Neural Mechanisms of Social Recognition and Memory

社会认知和记忆的神经机制

• 批准号: 6918737
• 负责人: ROBERT E JOHNSTON
• 金额: $ 32.42万
• 依托单位: CORNELL UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 1998
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1998-08-01 至 2009-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6918737
• 关键词: amygdala; animal communication behavior; behavior test; behavioral /social science research tag; brain mapping; emotions; experimental brain lesion; hamsters; hippocampus; histology; immunocytochemistry; memory; neural information processing; odors; olfactions; olfactory stimulus; sensory discrimination; sex behavior; social behavior; social model; vomeronasal systems

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this proposal is to understand the neural mechanisms underlying communication and social behavior and related emotional and motivational states, particularly individual and kin recognition. A related goal of is to understand the neural mechanisms underlying these processes, especially the discovery of areas of the brain involved in social recognition and memory, emotional and motivational mechanisms related to recognition of familiar individuals and the consequent social behavior, and the sensory processes related to these abilities. The results will be relevant to understanding many types of mental and behavioral disorders that involve social interactions, such as autism and depression, personality disorders (e.g., antisocial, avoidant, paranoid or schizoid), social anxiety, social phobias and the effects of socially induced stress and post-traumatic stress. In addition, the findings will be relevant to disabilities due to stroke, head injury, or degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. The specific aims of the study are to use our extensive knowledge about social behavior and communication in hamsters as a model system to investigate the neural mechanisms of recognition of individuals, kin, and sex by odors. There are three specific goals. (1) Using immunohistochemistry to identify cells expressing immediate early genes, we will identify brain areas activated during response to familiar individuals and appropriate emotional responses to them. (2) Using micro-infusion of lidocaine, we will determine which brain regions are necessary for individual and sex recognition and appropriate responses to such individuals. Brain areas of particular interest include the olfactory projection pathways, basolateral and medial amygdala, entorhinal cortex, peri-rhinal cortex, the hippocampus, and the subiculum. (3) The role of the main and accessory olfactory bulbs in processing information about individuals and kin and the role of social experiences in altering the patterns of activity in the bulb. These experiments will provide new and unique knowledge about the neural basis of social recognition, social memory, and the emotional and motivational responses caused by interactions with known individuals. These mechanisms are essential building blocks in the social behavior of non-human animals and humans.

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案的目标是了解沟通和社会行为以及相关情绪和动机状态的神经机制，特别是个体和亲属识别。一个相关的目标是了解这些过程背后的神经机制，特别是发现与社会识别和记忆有关的大脑区域，与识别熟悉的个体和随之而来的社会行为有关的情感和动机机制，以及与这些能力有关的感觉过程。研究结果将有助于理解涉及社会互动的许多类型的精神和行为障碍，如自闭症和抑郁症、人格障碍（如反社会、逃避型、偏执型或分裂型）、社交焦虑、社交恐惧症以及社交诱发的压力和创伤后压力的影响。此外，这些发现将与中风、头部损伤或退行性疾病（包括阿尔茨海默病）导致的残疾有关。