Aggression in Drosophila: circuitry involved; learning and memory accompanying aggression; and establishing the circuitry of high-level aggression in the brain

项目总结： 攻击是一种正常的与生俱来的行为，基本上所有的人都会利用这种行为来获取食物、领土和配偶。 动物的物种，包括人类。攻击性的表现水平在个体之间差异很大， 然而，通常情况下，这种异质性中有多少是遗传的，有多少是社会的，并不清楚。 诱导性。可能这两种机制都会影响所有有机体的行为表达，其中 每一种的比例在个体之间差别很大。以暴力形式肆无忌惮的侵略是一种 这种行为的特殊人类表现，当一个人加上使用能够施加 对个人和广大个人的致命伤害，是一个严重的社会问题。的确是武器 允许最不适合的人成为我们社会的主导者。在动物物种中， 同种生物有时也会杀死对手，但更常见的是同一物种的成员相互攻击。 在仪式性的逐步增加强度的战斗能力展示中。攻击性的根源是生物的 但很少有具体信息表明暴力的种子在神经系统中是如何以及在哪里形成的 播种。在这个应用程序中，我们使用了我们率先使用的果蝇攻击性模型。在所有的 在现有的模型中，果蝇系统提供了最大的易用性和重复性的遗传操作 在神经系统内，下降到单个已识别的神经元水平。这些操作可以很容易地 结合可量化的行为测量，试图理解这种复杂的行为。最近， 使用交叉遗传学策略，我们在活体中识别和操纵单胺神经元。 参与攻击的动物。例如，通过以下途径发现的一对5-羟色胺(5-HT)神经元 这一技巧有助于在战斗中达到更高的攻击性。随着这个过程的第一个周期 应用，我们解开了一些复杂的电路涉及到这种促进。这个神经元支配 苍蝇脑中感觉整合中心的一小块视觉区域。该区域的输出是一个“开关” 增强或减少更高水平的攻击性，而通过释放5-羟色胺来激活那个“开关”是 增强子元素。最近的其他研究表明，雌性苍蝇也能以高强度战斗 (以前我们认为雌性只在低强度下战斗)，有两对胆碱能神经元 只在女性大脑中发现，这是做出决定的关键。最近的其他研究表明，这些苍蝇 预计，使用感官提示来决定如何行为(例如，打架或打官司)，但也要观察和观察 其他动物在决策过程中的行为。在本提案中，我们继续这些 研究通过询问：雄性和雌性果蝇是如何触发高水平攻击性的；电路是如何 性别差异；以及观察到的性别选择行为模式的差异是如何产生的。 该应用程序还试图解决我们从科学和模式生物研究中学到的东西是否可以 帮助解释围绕人类暴力根源的严重紧迫问题的一小部分？

Project Summary: Aggression is a normal innate behavior utilized for access to food, territory and mates by essentially all species of animals, including humans. Levels of display of aggression vary widely among individuals, however, and generally it is not known how much of this heterogeneity is genetic and how much is socially induced. Probably both mechanisms influence the expression of the behavior in all organisms, with the proportions of each varying widely between individuals. Unbridled aggression, in the form of violence, is a peculiarly human manifestation of this behavior, and when one adds the use of weapons capable of inflicting deadly damage to individuals and masses of individuals, it is a serious problem in society. Indeed weapons allow the least fit of individuals to become dominant protagonists in our society. In animal species, conspecifics sometimes kill opponents as well, but more commonly members of the same species engage in ritualistic stepwise-increasing-intensity-displays of fighting abilities. The roots of aggression are biological but there is little concrete information of how and where in the nervous system the seeds of violence are sown. In this application we use a Drosophila model of aggression that we pioneered the use of. Of all the available models, the Drosophila system offers the greatest ease and reproducibility of genetic manipulation within the nervous system down to single identified neuron levels. These manipulations can readily be combined with quantifiable behavioral measures in attempts to understand this complex behavior. Recently, using an intersectional genetics strategy, we identified and manipulated single amine neurons in living animals that are involved in aggression. For example, a single pair of serotonergic (5HT) neurons found via this technique, facilitated going to higher levels of aggression during fights. With the first cycle of this application, we unraveled some of the complex circuitry involved with this facilitation. This neuron innervates a small visual area of a sensory integration center in the fly brain. The output of that region is a “switch” the either enhances or reduces higher level aggression, and activation of that “switch” by 5HT release is the enhancer element. Other recent studies showed that female flies also can fight at high intensity levels (previously we thought that females fought only at low intensities) and two pairs of cholinergic neurons were found only in female brains that are the keys to that decision. Other recent studies showed the flies, as expected, use sensory cues in deciding how to behave (e.g., fight or court), but also watch and observe what other animals are doing behaviorally in their decision making. In this proposal we continue these studies by asking: how is high-level aggression triggered in male and female flies; how does the circuitry differ in the two sexes; and how are the observed differences in sex-selective behavioral patterns generated. The application also tries to address whether what we learn from science and study of model organisms can help explain even a small part of the serious pressing issues surrounding the root causes of human violence?