New Neurons in the Adult Amygdala

描述（由申请人提供）：在哺乳动物脑海马的齿状回（DG）和吻侧脑室的脑室下区（SVZ）中发现了成年细胞。科学家们专注于这两个大脑区域，以表征介导成人神经发生的因素，确定新细胞的表型，并揭示其潜在的功能意义。虽然在其他几个大脑区域也发现了新细胞，但对这些新细胞的形态特征，神经化学表型和功能知之甚少。在这个建议中，我们专注于杏仁核-大脑区域，这是重要的感觉处理，信息整合，以及各种生理和行为功能的调制，其中包含成人产生的细胞，但在神经发生领域很少受到关注。我们将使用社会一夫一妻制的雌性草原田鼠（Microtus ochrogaster）作为我们的模型系统，因为田鼠的杏仁核中含有成年产生的细胞，它们的增殖速率通过社会互动而促进，通过社会隔离而减少，并且抗有丝分裂药物的治疗减少了杏仁核中的新神经元并抑制了社会依恋的形成。我们的工作假设是，从同种的社会/化学感觉刺激影响杏仁核神经发生的刺激，时间和区域特异性的方式，成人产生的杏仁核神经元整合到现有的神经回路，表达某些神经化学表型，并在介导社会行为中发挥功能作用。为了验证这一假设，我们将集中在杏仁核（1）检查化学感觉刺激在细胞增殖中的作用，（2）揭示这种社会/化学感觉体验增强细胞存活的关键时期，（3）确定这些新细胞的神经形态学和神经化学特征，（4）并检查新杏仁核细胞在社会行为中的作用。这项研究的数据将揭示杏仁核成人神经发生，并提供了一个起点的杏仁核神经源性潜力的调查，用于治疗神经退行性相关的杏仁核缺陷。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Adult-generated cells are found in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus and the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the rostral lateral ventricle in mammalian brains. Scientists have focused on these two brain areas to characterize the factors mediating adult neurogenesis, determine the phenotypes of the new cells, and reveal their potential functional significance. While new cells are also found in several other brain areas, little is known about the morphological characteristics, neurochemical phenotypes, and functions of these new cells. In this proposal, we focus on the amygdala - a brain area which is important for sensory processing, information integration, and the modulation of a variety of physiological and behavioral functions, and which contains adult-generated cells but has received little attention in the neurogenesis field. We will use the socially monogamous female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) as our model system as the vole's amygdala contained adult-generated cells, their rates of proliferation were facilitated by social interactions and diminished by social isolation, and treatment of an antimitotic drug reduced new neurons in the amygdala and inhibited social attachment formation. Our working hypothesis is that social/chemosensory stimuli from a conspecific affect amygdala neurogenesis in a stimulus-, time- and area-specific manner, adult-generated amygdala neurons integrate into the existing neural circuitry, express certain neurochemical phenotypes, and play a functional role in mediating social behavior. To test this hypothesis, we will focus on the amygdala to (1) examine the role of chemosensory stimuli in cell proliferation, (2) reveal the critical period for such social/chemosensory experience to enhance cell survival, (3) determine the neuromorphological and neurochemical characteristics of these new cells, (4) and examine the role of new amygdala cells in social behavior. Data from this study will shed light into amygdala adult neurogenesis and provide a starting point for the investigation of the amygdala neurogenic potential to be used as treatment for neurodegenerative-related amygdala deficits.