Neural circuits for regulating social behavior in rodents

项目摘要 与生俱来的社会行为，如攻击性、交配和育儿，为大脑提供了一扇强大的窗户 将感觉输入映射到适当的运动输出的网络。啮齿类动物的紧凑结构 犁鼻系统是表征识别的、性别特定的翻译电路的理想选择 化学信号转化为与不同同种特性相匹配的反应。在这里，我们解决了 这个系统的两个看似相互矛盾的角色：需要调解与同一人的刻板印象的互动- 或异性伴侣，同时仍然根据不同的个人提供灵活的反应 已建立的社会关系。我们描述了调节变化的学习机制 攻击性，一种典型的高度强健的男性行为，被支配地位强有力地改变 两性关系。使用强大的基因工具访问在功能上不同的感觉通路 副嗅球，我们的实验将解决(1)细胞的可塑性过程 反映社会经验的攻击性水平，(2)熟悉程度塑造感官的方式 在积极的社会互动中的同种特异物的表示，以及(3)电路解剖 组织与行为相关的感觉信号，并将它们发送到下游的边缘中心。更深一层的 了解调节攻击性的神经机制可能有助于设计策略 减轻人类社区的病态行为。更广泛地说，对大脑的更深入的了解 社会行为网络与理解自闭症谱系障碍高度相关。

Project Summary Innate social behaviors such as aggression, mating, and parenting offer a powerful window on the brain networks that map sensory input onto appropriate motor outputs. The compact architecture of the rodent vomeronasal system is ideal for characterizing the circuits that translate identified, sex-specific chemosignals into responses matched to the characteristics of different conspecifics. Here we address two seemingly contradictory roles of this system: the need to mediate stereotyped interactions with same- or opposite-sex partners, while still providing flexibility in responses to different individuals based on established social relationships. We characterize the learning mechanisms that mediate changes in aggression, a prototypical and highly robust male behavior that is powerfully altered by dominance relationships. Using powerful genetic tools to access functionally distinct sensory pathways in the accessory olfactory bulb, our experiments will address (1) the cellular plasticity processes that adapt aggression levels to reflect social experience, (2) the way that familiarity shapes the sensory representations of conspecifics during active social interactions, and (3) the circuit anatomy that organizes behaviorally relevant sensory signals and routes them to downstream limbic centers. A deeper understanding of the neural mechanisms for regulating aggression may help design strategies for mitigating pathological behaviors in human communities. More broadly, a deeper knowledge of the brain networks for social behaviors is highly relevant for understanding autism spectrum disorders.