Sex hormonal control of the rat somatosensory cortex

本研究的主要目的是确定性激素影响躯体感觉皮层介导的神经元活动、发育和行为的性质和程度。由于经典的神经内分泌学研究几乎完全集中在皮层下结构，性激素在皮层信息处理中的作用基本上是未知的。然而，人们早就知道性激素受体存在于前脑中，并且它们可以对细胞特性（如脊柱更新）产生重大影响。我们自己的工作指出了性激素在大鼠躯体感觉皮层中的主要作用：（i）我们观察到雄性和雌性对社会接触的不同反应。(ii)我们获得了快速放电中间神经元的活动改变雌性动情周期的初步证据。(iii)我们观察到主要地图的变化，大鼠生殖器体感皮层在青春期。此外，我们进行了行为实验，这表明，生殖器触摸是一个主导的社会线索，提前雌性青春期大鼠。受这些发现的启发，我们将提出以下四个关于性激素和躯体感觉皮层的问题：（1）在一位具有神经生理学背景的高级博士后的帮助下，我们将问，神经驱动的兴奋性变化的细胞基础是什么？(2)青春期躯体感觉生殖皮层的扩张是否受性激素控制？(3)躯体感觉生殖皮质是否参与触觉启动/青春期提前？(4)皮质激素作用控制社会性行为吗？我们的研究项目是最有前途的，因为主题新颖，提出的问题具有重要的行为意义，并且应用基于强有力的初步发现。

The primary objective of this proposal is to determine the nature and extent to which sex hormones influence neuronal activity, development and behaviors mediated by the somatosensory cortex. The role of sex hormones in cortical information processing is essentially unknown due to the fact that classic neuroendocrinological studies have focused almost entirely on subcortical structures. It has long been known, however, that sex hormone receptors are present in the forebrain and that they can have major impact on cellular properties such as spine turnover. Our own work points to a major role of sex hormones in rat somatosensory cortex: (i) We observed different responses to social touch in males and females. (ii) We obtained preliminary evidence that the activity of fast-spiking interneurons varies female estrus cycle. (iii) We observed major map changes in rat genital somatosensory cortex in puberty. In addition, we conducted behavioral experiments, which showed that genital touch is a dominant social cue advancing female puberty in rats. Inspired by these findings we will pose the following four questions about sex hormones and somatosensory cortex: (1) With the help of an advanced postdoc with a background in hormone-physiology we will ask, what are the cellular underpinnings of hormonally-driven excitability changes? (2) Is the expansion of somatosensory genital cortex during puberty under the control of sex hormones? (3) Is somatosensory genital cortex involved in the tactile initiation/advance of puberty? (4) Does cortical hormonal action control socio-sexual behavior? Our research project is most promising, because the topic is novel, the questions raised are of great behavioral significance and the application based on strong preliminary findings.