SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON CENTRAL ARGININE VASOTOCIN ACTIONS

描述（申请人摘要）：心理生物学的长期目标 是了解内部生理过程和外部 环境因素相互作用影响神经功能， 个人行为提高我们对这种相互作用的理解， 对基础和应用人类行为生物学的重大影响。的 本申请的目的是检查和区分社会和 性腺激素对精氨酸功能的影响 血管紧张素/加压素（AVT/AVP）系统。中央 待检验假设是：1）AVT表达主要是 在动物模型系统中受社会环境的影响， 行为性别是由优势互动决定的， 性腺，和2）AVT刺激占主导地位的男性典型的性， 攻击性的攻击行为通过大脑的中枢活动， 这条硬骨鱼这项研究背后的基本原理是，虽然我们 了解性腺激素如何影响大脑和行为， 关于潜在的直接社会影响， 个脑袋AVT系统是一个合乎逻辑的焦点， 影响作用于大脑，因为这个蛋白质激素家族 与所有主要的性行为的表现密切相关 脊椎动物群和重要哺乳动物的攻击行为 模型本研究的对象，蓝头苏眉（Thalassoma 双带肌）经历完全的行为和性腺的雌性到雄性 成年动物的性别变化这种性别变化伴随着一个四- AVT-mRNA水平在发挥主要作用的脑区中增加一倍， 控制性行为和攻击性行为。AVT/AVP系统是 在许多物种中受到性腺类固醇激素的强烈影响。 然而，重要的是，行为性别变化甚至可以发生在 没有生殖腺在蓝头濑鱼，而是完全 取决于社会环境。因此，该物种似乎 提供了一个独特的机会，直接研究社会影响， 这个重要的神经系统。为了解决上述核心假设， PI将追求三个具体目标：1）使用自然行为 社会和性腺影响的变化和实验解剖 检测AVT-mRNA表达的调控作用，2）确定AVT是否 可以诱导该物种的性行为和攻击行为，3） 利用AVT受体确定AVT在濑鱼脑内的作用部位 定位和神经激活的细胞标志物。直接 社会环境对表达和行为的影响 AVT的行动将与人类有关，其中性和 攻击行为也受到环境的影响。

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's abstract): A long range goal of psychobiology is to understand how internal physiological processes and external environmental factors interact to influence neural function and individual behavior. Improving our understanding of this interaction has strong implications for basic and applied human behavioral biology. The objective of this application is to examine and differentiate social and gonadal hormone influences on the function of the arginine vasotocin/vasopressin (AVT/AVP) system in the brain. The central hypotheses to be tested are: 1) that AVT expression is primarily influenced by the social environment in an animal model system where behavioral sex is determined by dominance interactions rather than the gonads, and 2) that AVT stimulates dominant male-typical sexual and offensive aggressive behavior through central actions in the brain of this teleost fish. The rationale behind this research is that while we know much about how gonadal hormones influence the brain and behavior, much less is known about potential direct social influences on the brain. The AVT system is a logical focus for asking how social influences act on the brain since this family of protein hormones has been strongly linked to the display of sexual behavior in all major groups of vertebrates and to aggression behavior in important mammalian models. The subject of this study, the bluehead wrasse (Thalassoma bifasciatum) undergoes complete behavioral and gonadal female-to-male sex change as an adult animal. This sex change is accompanied by a four- fold increase in AVT-mRNA levels in the brain area which exerts primary control of sexual and aggressive behaviors. The AVT/AVP system is influenced strongly by gonadal steroid hormones in many species. Importantly, however, behavioral sex change can occur even in the absence of gonads in bluehead wrasses and is instead completely dependent on social environment. This species therefore appears to present a unique opportunity to directly examine social influences on this important neural system. To address the central hypotheses above, the PI will pursue three specific aims: 1) Use natural behavioral variation and experimental dissections of social and gonadal influences to examine the control of AVT-mRNA expression, 2) Determine whether AVT can induce sexual and aggressive behavior in this species and 3) Determine sites of AVT action in the wrasse brain by AVT receptor localization and cellular markers of neural activation. Direct influences of social environment on the expression and behavioral actions of AVT would have relevance to humans, where sexual and aggressive behaviors are also under environmental influences.