Sensory processing of social and defensive chemosignals

描述（由申请人提供）：本项目的目的是研究许多物种的社会化学信号是如何通过表鼻回路处理的，这些信号对指导社会互动至关重要，依赖于信息素的发射和检测。啮齿动物强烈依赖犁鼻系统来探测这些线索，并指导基因预先设定的社会和防御行为。我们和其他人最近在理解由v形鼻器官（VNO）进行化学感觉检测的分子和细胞基础以及通过其主要靶点辅助嗅球（AOB）可视化复杂的活动模式方面取得了重大进展。然而，为了引起先天行为反应，下游脑区进行的信息处理。与行为相关的编码信号尚未被发现。该项目利用新颖的电生理学、遗传学和光遗传学方法来确定来自（MeA）的单元如何将社会和防御感觉线索转化为行为相关信号。MeA在AOB和下丘脑不同核之间的表鼻-感觉运动转化中占据关键地位，参与引发不同的行为反应。拟议的实验将解决1- MeA如何处理来自AOB的复杂感觉表征，以便将反映检测到的线索的行为意义的信息传递到下丘脑的中心。2- MeA中不同基因定义的神经元群体的感觉表征，更具体地说，两个互补的神经元群体表达的酶芳香化酶（Ar）或促甲状腺激素释放激素（TRH）的反应，它们位于MeA的不同区域，分别驱动交配和防御行为。3-基本VNO信号对大脑神经元激活的贡献，使用转基因小鼠系和光遗传学工具，使离散受体群体的激活对应于捕食者的检测，以及雄性和雌性同种。在人类中，社会认知缺陷是自闭症和精神分裂症等缺乏理解和使人衰弱的精神障碍的核心。由于它们在编码和处理导致适当行为反应的环境线索中的核心作用，这些研究中发现的社会和防御识别的神经原理在很大程度上适用于整个动物王国。因此，我们的研究结果将为社会和感觉沟通受损的精神障碍的诊断和治疗提供信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this project is to investigate how social chemosignals are processed by vomeronasal circuits in many species, the signals essential for guiding social interactions rely on the emission and detection of pheromones. Rodents strongly rely on the vomeronasal system to detect these cues and guide genetically pre-programmed social and defensive behaviors. We, and others, have recently made significant progress in understanding the molecular and celular basis of chemosensory detection by the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and in visualizing complex patterns of activity by its primary target, the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). However, the information processing performed by downstream brain areas in order to elicit innate behavioral responses. encode behaviorally relevant signals has not yet been uncovered. This project draws on novel electrophysiological, genetic and optogenetic approaches to determine how units from the (MeA) transform social and defensive sensory cues into behavioraly relevant signals. The MeA occupies a critical position in the vomeronasal-sensorimotor transformation between the AOB and distinct nuclei of the hypothalamus that are involved in eliciting distinct behavioral responses. medial amydgala Proposed experiments will address 1- how the MeA processes the complex sensory representation from the AOB, in order to convey information reflecting the behavioral significance of the detected cues to centers in the hypothalamus. 2- the sensory representation of distinct genetically defined populations of neurons in the MeA, and more specifically the responses of two complementary populations of neurons expresing either the enzyme aromatase (Ar) or thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH that are located in distinct areas of the MeA reported to drive mating and defensive behaviors, respectively. 3- the contribution of elementary VNO signals to neuronal activation across the brain using transgenic mouse lines and optogenetic tools that enable the activation of discrete receptor populations corresponding to the detection of predators, as well as male and female conspecifics. In humans, defects in social recognition are the core of poorly understood and debilitating mental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Because of their central role in the coding and processing of environmental cues leading to appropriate behavioral responses, the neural principles of social and defensive recognition uncovered in these studies are largely applicable throughout the animal kingdom. Thus, our findings will inform the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, in which social and sensory communications are impaired.