Genomic mechanisms of violent juvenile aggression

儿童的暴力攻击行为对施暴者、受害者及其家人都有终身的影响， 和社会然而，青少年攻击性的生物学基础在很大程度上仍然未知。这种知识上的差距 由于缺乏易于观察和操纵的青少年攻击模型，这种现象持续存在。 拟议的项目采用创新的综合方法，利用 新型动物模型。除了经典的鱼类和两栖动物模型的实验易处理性外， 青少年具有高度的攻击性，这为了解青少年的基因组基础提供了强有力的机会。 侵略我们测试了中心假设，即不同的机制介导了急性表现， 攻击性经历的倾向和后果我们进行两项互补的研究 方向是（1）揭示个体变异和攻击性发展变化的机械基础， 和（2）探测攻击性经历对肇事者和 受害者为了优化风险和回报，我们从多个角度解决这些问题，结合无偏， 探索性方法，对社会重要的典型候选人进行表征和操纵 包括人类在内的脊椎动物的行为。侵略的经验具有长期的个人和 社会后果和机械研究将通过阐明原因， 后果，以及我们社会中最年轻成员暴力攻击的潜在治疗方法。

Violent aggressive behavior in children has life-long consequences for perpetrators, victims, their families, and society. Yet the biological bases of juvenile aggression remain largely unknown. This gap in knowledge persists due to a lack of tractable models in which juvenile aggression can be readily observed and manipulated. The proposed project takes an innovative, integrative approach to address this pressing knowledge gap using a novel animal model. Alongside the experimental tractability of classic fish and amphibian models, poison frog juveniles are highly aggressive, providing a powerful opportunity to understand the genomic bases of juvenile aggression. We test the central hypothesis that distinct mechanisms mediate the acute performance of, propensity for, and consequences of aggressive experiences. We pursue two complementary research directions to (1) uncover the mechanistic bases of individual variation and developmental shifts in aggression, and (2) probe the genomic and behavioral consequences of aggressive experiences for both perpetrators and victims. To optimize risk and reward, we tackle these questions from multiple angles, combining unbiased, exploratory approaches with characterization and manipulation of canonical candidates important for social behavior across vertebrates, including humans. Experiences of aggression have long-lasting individual and societal consequences and mechanistic research will have a significant positive impact by illuminating causes, consequences, and potential treatments for violent aggression among the youngest members of our society.