Social and Steroidal Influences on Adult Neurogenesis

描述（由申请人提供）：哺乳动物的中枢神经系统在成年期产生新神经元的能力相对有限。然而，环境和激素刺激可以增加某些大脑区域的神经发生率，这表明这种刺激可能最终用于治疗，以增强受损或患病大脑区域的修复，并恢复行为功能。这里提出的研究是一个研究项目的第一阶段，旨在了解社会刺激和类固醇治疗如何改变自然发生的神经发生的速度，以及成人大脑中由此产生的结构变化如何与行为可塑性相关。电鱼被用于这项研究，因为控制行为的神经回路被很好地描述了，它们的行为被认为是对社会和类固醇刺激的反应，它们的大脑在成年期具有高水平的结构可塑性。为了验证社会刺激和糖皮质激素治疗同时影响神经发生和社会行为的假设，1)将成年鱼分开或成对饲养，或植入皮质醇或空胶囊；2)将通过呈现标准电刺激来分析电子通信行为；3)将通过检查BrdU结合和神经特异性蛋白质的分布来确定大脑中的神经元增殖，Hu。为了验证来自另一条鱼的电信号足以增强成年神经发生的假设，将鱼暴露在以下条件下：a)没有社会互动，b)正常的社会互动，c)单独通过电模式进行社会互动，或d)非社会电刺激，并检查BrdU结合的分布在大脑区域内和外部的电子通信系统。这些初步研究将有助于在一个模型系统中确定能够诱导神经发生的特定刺激和大脑区域，该模型系统对阐明环境、大脑可塑性和行为功能之间的联系有很大的希望

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The central nervous system of mammals has a relatively limited ability to generate new neurons during adulthood. However, environmental and hormonal stimuli can increase rates of neurogenesis in certain brain regions, suggesting that such stimuli might be eventually used therapeutically to enhance the repair of damaged or diseased brain regions and restore behavioral function. The research proposed here is the first stage of a research program designed to understand how social stimuli and steroid treatment modify the rate of naturally occurring neurogenesis and how the resultant structural changes in the adult brain relate to behavioral plasticity. Electric fish are used for this research because the neural circuits controlling behavior are very well described, their behavior is known to respond to social and steroidal stimuli and their brain is known to have a high level of structural plasticity during adulthood. To test the hypothesis that social stimulation and glucocorticoid treatment simultaneously affect neurogenesis and social behavior, 1) adult fish will be housed separately and or in pairs [sic], or implanted with cortisol or empty capsule 2) electrocommunication behavior will be assayed by presentation of standard electrical stimuli, and 3) neuronal proliferation in the brain will be determined by examining the distribution of BrdU incorporation and a neural specific protein, Hu. To test the hypothesis that electrocommunication signals from another fish are sufficient to enhance adult neurogenesis, fish will be exposed to conditions in which they receive a) no social interaction, b) normal social interaction, c) social interaction through the electric modality alone or d) stimulation with non-social electrical stimuli, and the distribution of BrdU incorporation will be examined in brain regions within and outside of the electrocommunication system. These pilot studies will serve to identify specific stimuli and brain regions capable of induced neurogenesis in a model system that has great promise for clarifying links between environment, brain plasticity and behavioral function