Silvio O. Conte Center for Oxytocin and Social Cognition

描述（由申请人提供）：催产素（OT）系统可以说是在具有受损社会认知的精神障碍（包括自闭症谱系障碍（ASD））中增强社会认知的最可行的靶标。中枢OT增强动物社会行为的关键方面，鼻内（IN）OT调节人类的社会认知。OT影响社会认知的机制尚不清楚。我们将启动一个协调的，跨学科的研究计划，涉及一个优秀的研究团队来测试这一假设，即OT通过调节杏仁核和大脑区域的活动和功能连接来增加社会刺激的显着性和强化价值，从而增强社会认知。项目科学家将使用尖端技术来评估社交互动过程中大脑区域之间的功能连接，杏仁核中单个神经元对社会刺激的反应，或动物和人类的社会认知。项目1和2将使用体内电生理学来检查OT对啮齿动物和恒河猴的社会刺激的神经表征的影响。项目3将使用认知测试来研究OT对灵长类动物社会感知和社会协调的影响。项目4将使用认知测试和功能磁共振成像来检查OT对健康和自闭症患者的社会认知和神经活动的影响。神经化学核心将为研究项目提供重要服务，并开发表征大脑中OT受体表达的新工具。一个行政核心将协调所有与中心有关的活动（系列研讨会、组织会议），提供统计咨询，并通过加强现有关系和与亚特兰大地区许多组织建立新的关系，协调中心人员的外联和培训活动。因此，该中心将创造一个充满活力的合作研究，培训和推广环境，这将对心理健康研究产生全国性的影响。中心教师收集的数据将具有重要的翻译意义，这将直接影响新的策略，用于治疗精神疾病中的社会缺陷。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The oxytocin (OT) system is arguably the most viable target for pharmacologically enhancing social cognition in psychiatric disorders with compromised social cognition, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Central OT enhances key aspects of social behavior in animals, and intranasal (IN) OT modulates social cognition in humans. The mechanisms by which OT affects social cognition are not understood. We will launch a coordinated, interdisciplinary research program involving an outstanding team of investigators to test the hypothesis that OT enhances social cognition by increasing the salience and reinforcing value of social stimuli by modulating activity and functional connectivity of the amygdala and brain regions involved in reward. Project scientists will use cutting edge techniques to assess functional connectivity between brain regions during social interactions, responses of individual neurons in the amygdala to social stimuli, or social cognition in animals and humans. Projects 1 and 2 will use in vivo electrophysiology to examine the impact of OT on the neural representation of social stimuli in rodents and rhesus macaques. Project 3 will use cognitive tests to examine the impact of OT on social perception and social attunement in the primate. Project 4 will use cognitive testing and fMRI to examine the impact of OT on social cognition and neural activity in healthy and autistic humans. A Neurochemistry Core will provide vital services for the research projects and develop new tools for characterizing OT receptor expression in the brain. An Administrative Core will coordinate all Center related activities (seminar series, organizing meetings), will provide statistical consultation and coordinate outreach and training activities of Center personnel by strengthening existing relationships and forging new relationships with numerous organizations in the Atlanta area. As a result, the Center will create vibrant collaborative research, training and outreach environment that will have a national impact on mental health research. The data collected by Center faculty will have important translational implications that will directly impact novel strategies for pharmacologically treating social deficits in psychiatric disorders.