important for improving human-animal relationships, and has implications for understanding human mental health and social wellbeing.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.