Behavioral Core

生物体的行为可以被认为是其神经系统的最终输出。因此，仔细评估行为和干扰行为的因素对于理解神经系统的功能或功能障碍的任何全面努力都是必不可少的。格拉德斯通/加州大学旧金山分校的许多研究人员已经开发出复杂的啮齿动物模型来评估基本的神经科学过程或主要的神经系统疾病，但缺乏对这些有价值的模型进行仔细的行为和电生理表型分析所需的专业知识和设备。对于这些研究人员来说，无论何时他们想要评估转基因表现型或评估药物、手术治疗或基因干预的效果，聘请训练有素的行为神经科学家和购买高度专业化的设备都是昂贵而低效的。使用核心设施进行这类实验是切实可行的，而且需求量很大。为了满足这一需求，我们建议建立一个行为核心，以实现以下具体目标：1)促进和支持从基础神经科学到疾病导向神经科学的各种行为研究；2)鼓励核心用户围绕共同主题和在不同项目中观察到的潜在相关发现进行合作；3)在人类神经系统疾病小鼠模型的表型表征方面提供专业知识；4)协助设计和执行针对不同行为领域或异常的药理学干预和临床前药物试验。拟议的核心将支持至少26个国家卫生研究院资助的合格项目，以及由其他国家卫生研究院资助的各种项目。此外，该核心将帮助初级科学家获得他们第一次NIH拨款申请的初步数据。通过促进用户之间的互动，该核心还将在更大范围内促进行为神经科学的跨学科研究，将行为和行为障碍的分子、细胞、解剖、遗传和神经生理基础研究联系起来。因为在神经病学和精神病学中，行为改变的改善通常代表着治疗干预最相关的结果测量，核心也将在推进格拉德斯通和加州大学旧金山分校的转化工作中发挥关键作用。

An organism's behavior can be considered the final output of its nervous system. Therefore, careful evaluation of behavior and of the factors that perturb it is essential to any comprehensive effort to understand the function or dysfunction of the nervous system. Many investigators at Gladstone/UCSF have developed complex rodent models to assess fundamental neuroscientific processes or major neurological diseases, but lack the expertise and equipment necessary for the careful behavioral and electrophysiological phenotyping of these valuable models. It would be expensive and inefficient for each of these investigators to hire trained behavioral neuroscientists and to purchase highly specialized equipment whenever they wished to evaluate a transgenic phenotype or assess the effects of a drug, surgical treatment or genetic intervention. The use of a core facility for such experiments is practical and highly in demand. To address this need, we propose to establish a Behavioral Core to achieve the following specific aims: 1) enable and support diverse behavioral studies ranging in focus from basic to disease-oriented neuroscience; 2) encourage collaborations among core users around common themes and potentially related findings observed in different projects; 3) provide specialized expertise in the phenotypical characterization of mouse models of human neurological disorders; and 4) assist in the design and execution of pharmacological interventions and preclinical drug trials aimed at distinct behavioral domains or abnormalities. The proposed core would support at least 26 NINDS-sponsored qualifying projects, as well as a variety of projects that are sponsored by Other NIH institutes. In addition, the core would help junior scientists to obtain preliminary data for their first NIH grant applications. By promoting interactions among its users, the core would also promote interdisciplinary research in behavioral neuroscience on a broader scale, linking investigations into the molecular, cellular, anatomical, genetic, and neurophysiological substrates of behavior and behavioral disorders. Because in neurology and psychiatry improvements in behavioral alterations often represent the most relevant outcome measures of therapeutic interventions, the core would also play a key role in advancing translational efforts at Gladstone and UCSF.