Encoding social arousal within prepronociceptin circuits in the extended amygdala

标题 杏仁核延长区前角蛋白原环路中的社会唤醒编码 项目摘要/摘要 作为一个社会性物种，人类的繁荣依赖于为个人的福祉、生存、 以及社会上的成功。生理唤醒反应通过编码来自社会的信息来调节这一过程 引导后续行为行为的刺激。负责编码的神经回路调节失调 唤醒反应被认为是导致受干扰的动机行为的原因，这是许多人的一个特征 神经精神障碍。我们可以通过记录特定的记录来跟踪唤醒反应的快速变化 然而，诸如瞳孔大小、心跳频率和呼吸周期等生理指标却知之甚少。 关于调节这些快速唤醒反应的神经回路以及它们如何影响正在进行的社会 行为。我们最近发现，在BNST(BNSTPnoc)中表达前胶原基因的神经元 神经元)编码在暴露于动机显著刺激时迅速发生的唤醒反应，例如 作为捕食者和食物气味。有趣的是，BNSTPnoc神经元主要投射到杏仁内侧核(Mea)。 还有内侧视前区(MPOA)，这是大脑中调节社会动机的区域。这里, 我们将研究投射到mea或mpoa的BNSTPnoc神经元如何调节社会唤醒反应和 调节社会行为。我们的全球假设是，BNSTPnoc神经元的独特群体将选择性地 以依赖于刺激的方式编码对社会刺激的唤醒反应，并且独立于编码 行为。为此，我们将精确地映射BNSTPnoc神经元的传入和传出电路连接 (目标1)，测试BNSTPnoc神经元编码社会唤醒反应的假设(目标2)，并测试 假设编码唤醒反应的神经元影响社会行为(目标3)。识别 BNSTPnoc神经元的功能和自然动力学很重要，因为我们目前还不清楚它的作用 唤醒在行为和行为障碍的产生中的作用，我们也不了解潜在的电路 唤醒对社会行为的贡献。这种知识上的差距阻碍了我们开发出治疗方法 针对这种潜在的关键生物底物的策略，以治疗由不适应社会定义的疾病 行为。

TITLE Encoding social arousal within prepronociceptin circuits in the extended amygdala PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT As a social species, humans thrive on the ability to form social connections for individual well-being, survival, and societal success. Physiological arousal responses regulate this process by encoding information from social stimuli that guides subsequent behavioral actions. Dysregulation of the neural circuitry responsible for encoding arousal responses is thought to contribute to disturbed motivated behavior, a characteristic in many neuropsychiatric disorders. We can track the rapid changes in arousal responses by recording certain physiological metrics such as pupil size, frequency of heartbeats, and respiratory cycles, however, little is known about the neural circuits that regulate these rapid arousal responses and how they influence ongoing social behavior. We recently found that neurons that express the prepronociceptin gene in the BNST (BNSTPnoc neurons) encode the arousal responses that occur rapidly upon exposure to motivationally salient stimuli, such as predator and food odors. Interestingly, BNSTPnoc neurons project predominantly to the medial amygdala (MeA) and the medial preoptic area (mPOA), which are brain regions that regulate aspects of social motivation. Here, we will study how BNSTPnoc neurons that project to either MeA or mPOA regulate social arousal responses and modulate social behaviors. Our global hypothesis is that unique populations of BNSTPnoc neurons will selectively encode arousal responses to social stimuli in a stimulus-dependent manner and independent of encoding behavior. To accomplish this, we will precisely map afferent and efferent circuit connections of BNSTPnoc neurons (Aim 1), test the hypothesis that BNSTPnoc neurons encode social arousal responses (Aim 2), and test the hypothesis that neurons that encode arousal responses influence social behaviors (Aim 3). Identifying the function and natural dynamics of BNSTPnoc neurons is important because we currently do not understand the role of arousal in the generation of behavior and behavioral disorders, nor do we understand the circuitry underlying the contributions of arousal on social behavior. This gap in knowledge prevents us from developing therapeutic strategies that target this potentially critical biological substrate to treat disorders defined by maladaptive social behaviors.