NEUROBIOLOGICAL STUDY OF VOCALIZATION

该项目的长期目标是通过以下方式确定机制： 哪些行为会影响大脑的结构和功能。我们的策略是 专注于具有已知适应功能的良好特征化行为- 刺激内分泌的发声行为 这一建议是以前发现的延伸，即神经分泌 下丘脑接受来自控制声音的中脑的轴突投射 和边缘听觉丘脑。我们现建议进一步 通过验证声学特性，表征神经化学 这些途径的性质，并探索这些功能的作用， 预测。 我们将使用逆向诱发的细胞外记录， 顺行示踪剂，逆行示踪剂和免疫组化双标记， 标记方法来检验传入和传出神经 我们发现的副听觉丘脑的投射 实际上是听觉反应的甲硫氨酸脑啡肽阳性通路。我们 进一步假设雌激素受体与（1）Met- 中脑中的脑啡肽阳性细胞， 投射到副听丘脑和（2）Met， 丘脑边缘区脑啡肽阳性细胞群。最后我们 将使用阿片受体激动剂和拮抗剂，卵巢切除术和激素 替代研究，以探讨脑啡肽和雌激素在 声音信号引起内分泌变化。 拟议的研究将提供神经机制， 个体自身的发声行为和环境声音可以影响 个体的内分泌状态。希望这一行 将作为未来研究声学主题的模型 环境和健康问题。

The long term objective of this project is to delineate mechanisms by which behavior influence brain structure and function. Our strategy is to focus on a well characterized behavior with known adaptive functions - the endocrine-stimulating vocal behavior. This proposal is an extension of a previous finding that neurosecretory hypothalamus receives axonal projections from the vocal control midbrain and the marginal auditory thalamus. We now propose to further these findings by verifying acoustic properties, characterizing neurochemical properties of these pathways, and exploring the functional role of these projections. We will be using antidromically evoked extra-cellular recordings, anterograde tracers, retrograde tracers and immunohistochemical double- labeling methods to test the hypothesis that the afferent and efferent projections of the accessory auditory thalamus that we have discovered are in fact acoustic responsive, met-enkephalin positive pathways. We further postulate that estrogen receptors co-localize with (1) the met- enkephalin positive cells in the midbrain that give rise to terminal projection into the accessory auditory thalamus and (2) the met- enkephalin positive cell groups in the marginal thalamus. Finally, we will use opioid receptor agonist and antagonists, ovariectomy and hormone replacement study to explore the role of enkephalin and estrogen in the vocal signals induced endocrine changes. The proposed studies will provide the neural mechanisms whereby an individual's own vocal behavior and environmental sounds can influence the endocrine state of the individual. It is hoped that this line of work will serve as a model for future research on the subject of acoustic environment and health issues.